Bayshore Garden Center offers classes
It’s that time of year again when Bayshore Garden Center offers its annual gardening classes for people who want to get down and dirty learning the ins and outs of caring for plants.
Classes, which they typically do in the fall and spring, will begin Saturday and run for four consecutive weeks on Oct. 11, 18, 25 and Nov. 1, and with the exception of the first class, all the classes are free.
“We’ve been doing classes here for many years and they’re to educate our clients for fun and enlightenment,” said Sharon Chepy, who along with her husband Terry own the business. “With the snowbirds coming back we’d like them to enjoy some classes and camaraderie.”
The opening class is “Container Gardening, Make and Take,” which they started last year and is the only one they charge $5 for because they supply the plants, soil and pots.
“Staff members Laurie Farley and Lorene Raynor will give them an education on what looks good and work in sunny, shady or whatever conditions. They then get to take their masterpiece home with them,” Chepy said.
Oct. 18 is “The ABCs of Gardening with Roses,” the Garden Center’s signature class and taught by their resident guru, manager Ken Ellam. He will answer questions for the beginner rose garden enthusiast who wants to accept the challenge of raising roses in the sandy environs of Southwest Florida.
“This is usually a class we teach in the fall and spring and we prefer to have people who don’t know a lot about it,” Chepy said. “He likes to have the time set for them and not the experienced people in. He wants beginners to get enthused.”
Their new stock of roses comes in this week and will be available for purchase.
“Butterfly Gardening,” on Oct. 25, is next, with the old axiom “if you plant it, they will come.” Kathy Hall returns with her fun, lively presentation filled with her expert knowledge of raising butterflies and the plants that attract them.
Finally, “Growing and Keeping Healthy Citrus” on Nov. 1 will feature speaker Pat DiCampli from Record Buck Farms, which supplies their citrus, who will impart his more than 20 years worth of knowledge to beginners on how to maintain citrus plants and keep them green and healthy.
Bayshore Garden Center is at 5870 Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers. Classes run from 9 to 11 a.m. and pre-registration is suggested.
Parking is available in the back of the building.
For more information, call Chepy at 543-1443.