Upcoming Events and Classes

Suburban Home Vegetable Garden

Tuesday, February 9, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Master Gardener Vicki Baroni will tell how families can grow vegetables and some fruits with ease. Part of the Gardeners Night Out series of Cobb Master Gardeners.  At West Cobb Regional Library, 1750 Dennis Kemp Lane NW, Kennesaw, 30152.

Thyme to Read Book Club

Friday, February 12, 10:15 – 11:30 a.m. This month’s book is The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Beautiful Orchid, by Craig Pittman. In the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Compost and Soil Amendments

Friday, February 12, noon – 1:00 p.m. Learn how poor soil can be turned into plant-friendly soil with Master Gardener Eddie Rhoades. Part of the Lunch and Learn series of Cobb Master Gardeners.  In the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Seed Starting Workshop

Tuesday, February 23, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Learn how to start vegetable garden transplants from seeds, with Master Gardener and Cobb Extension staff member Amy Whitney.  In the second floor classroom at UGA Extension/Cobb County, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060.

North Georgia Gardening Symposium

Thursday, February 25, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For homeowners, Master Gardeners, and landscape professionals. Re-certification credits available: 3 hours for category 24, 1 hour for Private pesticide applicators, 5 CEUs for ISA Arborist (A) and Municipal (M). Chattahoochee Technical College, North Metro Campus, Building D, Room 400, 5198 Ross Rd., Acworth, GA, 30102. Program cost $35 includes lunch and breaks. Register by February 22 at 770-528-4550, or online.

Orchids 101

Thursday, March 3, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Presented by Master Gardener Sondra Nierenberg, this is the first of three presentations in an Orchid Care series. In the second floor classroom at UGA Extension/Cobb County, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Second class is "Orchid Diseases" on March 10, same time; third class is "Re-potting Orchids", March 24, same time. Registration and $15 class fee (for 1 or all in series) are due to the Cobb Extension office by Feb. 20.

A Few of My Favorite Things: Native and Non-Native Plants

Tuesday, March 8, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Learn about favorite native and non-native plants for home landscapes with Master Gardener Carmen Cudd. Part of the Gardeners Night Out series of Cobb Master Gardeners.  At Mountain View Regional Library, 3320 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta, GA, 30066.

Orchid Diseases

Thursday, March 10, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Second of three presentations in the Orchid Care series. In the second floor classroom at UGA Extension/Cobb County, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060.
Registration and $15 class fee (for 1 or all in series) are due to the Cobb Extension office by Feb. 20.

Thyme to Read Book Club

Friday, March 11, 10:15 – 11:45 a.m. This month’s book is Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, by Ben Montgomery.  In  the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060 (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Small is the New Big: Small Gardens with Impact

Friday, March 11, noon – 1:00 p.m. Learn how to have a home garden that lives large regardless of size with Master Gardener Pam Bohlander. Part of the Lunch and Learn series of Cobb Master Gardeners.  In  the Training Room of the Cobb County Water Lab, 662 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060 (at the intersection with Atlanta Rd.).

Vegetable Garden Seminar

Saturday, March 12, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Presented by Cobb and Douglas County Extension offices and Douglas County Master Gardeners, this seminar covers plant selection and seed starting for the vegetable garden. Lithia Springs United Methodist Church, in the Fellowship Hall, 3711 Temple St, Lithia Springs, GA 30122. Advance registration and $6 fee are requested. For information, call 770-948-5429.

Bluebird Trail Walk

Saturday, March 19, 10:00 a.m. – noon. Presented by Master Gardener Jim Bearden in association with the Atlanta Science Festival. On the 2.3-mile Bluebird Trail at Green Meadow Preserve Park, at 3780 Dallas Hwy., Powder Springs, GA, 30127.

Cherokee Medicinal Plants

Saturday, March 19, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Presented by Master Gardener Tony Harris in association with the Atlanta Science Festival. At the Cherokee Garden at Green Meadow Preserve Park, at 3780 Dallas Hwy., Powder Springs, GA, 30127.

Re-potting Orchids

Thursday, March 24, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Third of three presentations in the Orchid Care series. In the second floor classroom at UGA Extension/Cobb County, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060.
Registration and $15 class fee (for 1 or all in series) are due to the Cobb Extension office by Feb. 20. 

