Get Your Green Thumb in Shape With Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Conference for Local Gardeners

Gather with fellow plant lovers for a full day of workshops, information sharing and inspiration at “Making Brooklyn Bloom.”

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual conference is a free event aimed at bringing botanical knowledge to the community and spreading the enthusiasm for a greener borough. “Shine the Light on Plants” is the theme this year, with tours, talks and hands-on workshops focusing on the powerful properties that the natural world provides. There will be morning and afternoon sessions with topics including composting, seed saving and the bees of New York. You can also join in on a special tour focused on the plants at risk from a proposed development near the garden.

The centerpiece of the afternoon will be “She Hid Seeds in Her Hair: The Power of Ancestral African Foods,” a presentation by keynote speaker Christopher Bolden-Newsome, farmer and codirector of the Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia.

There will be plenty of opportunities during the day to get your plant questions answered with reps from greening organizations across the city on hand with information and exhibits. Stop by the “Ask the Expert” table for some tips and you can even introduce yourself to some bugs and slugs from the American Museum of Natural History.

The event takes place on Saturday, March 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Registration for the workshops is first-come, first-serve, on the morning of the event — you may want to get there early. For all the details, including a list of all the workshop topics, visit the event page online.

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