George’s Talks and Trips

When I don’t have my nose in a computer or compost pile, you’ll find me out and about doing gardening talks and leading garden-themed trips.

George talking compost in a backyard seminar.

Below is some of what I know I’m doing so far for 2012. If you’re interested in having me speak to your group, email me at george@georgeweigel.net and I’ll get you my current list of 21 programs.

If you like to ogle gardens, we’ve got another new crop in line to see in 2012. We’re already done with four trips to the Philadelphia Flower Show in March and a 12-day trip to the Netherlands in April to see the Keukenhof bulb garden, the Floriade show, a bulb-growing operation and more. Among trip still to come: America’s biggest walking garden tour in Buffalo, New York’s new High Line park, the U.S. National Arboretum and Brookside Gardens for fall foliage and three different Christmas trips. Stauffers of Kissel Hill Garden Centers (www.skh.com) is again sponsoring the 2012 trips, which are planned and operated by Lowee’s Group Tours of Harrisburg (www.lowees.com). Stauffer’s is kicking in $25 gift cards to several lucky winners on each of the trips.

Details on all the trips and talks…

2012 TALKS BY GEORGE

  Fri., June 29: The Hosta Hideaway

Owners Donna and Charles Seitz at The Hosta Hideaway.

    Ever been to this new haven for hosta-lovers? The Hosta Hideaway is a specialty nursery tucked away in the northern Adams County countryside at 95 Sequoia Court, York Springs. It’s got hundreds of varieties of hostas for sale in a wooded-garden setting, plus a few display gardens and other shade plants.

   I’ll be speaking on “Made in the Shade” on Fri., June 29, at 11 a.m. There’s no charge, but it’ll help with seating plans to call ahead at 528-4885 or 253-4830. More info on the business (including directions) is at www.thehostahideaway.com.

  Sat., July 14: Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses

     I’m back at Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses, 906 W. Grantham Road, Monroe Twp., at 10 a.m. for a program aimed at all of you first-time homeowners (and those who are still going through the trial-and-error thing).

    “First Yard: Things I Wish Someone Would’ve Told Me Before I Ruined the Landscape” is a light-hearted look at the many troubles we all seem to run into while learning yard care. If you’d rather just find out what they are before messing up on your own, this is the talk for you.

    There’s a small registration fee ($8, I think), and pre-registration is required by calling 717-766-7611. www.ashcombe.com.

 Fri., Aug. 3: Ames True Temper Gardens

   I’ll be doing an informal Q&A and timely-tips session on vegetable gardening at the Ames True Temper Community Gardens, 465 Railroad Ave., Shiremanstown (technically Hampden Twp.), on Fri., Aug. 3, at 6 p.m. It’s free and open to the public. Bring your questions and a chair or blanket to sit on.

  Sat., Sept. 29: Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses

     Fed up with mowing all of that grass? Are you starting to get the idea that lawns aren’t as low-care or low-cost as people thing?

    I’ll be at Ashcombe Farm and Greenhouses, 906 W. Grantham Road, Monroe Twp., at 10 a.m. doing a program called “Goodbye Grass.” It’ll give you some ideas on how to cut down on all of the cutting by replacing some of our lawn oceans with low-care gardens.

     There’s a small registration fee ($8, I think), and pre-registration is required by calling 717-766-7611. www.ashcombe.com.

 Wed., Oct. 3: Town and Country Garden Club, Lancaster

   I’ll be the speaker at the October meeting of this Lancaster-county garden club that meets most first Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at Homestead Village, 1800 Village Circle, Lancaster.

   The program, which begins at 7 p.m., will be “Garden Horror Show: When Scary Things Happen in the Landscape.” This is an interesting collection of the many things that can and do go wrong the yard, from tree-flattening October snowstorms to the ravages of hungry deer and groundhogs to the plant butchery that occurs when weekend warriors get out the chainsaw.

   Guests are welcome. More information:  www.townandcountrygardenclub.net or call 717-898-0229.

 Mon., Oct. 8: Lancaster County Garden Club

   Formerly the Men’s Garden Club of Lancaster, this club welcomes guests to all its programs — usually the second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in Salem United Church of Christ, 2312 Marietta Ave., Rohrerstown.