Grow Your Own Food: From the Ground Up

Tuesday, March 29, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Taught by UGA Horticulture Specialist Bob Westerfield. This is the first class of a four-part series. Class Fee for series is $35. Preregistration and payment by March 15 are required. All classes to be held in the second floor classroom at UGA Extension/Cobb County, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Call 770-528-4070 for information about the series.

Workshop: Garden Color for All Seasons

UGA Horticulture is offering the workshop "Garden Color for All Seasons in the Landscape" at its Griffin campus research garden. The workshop will teach how to select colorful annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees for year-round interest in your landscape, including landscape design tips, plant selection, and container gardening.

Each participant will have a hands-on experience creating his or her own colorful container garden to take home.

UGA horticulturists Bob Westerfield and Sherri Dorn will be the program speakers.

Date: Friday, October 2

Planning for Color with Spring-Flowering Bulbs

Neighborhoods across Cobb County are awash in the reds and yellows of autumn leaves, and  the cool-season blooms of asters, mums, pansies, snapdragons, and more are keeping our landscapes lively, but we all know that winter will be upon us soon, and much of the color will fade. Forward-thinking gardeners, however, prepare for the early return of blooms with spring bulbs.

It isn't quite time to start planting most spring-flowering bulbs in Cobb County -- November is our best month -- but it isn't too soon to start selecting the bulbs and planning where to place them.

For gardeners who may be new to our area, the UGA Extension publication "Flowering bulbs for Georgia gardens," by Paul Thomas, Gary Wade, and Bodie Pennisi, describes the many flowering bulbs that can be grown successfully in our area. In addition to the familiar and hardy daffodils and crocus, gardeners here can select Spanish bluebells, glory-of-the-snow (which is glorious even without snow), hyacinth, star flower, rain lilies, and more.

The 2012 Georgia FACES article "Plant flowering bulbs now for color later," by UGA's William Tyson, emphasizes the importance of selecting high-quality bulbs that are large for their type and that are unblemished.

For planting, Tyson explains, "Most prefer a moist, well-drained, medium, sandy loam that does not remain wet and sticky after heavy rain or dry out too quickly. Good drainage is essential."

For spacing and depth, Tyson includes these details:

"A general rule of thumb for planting depth (from the top of the bulb to the soil surface) is two to three times the greatest diameter for bulbs 2 inches or more in diameter, and three to four times the greatest diameter for smaller bulbs.

Spacing will vary from 1 or 2 inches to as much as several feet. When spacing bulbs, consider not only how much space each plant needs, but also how frequently it will be dug up and divided."

For fuller information, read the complete text at the linked titles above.

Pansies for Winter Color

Even as the summer growing season winds down, homeowners are thinking about ways to add flowers to the winter landscape. Happily, garden centers currently are overflowing with flats of pansies, and those can make great additions to a yard.

UGA's Success with Pansies in the Winter Landscape, by Extension Horticulturists Gary Wade and Paul Thomas, includes helpful information for home-plantings of pansies, even though it was written for landscape professionals. In addition to a map that shows best planting dates for all of Georgia, details of how to amend the soil, plant, mulch, and care for the pansies through the winter are all explained.

For Cobb County, the first two weeks in October are shown to be optimum for planting pansies. For planting, the publication describes the procedure outlined here:

1. Raise the planting bed above-grade to help create well-drained soil - "pansies cannot tolerate wet feet."
2. Rake away any old mulch and remove and discard old vegetation.
3. Amend the soil with fully decomposed organic materials, but not too much (less than 25%).
4. Check soil pH and adjust to a range between 5.4 and 5.8.
5. Fertilize, but "Avoid using fertilizer containing high amounts of slow-release ammoniacal nitrogen."
6. Plant at 6, 8, or 10-inch spacing.
7. Mulch the soil surface.
8. Water! "A thorough watering immediately after planting will help eliminate air pockets around plant roots."

For fuller information about the above steps and about after-planting care of the pansy bed, read the article linked through the article title.

rs containinghigh amounts of slow-release ammoniacal nitrogen.