Home & garden calendar March 17-22

Send events for this calendar to homes@dailyherald.com with “calendar listing” in the subject line. Deadline is two weeks prior to the event.

March 17

Northern Illinois Gesneriad Society Show and Sale: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 17, at Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe. Free. Gesneriad show and sale. The gesneriad family contains some of the most decorative and widely grown tropical plants including lipstick plant, primrose, gloxinia and African violets. Explore the beauty of about 50 exhibits featuring 20 different types. Learn about the diversity of their flowers and foliage, and see free demonstrations on propagation, soil and more. Shop for cuttings, tubers and rhizomes. For information, chicagobotanic.org.

‘Garden for Wildlife’ Resource Fair: 2 p.m. Sunday, March 17, at Highland Park Public Library, 494 Laurel Ave., Highland Park. Discover tips to create a habitat-friendly garden. Receive free native plant seeds and expert advice on growing and designing gardens for wildlife, birding, composting. Enjoy craft activities to learn about monarch butterflies, and video screened at 2 and 3 p.m. All ages. Free. For information, gogreenhp.org.

March 19

Mount Prospect Garden Club: 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 19, at Chalet Nursery, 3132 Lake Ave., Wilmette. Jennifer Brennan, horticulture information specialist and manager of the Chalet education center, presents “Cool Season vs. Warm Season Planting.” Brennan will examine the respective challenges of planting in the spring or planting in the fall. For information, gcmp.weebly.com.

Enchanting Spring Dish Garden: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, at Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe. Capture the essence of springtime. Combine bulbs in various stages of bloom with textural ferns and moss to get you in the mood for what’s coming soon outdoors. These miniature woodland landscapes can be kept indoors as a centerpiece or outside when the weather warms up. Watch them grow and change, enlivening your tabletops with an early glimpse of spring. All materials included. $99/$124. chicagobotanic.org.

Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners — Pruning Trees and Shrubs: 6:45 p.m. social; 7 p.m. meeting and presentation Tuesday, March 19, at Batavia Public Library, 10 S. Batavia Ave., Batavia. Confused about when and how to best prune the trees and shrubs in your yard? Richard Hentschel, former horticulture educator with the Illinois Extension Service, will help you understand and put the best methods into practice. For information, contact BataviaPlainDirtGardeners@gmail.com or via Messenger on Facebook.

March 20

Prairie Gardens for the Home Landscape: 9 a.m. to noon on three Wednesdays, March 20-April 3, at Morton Arboretum, 4100 Route 53, Lisle. Join Prairie Steward and Master Gardener Cindy Crosby in this class to plan a prairie garden that is beautiful in all four seasons of the year, then take home ideas on how to maintain it. Explore the ideas behind the native plants movement, and discover why what you plant in your yard makes a difference. Learn about native wildflowers, grasses and shrubs that may work well for your yard and understand their light, soil and water needs. Then, proactively plan for some of the difficulties that prairie gardeners encounter, and take home ideas on how to solve these challenges. You’ll leave with a personalized list of prairie plants for your yard, and ideas about where to put them so you are ready for spring native plant sales. $94-$110. For information, mortonarb.org.

Tri-Village Garden Club: 6:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month, at Streamwood Fire Station #31, 1204 S. Park Ave., Streamwood. For information, visit facebook.com/TriVillageGardenClub.

March 21

Garden Club of Inverness — Be an Herbal Gourmet: 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 21, at All Saints Lutheran Church, 630 S. Quentin Road, Palatine. Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh, is the creator and owner of Backyard Patch Herbs, an online purveyor of salt-free, gluten-free, preservative-free herb cooking and tea products. By adding the most basic herbs to your culinary palette, you can make your cooking more interesting, delicious and enjoyable. Marcy will demonstrate how to create herb mixtures to replace salt in food, and techniques for infusing vinegar, sugar, compound butter and herb paste. Discussion of herbs and samples of herbs included. For information, gardenclubofinverness.com.

Ornamental Edible Plants: Virtually from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, March 21, through the Chicago Botanic Garden. With our garden spaces being “sacred real estate,” why not maximize those spaces with plants that offer both beauty and flavor? Ornamental edibles include a wide range of amazingly handsome plants that offer visual impact and have value in the kitchen. You will learn about a wide range of plant varieties and how to incorporate them into your designs and containers. This class will be taught online via Zoom. All registrations must be submitted online two days before class starts. $32/$40. chicagobotanic.org.

March 22

Lombard Garden Club — Garden Head Start: 1 p.m. Friday, March 22 at First Church of Lombard, 220 S. Main St., Lombard. Jump start the spring growing season and learn about the equipment and methods used for starting seeds indoors when Master Gardener Paul Stoffels presents “Seed Starting: Giving Your Garden a Head Start.” Stoffels is an active member of the Suburban Garden Club and the Hawthorne Garden Club of Glen Ellyn. There is no charge and the public is welcome to attend. For information, lombardgardenclub.org.