   I’ll be speaking Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. on “High-Octane Bulbing.” Most people are far too timid with their bulb plantings, which should be the workhorse of your early-spring gardens. This program shows how to plant bulbs for a much better impact and focuses especially on varieties that come back year after year.

   A donation of $5 is asked for non-members. More information: www.lancastergardenclub.org or 717-872-5192.

 2012 BUS TRIPS WITH GEORGE

   These one-day and multi-day excursions target some of our region’s best and often little-known public gardens. Each trip includes traveling seminars and timely gardening tips, plus gardening games and prizes that may land you a plant or two from George’s gardens or a $25 gift card to Stauffer’s of Kissel Hill garden centers. Bonus: George’s fun, friendly wife, Sue, will serve as your escort and “mom” for most of these trips.

   Pickups are at both East Shore and West Shore locations.

Fri., June 22: Temple’s Ambler Arboretum & Jenny Rose Carey’s Garden

One of the fun surprises in Jenny Rose Carey’s garden.

Originally home to the ground-breaking Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women, the Ambler Arboretum is now a 187-acre campus of Temple University with 14 themed garden areas, including conifers, groundcovers, woodland plants, native plants, tropicals and herbs, plus a winter garden, a labyrinth and the newest feature, the Ernesta Ballard Healing Garden.

Jenny Rose Carey is director of the Ambler Arboretum, and her 4½-acre home garden ranks No. 1 as the best home garden I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot). It’s got numerous sitting nooks, a gardener cottage, a dry garden that’s never watered, a beautiful pond with paver sitting area and many great plant combos and fun surprises.

We’ll then tour the private gardens of landscaper Michael Colibraro, who built Ambler’s conifer garden and who has an interesting bonsai and conifer collection.

   Cost is $115, including lunch at Bridget’s Steak. To sign up, call Lowee’s Group Tours at 717-657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933 or email ckelly@lowees.com.

Fri.-Sun., July 27-29: Garden Walk Buffalo

Just one of the many great gardens to be seen at Garden Walk Buffalo.

 You like garden tours? This one’s the big mama of them all, featuring more than 350 home gardens open to oglers on a single weekend each July. Even with two whole days to see them, you’ll barely make a dent in the number, which is why we’re offering this return trip in 2012. Ideal for getting ideas for your own yard.

We’ll stay over two nights at the classy Buffalo Hyatt Regency, stopping at Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua and Casa Larga Winery in Fairport (yes, wine-tasting) on the way up. We’ll also see the flower trials at the Erie Basin Marina, take a cruise on Lake Erie and visit the Buffalo Japanese Garden.

   Cost is $399 per person double, including hotel, wine-tasting, cruise and four meals. To sign up, call Lowee’s Group Tours at 717-657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933 or email ckelly@lowees.com.

Fri., Sept. 14: New York Flowers By Rail and By Sea

The rail part of this day trip is New York City’s new High Line, a unique landscaped park with grasses, trees, wildflowers and seating atop elevated rail tracks that used to be a train route through the West Side’s meat-packing district. It also offers a new look at the city below.

The by-the-sea part is an afternoon visit to Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island. The highlight is the Chinese Scholars Garden, authentically built by 40 Chinese artisans in the late 1990s. We’ll also see several smaller gardens, two museums and other cultural buildings in an 83-acre park that used to be a seaside home for retired sailors.

   Cost is $137, including dinner. To sign up, call Lowee’s Group Tours at 717-657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933 or email ckelly@lowees.com.

Fri., Oct. 19: Autumn Color in the Capital

The Chinese Pavilion at the U.S. National Arboretum.

We’ll start with a tram tour through the huge tree and shrub collection at Washington’s U.S. National Arboretum, which should be taking on fall color by then. We’ll also have time to tour the arboretum’s conifer collection, the bonsai garden, the herb garden and more.

In the afternoon, we’ll tour Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Md. This is a county park that has a better collection of theme gardens and great home-landscape plants than a lot of botanical gardens. It’s also got a butterfly house, a woodland walk and many nice fall-foliage plants.

