URI
Master Gardeners to host open houses at 16 public gardens
Gardeners looking for inspiration are encouraged to attend one
of 16 open house events at demonstration gardens throughout Rhode Island as
part of the University of Rhode Island Master Gardener Program’s first Project
Open House on Saturday, Aug. 20 from 9 a.m. to noon.
The free events will be held at gardens designed and maintained
by URI Master Gardeners, who will be available to teach new gardening
techniques and share their knowledge about how to grow vegetables, flowers,
herbs and just about anything else that grows in the state.
“You can learn to cultivate mushrooms in Providence, to cook
with your garden’s harvest and extend the season in Kingston, to grow medicinal
plants in Pawtucket, how to attract pollinators and beneficial insects in
Newport and Middletown,” said Vanessa Venturini, the state program leader of
the URI Master Gardener Program.
“This is an opportunity to visit a garden
right in your community and learn from URI Master Gardeners. With 16 projects
across the state featuring unique workshop topics, this event has something for
everyone.”
In northern Rhode Island, open house events will be held in at the gardens at Slater Mill Historic Site in Pawtucket, the Dr. Reuben Mason House and the Glocester Senior Center in Glocester, and the Cumberland Monastery in Cumberland.
At Roger Williams Park in Providence, open houses will
take place at the Edible Forest Garden, the Betsey Williams Cottage garden and
the Botanical Center display gardens.
Other open houses will be held at the
Coventry Community Garden, Wilcox Park in Westerly, Mt. Hope Farm in Bristol,
the Newport Harbor Walk, and at three sites in Middletown – Norman Bird
Sanctuary, Prescott Farm, and the Middletown Community Garden. URI’s East Farm
will also host two open houses, which will last until 1 p.m.
The event draws on the success of the biennial Gardening with
the Masters tour of the private gardens of URI Master Gardener volunteers.
“Everyone loves peering into the private gardens during the Gardening
with the Masters tour. This new event is held in the year opposite the
garden tour to invite the community to learn the most cutting edge, practical
gardening tips in our public demonstration gardens,” said Venturini.
For more information, visit http://web.uri.edu/mastergardener/openhouse or
contact the URI Extension Outreach Center at 401-874-2900 or outreach@uri.edu.