By Karen Lauterbach, EMGV

Looking for something to give the gardener on your list?  How about a Durham Garden Forum membership?  And maybe you’d like to treat yourself to an educational experience that will help you take your gardening to the next level in 2023.

Since 2009, the Durham Garden Forum has been providing lectures once a month from 7 to 8:30 pm on the third Tuesday of each month.  Talks feature a variety of gardening subjects, including growing vegetables, garden design, composting, climate change gardening, tree care, controlling invasive plants, and gardening with native plants. The Durham Garden Forum moved to Zoom during the pandemic and will re-evaluate its meeting format in 2023.  Prior to the pandemic, in-person meetings were held at Duke Gardens.

The cost of an annual membership – $25.00 – includes access to video library of Durham Garden Forum talks since 2021 and discounts at area garden centers, including For Garden’s Sake and The Durham Garden Center.

To join the Durham Garden Forum, fill out the application, and mail it with a check to the address shown on the membership form. (https://durhammastergardeners.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/pdf-of-membership-form.pdf)

Memberships purchased in early December 2022 include access to the December 13, 2022 meeting, which will focus on “Proper Selection and Use of Growing Media.”

Scheduled 2023 meetings include:

• January 17:  “Plant Choices: Alternatives to Invasives,” with Charlotte Glen, State Coordinator, NC State Extension Master Gardener Program.
• February 21: “Drought Tolerant Landscapes,” with Annabelle Renwick, Curator of the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants at Sarah P. Duke Gardens. 
• March 21: “Propagation” with Sara Smith, Durham County Extension Master Gardener.
• April 18:  “Landscape Design,” with Anne Spafford, Ph.D., Professor of Horticultural Science at NC State University.
• May 16:  “Plant-to-Plant Interaction,” with Anita Simha, community ecologist and PhD candidate in Duke University’s Program in Ecology. 
• June 20:  “Bamboo: Uses in the Landscape and Effective Removal,” with David Benfield, founder of Brightside Bamboo. 
• July 18: “NC Native Herbal Plant Remedies,” with Arvis Boughman, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and the author of Herbal Remedies of the Lumbee Indians, and Robert RedHawk Eldridge, who is of Sappony decent and a storyteller. He travels across the country sharing stories about his ancestors and Native American culture.

Topics for the remainder of 2023 will be announced as the program schedule is finalized. 

Questions?  Contact durhamgardenforum@gmail.com

Follow Durham Garden Forum on Facebook: https://facebook.com/DurhamGardenForum