Short Courses & Workshops

Orchids for Beginners

with Thomas Purviance & Dr. John Salventi

DATE:  Wednesday, Sept 17. 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
FEE:  $62 passholder; $69 non-passholder 
WHERE:  Acer Room 
CODE:  082PSOBE

Do you love the elegance and beauty of orchids, but are hesitant to try your hand at growing them? Join popular instructors, Thomas Purviance and John Salventi as they de-mystify these tropical gems. This workshop will introduce the popular genera of orchids and highlight those best suited for home and greenhouse growing. You will explore their growth requirements and how their needs differ from those of other houseplants. Learn about their natural habitat and briefly review their plant structure. Beware! Once you start, you may find orchid growing to be a fabulous addiction. The fee includes a beautiful orchid, ready to bloom, which you will take home.

Beginning Bonsai

with Dennis Donald

DATE:  Saturday, Oct 4. 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
FEE:  $129 passholder; $139 non-passholder. lunch provided 
WHERE:  Catalpa Room
CODE:  082PSBBD

This ever popular day-long course is designed for beginners interested in bonsai, the centuries old Asiatic art of dwarfing trees and shrubs grown in pots or small spaces. During the morning lecture, you will learn the care and culture of bonsai and techniques for designing and maintaining your plant. A boxed lunch will be provided and you’ll continue your discussion while you eat. In the afternoon, you will receive a plant and work under Dennis’ guidance to design a bonsai to take home.
Course fee includes plant, wire, bonsai scissors, and a boxed lunch.

Container Gardening Series:

A Container Garden for Every Season! We all enjoy planting annuals in containers in summer, but why limit yourself to just one season? New in this catalog is our Container Gardening Series where you’ll learn some of the secrets of growing stunning containers such as the ones you see at Longwood. Attend one class or all five, and take home a fabulous container from each. We’ll provide the containers, potting mix, plants, and Longwood gardeners’ expertise. Your deck or patio will never be the same!

Take all of the following 5 Seasonal Container classes for $199!

Container Water Gardening

with Tim Jennings

SOLD OUT!

DATE:  Saturday, May 17. 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
FEE:  $44 passholder; $49 non-passholder
WHERE:  Soil Shed
CODE:  081PSC3M

Do you admire the beauty and tranquility of Longwood’s Water Garden display and wish you knew how to start a water garden at home? Then join Longwood’s water lily expert, Tim Jennings and learn how to create a container water garden to take home. The class will start with a walk around Longwood’s water lily display and a discussion of favorable conditions for growing these amazing specimens. You’ll return to the Soil Shed to receive water loving plants, special medium, and a container to create your own miniature water garden.
Limited to 20 students.

Hanging Baskets
with Roger Davis & John Ritterson

SOLD OUT!

DATE:  Saturday, June 7. 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
FEE:  $44 passholder; $49 non-passholder
WHERE:  Idea Garden Shed
CODE:  081PSC2M

With Longwood’s magnificent hanging baskets as inspiration, you’re sure to produce a winner under the supervision of Roger and John. They will discuss basket types, the best soil mixes, and plant selection. Join in a class discussion about design and styling. Then roll up your sleeves and pot up your own hanging basket to enjoy all summer.

Autumn Container Combos
with Karl Gercens

SOLD OUT!

DATE:  Saturday, Sept 13. 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
FEE:  $44 passholder; $49 non-passholder
WHERE:  Catalpa Patio
CODE:  082PSC4M

Autumn is one of the most colorful seasons of the year and often the most overlooked in the landscape. With careful container selection and proper plant choices, gardeners can have containerized beauty in all areas of the garden. Join Karl as he exposes container gardening fact and fiction! You’ll create a beautiful container to take home filled with a variety of colorful plants that will shine late into the season!

A Garden for the Indoors – Terrarium & Dish Gardens
with Joyce Rondinella

SOLD OUT!

DATE:  Saturday, Dec 6. 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
FEE:  $44 passholder; $49 non-passholder
WHERE:  Betula Room
CODE:  082PSC5M

Terrariums are great for displaying small indoor houseplants. They require very little care and make ideal gifts for friends who enjoy plants but don’t have the time to make one themselves. In this fun course, Joyce will discuss plant selection, growing conditions and culture, and how to care for your terrarium once you take it home. You’ll make a beautiful terrarium that will provide a green scene in your home or office all winter. Best of all, you will leave Longwood with the knowledge to make more.

Orchid Repotting Workshop

with Thomas Purviance & Dr. John Salventi

DATE:  Saturday, Nov 1. 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon 
FEE:  $44 passholder; $49 non-passholder
WHERE:  Catalpa Room
CODE:  082PSORM

This comprehensive course for beginner and intermediate level orchid enthusiasts will cover repotting, basketing, and mounting orchids. Class discussion will include assessment of when to repot, appropriate techniques for different kinds of orchids, and how to select the proper media for all varieties of orchids. This will be a hands-on course, and participants are encouraged to bring an orchid or two for evaluation and repotting.
Potting materials will be provided.

