Calendar sprouts for the garden season

The third annual Saltscapes East Coast Expo will be held April 27 - 29 at Exhibition Park in Halifax with 200 exhibitors. I’ve attended this in the past and it’s a top quality show with lots going on and inspiration aplenty. Garden friend and writer, Jodi Delong is presenting several seminars and there will be chef demos from Taste of Nova Scotia, Eden Valley farms, and Inn on the Cove. Other topics of interest are Jason Cass, host of Whose Design is it Anyway on Global TV, and a seminar on theTwelve Step Organizing Program. Entrance fee is $10 and children under 12 are free.

The Shelburne County Garden Club will be hosting a lecture on the Japanese beetle on Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m. in the conference room at Enterprise Square in Shelburne. Colin Banfield from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Halifax will be the presenter. The lecture is open to the public and admission will be a donation to the Shelburne Loyalist Food Bank.

A Plantwalk workshop is scheduled for Sunday, April 29 outside of Windsor. It's hosted by medical herbalist Jeanette Poirier, and Home Herbalist and organic grower Michele Haddal. The event features a plantwalk of an organic garden in west Hants County, and a herbal medicine workshop where participants identify, harvest and prepare wild spring plants for a spring tonic and detoxification. Cost is $20 and advance registration is strongly recommended. Contact Jeanette at 902-798-3828 or Michele at 275-5597or email herbalwizdom@hotmail.com .

On Saturday, May 12 there’s an event happening in Halifax that never fails to draw droves of gardeners, especially those looking to buy young rhodendrons at hard-to-beat bargains. The Atlantic Rhododendron & Horticultural Society will be holding their 23rd annual plant sale at the LeMarchant – St. Thomas School gymnasium, 6141 Watt Street from 1 – 3:30 p.m. The sale will feature a variety of rhododendrons, azaleas and companion plants. As in previous years, there will be some old standbys for the new gardener just becoming acquainted with the rhododendrons as well as many new cultivars to tempt the more experienced gardener. Most of the nursery stock brought in by the society ranges in price from $15 to $25.

A posting on the website (www.AtlanticRhodo.org) will be available on May 1st with prices and descriptions. In addition to nursery plants there will be a large selection of perennials donated by society members at bargain prices. “Each year more and more people discover how perfectly suited rhododendrons are to our Nova Scotian climate so plan to arrive early and anticipate a lineup,” warned spokesperson, Donna Evers. “While you wait a handout describing the nursery stock will be available for your perusal. Volunteers will assist you in making selections and help carry your purchases,” she said. Proceeds from the sale go toward the ongoing work of the society.