   Cost is $95, including lunch. To sign up, call Lowee’s Group Tours at 717-657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933 or email ckelly@lowees.com.

Fri., Nov. 30: New York Botanical Garden Christmas Show

New York City landmarks made out of plant materials are the highlight of New York Botanical Gardens’ Christmas show.

This venerable NYC botanic garden has one of the most beautiful conservatories in the world, and for Christmas, it houses an amazing collection of miniature New York landmarks all made out of plant materials. Trains run through the whole thing. Crowded but worth it.

   Cost is $159, including lunch on site and admission. To sign up, call Lowee’s Group Tours at 717-657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933 or email ckelly@lowees.com.

Fri., Dec. 7: Winterthur and Longwood for Christmas

We’ll spend the morning at the “other” duPont place down the road from Longwood Gardens – Winterthur, which offers an intriguing house tour, a pretty fair holiday-decorating display in its own right, and if the weather is reasonably decent, a tram tour of the rolling grounds.

December is actually Longwood’s most-visited month — and you’ll see why with its stunning outdoor lights and Christmas-adorned conservatories.  We’ll have lunch there, then hours of free time to peruse the plants and decorations. We’re staying after dark to see the lights better.

   Cost is $99, including lunch. To sign up, call Lowee’s Group Tours at 717-657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933 or email ckelly@lowees.com.

 Wed., Dec. 12: D.C. Holiday Conservatories and Shopping

   This Christmas-time trip is for conservatory lovers (or plant geeks who don’t give up just because they’re chased inside). We’ll spend the morning at Merrifield Garden Center — one of D.C.’s best — where we’ll hear a talk on decorating with plants and have free time to shop the greenhouse and Christmas shop.

   Then we’ll head to the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington to see the tropics decorated for Christmas along with D.C. landmarks made out of plant materials and trains running throughout.

   The last stop is an after-dark visit to Brookside Gardens’ amazing Garden of Lights, featuring 1 million lights strung over topiary frames and live plants. It also has two conservatories with trains.

   Cost is $105, including lunch and dinner. To sign up, call Lowee’s Group Tours at 717-657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933 or email ckelly@lowees.com.

 2013 CRUISE AROUND HAWAII

 Slated for April 13-20, 2013, this trip involves flying to Honolulu and then spending 8 days on the Norwegian Pride of America cruise ship as we stop off at Maui, Hilo, Kona and Kauai.

 We’ll have options to see gardens and plant-themed attractions at each island. Prices start at $2,735, including airfare, transportation to and from the Newark airport, the cruise fare and onboard meals and entertainment.

 For more details, call Lowee’s Group Tours at 717-657-9658 or email jo@lowees.com.

 2013 TRIP TO GARDENS OF SCOTLAND AND NORTHERN ENGLAND

Glasgow Botanic Garden

    The big trip for 2013 will be a 14-day visit to see gardens in Scotland and northern England. We’ll leave July 13, 2013, and return July 26.

   Garden visits will include Castle Howard, Harlow Carr Gardens, Newby Hall, Holehird Gardens, Howick Hall Gardens, the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh, Glasgow Botanic Garden, Crathes Castle and Crook Gardens.

   Non-garden stops will include a visit to a Scottish kiltmaker, a cruise on Loch Lomand, a tour of Theakston Brewery (North Yorkshire), a tour of Glengoyne Distillery (Scottish whiskey), a visit to the Culloden Battlefield, walking tours of York and Glasgow, stops at the homes of authors William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, Sir Walter Scott and James Herriot, and visits to York Minster, Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Yacht Britannia. Golfing options are also available.

   The cost is $3,190, which includes admissions, three- and four-star hotels, daily breakfasts and 10 dinners, including one with entertainment and wine.

   Airfare rates are additional and will be available in October. Also not included are transportation to and from the airport, lunches, two dinners, driver and tour-guide gratuities and personal expenses.

   For more information: call Kathy Harrigan at 717-818-3024 or email Kathy@harriganholidays.com or visit www.HarriganHolidays.com.

   This is the same company, by the way, that put together our very nice trips to Ireland in 2010 and 2011.