12:00 noon - 1:00 pm, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, main floor, 1 Lafayette Square. Free and open to the public. Presented in support of the Library’s current exhibition In the Garden: The Art of Botanical Illustration (now through September 26) and the National Buffalo Garden Festival (now through July 26)

July 19: Sally Cunningham, Garden Tours and the Take-Home Lessons

So many people walk these walks, and take their pictures—but what can gardeners really learn from how others do it? Sally will share tips on how to be a garden voyeuer and take home useful information. Learn to look at the use of space, focal points, choices of art, plant selection, and how to put them together for impact.

July 26: Mary Gurtler, Add Impact with Containers

Gurtler of Lockwoods Greenhouse is known for her bold container designs using annuals, perennials, and grasses. She has won Cornell’s Kathy Pufahl statewide contest for mixed containers, and will demonstrate how you can select plants and put them together for amazing results. Plant list included. (Take and demo, with a door prize!)

August 2: Jessica DiPalma, The Art of Flowers

Flowers and gardens have long been the source of inspiration for artists. DiPalma of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery staff will provide a look at works of art that incorporate floral themes and the artists, both historical and contemporary, who created these works.

August 9: Carol Ann Harlos, Bring in the Butterflies

Master Gardener Harlos shares her lifelong knowledge of gardening for the “angels in the garden.” Butterflies, as well as bees and important native insects, are suffering from habit depletion and pesticide use, but you can attract and help them by the plant and design choices you make—even in your city yard.

August 16: Sally Cunningham, Extraordinary Perennials for WNY Gardens

With pictures and with some actual plants, Cunningham will share the less known or underused perennials that can add drama, color, and summer-to-fall excitement in your garden. Maintenance tips for increasing bloom periods, and plant combinations included.

August 23: Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers, Water, Water, Everywhere?

It’s summer and we’re watering our gardens. But are we doing it correctly for the plants? And how about the environment—how long can we keep doing this? A speaker from Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers will share how to save your rainwater and make the most of this precious, depleting resource—our next, serious environmental challenge.

August 30: Sally Cunningham, Native Plants and Eco-friendly Landscapes

Gardening and home landscaping sound nature-friendly, except that so many people do things that thwart or harm the natural systems that could be working for us. Consider how we might take a few steps in a new direction. Cunningham will help you choose some plants you might not know (native and suitable non-native), and see ways to use them in attractive home landscapes. You will also hear why we all need to do so, as habitat for wildlife is rapidly disappearing. Native plant lists for urban and suburban landscapes included.