By Kelly Heckaman, Purdue Extension

Have you ever wondered how to attract bees to your garden, why your hydrangeas won’t bloom, how to have the most beautiful spring bulbs, or how do I prune this shrub?

Well, these are just a few of the topics being offered at the annual Gardening Away the Winter Blues series starting on Tuesday, March 13.

The Kosciusko County Master Gardeners and Purdue Extension are offering the series from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Extension Office in Warsaw and continues March 20 and 27.

The objective of this class is to provide practical ideas and solutions for homeowners to inspire them to get excited for the upcoming gardening season. Upon completion of the series, homeowners will have the resources to troubleshoot and solve common problems found in their gardening experiences.

Highlights of each session are:

• March 13, featuring herbs and bees — Cindy Barnett, Purdue Extension Whitley County, will show how herbs from the garden can reduce your stress with herb-inspired salt scrubs and potpourri bags. Greg Leyes of Ginger Valley is planning to share tips with you on how to attract bees to your garden to help increase pollination. This will help create more beautiful flowers and a more productive garden.
• March 20, air plants and hydrangeas — Kara Light will teach what air plants are and how to take care of them. This will be followed by the opportunity to make one to take home. After this session, Jodie Overmeyer of Price Nurseries, shares all things about how to have beautiful hydrangeas in a landscape.
• March 27, Spring Bulb Tips and Proper Pruning Techniques — Juergen Voss, Open Air Garden Center, shares how proper care can keep Spring bulbs blooming for many years to come. Following this, John Woodmansee, Purdue Extension Whitely County, will take the mystery and fear out of pruning and cover the questions of why, when, where, how, and who as it relates to pruning trees and shrubs.

This series is open to the public. The registration fee is $20 per person, $25 per family or $8 per session received by March 9. There is a charge of $5 per person to make an air plant. This includes six hours of educational instruction, handouts, refreshments, and other landscape related information. Master Gardeners who complete the class will earn six hours of educational credit or two hours per session. Registration will also be accepted for individual sessions for $8 per person.

For more information, contact the Purdue Extension – Kosciusko County Office at (574) 372-2340 or visit the office’s website at http://www.ag.purdue.edu/counties/kosciusko/pages/default.aspx