The Saturday Gardening Seminar

March 15, 2025

The 2025 Saturday Gardening Seminar has ended. 

We thank you for your continued support and hope you will join us in 2026 for our next event.

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The beauty and unique behaviors of dragonflies, damselflies & hummingbirds are incredibly interesting and useful, especially in the home garden habitat.  In this program, you will learn more about these charming and helpful creatures including their natural history and ideas for how to attract them to the home garden habitat.

Judy Semroc is the founder of Chrysalis in Time, the first Ohio chapter of the North American Butterfly Association.  She also serves on the board of the Ohio Ornithological Society and the Ohio Biological Survey.  She has co-authored two natural history guides, “Dragonflies & Damselflies of Northeast Ohio” and “Goldenrods of Northeast Ohio: A Field Guide to Identification & Natural History.  For more than 20 years Judy was a Conservation Specialist in the Natural Areas Division of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  As a former Petroleum Geologist and science teacher, Judy loves to learn about and share her passion for the natural world through field trips, interpretive programs, and photography.  Learn more about Judy’s latest adventures & offerings through her new company, Nature Spark!

Learn how to become a better houseplant parent by rejecting rampant myths, learning the core basics of plant care, and making your own observations.  It’s time to go back to the basics and cut our all the myths that are proliferating online about plant care.

Raffaele Di Lallo is the author of Houseplant Warrior: 7 Keys to Unlocking the Mysteries of Houseplant Care and is the founder of Ohio Tropics, an organization dedicated to plant care.  He is also the creator of Becoming and Orchid Master, an online course on orchid growing, and is a member of the American Orchid Society, Garden Communicators International, and the National Garden Bureau.  You can find his work at ohiotropics.com.

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One in every three bites of food we take can be traced back to animal pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.  Who are these vital creatures, what exactly do they do, and how are they threatened?  This program will feature OSU’s Plant by Numbers program, with six themes using native perennials in simple garden designs to attract pollinators.  The Plant by Numbers garden guides include garden strategies and “garden-worthy” plants to support these important creatures.

Denise R. Ellsworth directs pollinator education programming through the OSU Dept. of Entomology, a position she has held since 2012.  In her Extension and outreach work, Denise supports and teaches beekeepers, farmers, gardeners and others across the state through a variety of workshops, webinars, written materials and electronic resources.  Before coming to Entomology Denise served for 18 years as the agriculture and natural resources county extension educator in the Akron/Canton area with a focus on horticulture, integrated pest management and environmental education.

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Bats provide numerous little-known benefits to humans and their presence is imperative to both healthy ecosystems and our food production.  In this presentation learn about bats and their taxonomy. Review the impact of White Nose Syndrome and the conservation status of Ohio’s bats. Todd will discuss bat research methods including new techniques now being used in the Discover Bats Ohio research project.  The presentation will conclude with a recipe for a healthy backyard ecosystem.  Native plants and insects such as mosquitoes, skink bugs and other unwanted pests provide a continuous diet bats find so delectable.  Bats do so much for us – so let’s talk about what we can do for them!

Todd Cartner has degrees in both Mechanical and Computer Science and worked for nearly 40 years in Northeast Ohio as an engineer, scientist, and clinical research director.  Both Todd and his wife (Ann) are Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalists (OCVN).  They have volunteered for many Ohio organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, Portage Park District, Ohio State Parks, and the Ohio Division of Wildlife.   They have conducted over 55 educational events about bats across Ohio for more than 3,200 people, captivating children and adults alike.   In 2024 Todd and Ann co-founded Discover Bats Ohio LLC, through which they continue to run events and to conduct acoustic research.  You can follow them at https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverBatsOhio.  Todd is a major proponent of species discovery of both common and endangered bats, both for contribution to science and as a means to get grant funding for habitat protection.

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We are mindful of the Covid uncertainty. We will follow all applicable Federal, State, and Local regulations and recommendations to enhance the safety of our members and guests.