When I moved into our first house in the summer of 2005, I was horrified with the state of the landscaping. Half the borders were filled with red lava rocks, and those that were rock-free had few plants and barren, unamended clay soil. There was little salvaging the garden that first season, but in the spring of 2006 I ventured to an all-day gardening event at the local community college, and I left energized and filled with ideas (in particular, about plants that attract hummingbirds and insects). Gardenfest gave me inspiration and lots of helpful hand-outs from the presentations, but it also showed me there was a thriving gardening community all around that was just as excited as I am about crowding into classrooms to look at slides and discover new ideas.

This annual gardening crash-course Gardenfest is happening on Saturday, April 4th, at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake. There's over 20 seminars being held on a variety of topics, including butterfly gardens, daylilies, growing grapes, and vegetable gardening, to name just a few. It costs $40 and requires registration, and if you have questions you can contact Amy at 815-455-8764. Helpful information, friendly gardeners, and impulse seed-buying are never in short supply!

—Rose Rankin