Dividing Perennials

with Nick Tomlan

 DATE:  Saturday, Sept 20. 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
FEE:  $34 passholder; $39 non-passholder
WHERE:  Catalpa Patio
CODE:  082PSDPM

Perennials may need to be divided if they are outgrowing their space, declining due to congestion, or just because you want more plants. Don’t we all? Almost any perennial can be divided, but techniques differ depending on the type of plant. This workshop focuses on the basics of how to divide different types of plants and when best to do it. Roll up your sleeves, because you’ll have a chance to learn by doing under the watchful eye of Longwood gardener, Nick Tomlan. Knowing the best way to divide perennials will help you rejuvenate your plants and create new plants for your garden or to share with your friends.

Creating a Living Wreath

with Joyce Rondinella

SOLD OUT!

DATE:  Saturday, May 31. 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
FEE:  $44 passholder; $49 non-passholder
WHERE:  Acer Room
CODE:  081PSLWM

SOLD OUT!

DATE:  Saturday, June 7. 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
FEE:  $44 passholder; $49 non-passholder
WHERE:  Acer Room
CODE:  081PSLWM2

In this hands-on workshop, Longwood Senior Gardener Joyce Rondinella will explain the construction and uses of various styles of living wreaths. She will help you select plants that will last the season as a living wreath on your patio or deck. Learn which plants make the best candidates and how to create pleasing combinations of succulents and other interesting foliage plants. Joyce will also help you find the perfect sheltered spot for your wreath and how to care for your wreath at home. After Joyce demonstrates techniques used to make these one-of-a-kind creations, you will create your own living wreath to take home.
Bring gardening gloves if you’d like to use them.

Plants that POP!

with Karl Gercens

DATE:  Wednesday, June 4. 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM
FEE:  $44 passholder; $49 non-passholder
WHERE:  Acer Room
CODE:  081PSPPE

Discover the excitement that luscious reds, sparkling golds, and crisp silvers can add to your landscape. Functional fastigiates and pouty prostrate plants all hold a special place in the well designed garden. Colored foliage plants are Karl’s passion, and this will become quite evident as his entertaining and informative presentation progresses. Be sure to bring a new pen because you may run out of ink taking so many notes home to your garden! A separate tour of Karl’s garden of exciting plants will be offered on the Saturday morning following the lecture. Optional tour date: Saturday, June 7

An Evening in the Water Garden

with Tim Jennings & Patrick Nutt

SOLD OUT!

DATE:  Friday, Sept 5. 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM
FEE:  $70 passholder; $79 non-passholder. dinner provided 
WHERE:  Acer Room & Waterlily Display
CODE:  082PSWGE

One of Longwood's most magnificent autumn highlights is the Waterlily Display, located in the courtyard of the Main Conservatory. Every autumn, participants in this enchanted evening rave about their experience. For this unique evening session you will join Longwood's waterlily experts, Tim and Patrick, for an introduction to the waterlily display. The culture, care, and maintenance of aquatic plants, water gardens, and marginal plantings will be discussed. Enjoy the early evening around the waterlily pools, adjourn to the Orchid Display Room for dinner, and reconvene outside as the night-flowering lilies are beginning to open. You will be informed, enchanted, and well fed  - an unbeatable combination!

Desperate Housescapes

with Karl Gercens

DATE:  Tuesday, Oct 28. 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
FEE:  $34 passholder; $39 non-passholder 
WHERE:  Acer Room 
CODE:  082PSDLE

Is your landscape dominated by overgrown shrubs and perennials? Mismatched colors and textures? Sweeps of one? Are your least favorite perennials seeding all over but you have bare spots elsewhere? Come to this fun and informative session and learn some of the secrets of good garden design without having to start over. Karl is full of tips and tricks to help you create good combinations and dramatic vistas. We’d love to have you share some photos and stories about your “desperate housescapes” and use those as discussion points in the class. This class will help you cultivate those problems into assets in your garden.
When you register, we’ll ask for volunteers who’d be willing to email a photo of their “desperate housescape.”

Springtime in Winter: The Art of Bulb Forcing

with Art Wolk

DATE:  Saturday, Nov 8.9:30 AM to12:00 Noon
FEE:  $34 passholder; $39 non-passholder
WHERE:  Betula Room
CODE:  082PSBFM 
OR  
DATE:  Saturday, Nov 8. 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM
FEE:  $34 passholder; $39 non-passholder
WHERE:  Betula Room
CODE:  082PSBFA

A beautiful pot of spring bulbs is a sure-fire cure for the winter doldrums! Two-time Philadelphia Flower Show Grand sweepstakes winner Art Wolk leads you through this hands-on workshop, teaching you the techniques, methods, and secrets of forcing bulbs for display in winter. Art’s discussion includes information on designing and growing your own outdoor bulb display as well as some unique behind-the-scenes views of how he prepares his award-winning displays for the Philadelphia Flower Show. Participants in the morning session will plant an 8” pot of daffodils and an 8” pot of tulips. Those in the afternoon session will plant a mixed bulb garden in a 12” pot that will contain crocus, iris, daffodils, and tulips. Detailed directions for forcing these pots into bloom will be given.