Ongoing

The Orchid Show of Wonders: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through March 24, at Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe. Step right up to The Orchid Show of Wonders, where your favorite carnival and circus attractions come to life in new ways. Admission is $10 for adult members, $21 nonmembers; $7 for children ages 3-12 who are members, $14 nonmembers; free for ages 2 and younger. For information and tickets, chicagobotanic.org/orchid/tickets.

Plant sales

Kane DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District Native Trees, Shrubs and Plant Sale: Order deadline is April 12 for trees and shrubs and May 17 for plants. Ordering is open for native trees, shrubs and plants. The digital catalog is available on the organization’s website, it can be printed if you choose. Download the order form, complete your selections and follow the instructions to submit the order and payment. The Northern Illinois Worm Farm will be on hand at pick up days with fresh, local worm casting and worm castings tea for sale. For information, kanedupageswcd.org/kd.

Citizens for Conservation’s Native Plant, Shrub and Tree Sale: Order deadline is April 15. Online ordering for Citizens for Conservation’s 28th annual Native Plant, Shrub and Tree Sale is available at citizensforconservation.org. CFC’s sale offers more than 200 varieties of native plants, including perennials, ferns, sedges, grasses, shrubs and trees. This year’s sale will also feature two special garden packages, featuring plants that support pollinators. Orders are filled on a first-come, first-filled basis, so order early, and preorders are encouraged if you have a specific plant in mind. There is a pre-order minimum charge; details are on the sale website. The in-person sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 4-5 at CFC’s Hill ’N Dale Preserve in Barrington Hills. Online order pickup will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, May 3 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the sale site. CFC members will also be able to shop the sale on May 3, and members get a 10% discount all days. For information, (847) 382-7283.

The Schaumburg Community Garden Club Native Plant Sale: Deadline to order is April 19. The Schaumburg Community Garden Club is currently taking preorders only for its annual Native Plant Sale, featuring native wildflowers, grasses, perennials, trees and shrubs. Order at https://schaumburggardenclub.org. Orders can be picked up from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday May 18-19, at Spring Valley Nature Center and Heritage Farm. Information regarding pickup location will be shared at the time of your online order. The pre-order deadline is April 19. For information, schaumburggardenclub.org.

Sag Moraine Native Plant Community Native Plant Sale: Orders taken through May 1. Place your order now for native plant packages with a variety of design options. Plants are in one-pint containers and provided by Midwest Groundcovers as part of the Natural Garden Natives line, a selection of pesticide-free, local ecotype native plants. Orders can be picked up from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, at Moraine Valley Community College, 9000 W. College Parkway, Parking Lot D3, Palos Hills. Thousands of individual native plants will also be for sale on June 1 from Stellar Natives, along with advice on landscaping with native plants. For information, sagmoraine.org.

Gardners of Central Lake County Plant Sale: 8:30-11 a.m. Saturday, May 11, at Crawford House, 817 Lake St., Libertyville. Sale, which will be held rain or shine, includes annuals, bedding plants, herbs, houseplants, natives, perennials, vegetables. Plants are grown by seeds, bulbs, bare root and cuttings. Cash or check accepted. For information, visit gardenersofcentrallakecounty.org or email juliancindy@hotmail.com.

University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners’ Plant Sale: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at the University of Illinois Extension grounds, 100 S. Highway 45, Grayslake. University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners will hold its annual plant sale featuring a beautiful selection of nursery grown varieties not readily available at traditional garden centers — natives, new cultivars of perennials, grasses and pollinator-friendly plants. Many varieties of homegrown tomatoes, along with other vegetables and herbs, will be available. In addition, shop the “Garden Treasures” for new and gently used items to enhance your landscape. Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer gardening questions, help with plant selection and offer gardening advice. All proceeds support projects and programming for volunteers, youth and adults in Lake County. For information, call (847) 223-8627 or visit extension.illinois.edu/events/2024-05-18-lake-county-2024-plant-sale.

Scholarships

Lombard Garden Club College Scholarship: Deadline to apply is March 22. The club will offer scholarships up to $3,000 each to Lombard residents who are high school seniors, home-schooled students or students currently enrolled in a college program. Criteria includes being a Lombard resident who is pursuing a career related to horticulture, ecology, landscape design, agriculture, environmental conservation, botany, forestry or related fields. The student needs to have a “C” average or better, verified by a transcript. Participation in extracurricular activities is encouraged. The applicant needs to provide two letters of recommendation from teachers or school counselors. The student is also requested to include a statement of career goals. Send applications to Sue Wiemer at swiemer@comcast.net or call Wiemer with questions at (630) 951-4000. Local high schools and College of DuPage have been provided with additional information. The scholarship coordinator at the school may assist students in applying for this scholarship. For information, lombardgardenclub.org.