Garden Soul

Welcome to January when regular life and schedules resume. Whether you're back to your career and work, school, travel (lucky you) or retirement (really lucky you), it's the time of year to start anew.  May I suggest adding a class or club to your busy plate, that is your gardening plate?

Glad this brave person didn't fall into Washington Park Smith Lake

One of the great joys of gardening is hanging out with other like-minded folks; it's almost like we share a garden soul. We speak the same language and share genuine camaraderie when talking about our plants and gardens.  "How did your garden do last summer?"  "Do you grow vegetables or perennials or both?"  "Do you start plants by seed?"  "Have you been to the Chelsea Flower show?"  "Maybe some day!" A garden conversation is always pleasant and can go long if you don't need to catch light rail.

Thank goodness the Front Range has several outlets to match and grow your gardening interests.  You'll easily meet other gardeners at botanic garden classes or seminars. There are many to choose from - beginner on up, ranging from starting seeds to botany to caring for backyard chickens and honeybees. Garden centers offer programs which will be starting soon - check their websites for fees (many are free) and get registered, they fill quickly.

First Denver Rose Society Meeting last year, great treats too!

Garden clubs can't be beat for sharing garden souls.  Some have been around for decades and are still going strong.  Look for neighborhood garden clubs or check out the many specific plant society groups.  I've linked as many as I can find as of this writing, along with places to check out garden classes.  More and more Facebook pages and blogs are available for like-minded gardeners to ask questions or share stories (check my left side bar for a handful of links).  For the busy person who doesn't have time to take a class or join a club, the internet will/can keep your focus.  Happy New Year, hope to see you at a class or club meeting soon!

SEMINARS & CLASSES: (range from continuing education to certificate completion or degrees):

Adams County Extension Spring Gardening Classes
Colorado Master Gardening Training
Colorado Schools & Universities for Landscape Architecture, Horticulture & Landscape Careers
Community Forester Training
CSU Extension Certified Gardener Program *NEW* on-line flexible program based on the CMG Master Gardening curriculum 
Denver Botanic Gardens
Growing Gardens  Boulder
Habitat Heroes: Gardening for Beauty and Birds Workshop  Longmont
The Gardens on Spring Creek  Ft. Collins
The Hudson Gardens  Littleton
Pikes Peak Urban Gardens Colorado Springs
2016 Tree Diversity Conference DESIGN WITH MORE. TREE. TYPES.

Colorado Gardener Magazine  Hard copies available at area garden centers and gift stores. Great resource for garden center classes, special events and workshops. The Education Issue will be available February 10th.

AREA GARDEN CENTERS:  too numerous to mention, so call around or check on line for their classes.

GARDEN CLUBS:

Colorado Garden Clubs This is a good place to start, some clubs don't regularly update their contact information, so you may need to Google search for more information.  This link isn't inclusive for neighborhood garden clubs.  Check with area newspapers, newsletters, listserv like Nextdoor to find garden clubs near you.

GARDEN AND GARDEN RELATED GROUPS:

Colorado Cactus and Succulent Society
Colorado Native Plant Society
Colorado Water Garden Society
Denver Field Ornithologists
Denver Orchid Society
Denver Rose Society
Front Range Organic Gardeners
Ikebana Denver Chapter
Rocky Mountain African Violet Council
Rocky Mountain Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society 
Rocky Mountain Koi Club
Rocky Mountain Unit of The Herb Society of America