Fall Fling Success

We had approximatly 107 attendees at our second annual conference Fall Fling. We were excited to educate fellow community gardeners (63% of attendees) as well as Master Gardeners on a variety of topics. We anticipated an increased enrollment from last year and planned ahead by reserving a larger space, Shreve Hall at Ivy Tech Community College.

The conference began at 8 a.m. with time for an array of breakfast foods provided by Master Gardener volunteers allowing time for breakfast, visiting, and last minute registrations.

We had three speakers lined up from 9 a.m. through 1 p.m. with ample time for questions and breaks in between speakers. This year’s topics and speakers included:

1. Gardening for Pollinators
   Tabby Flinn, Extension, Agriculture & Natural Resources (ANR) Educator, Vigo County Purdue Extension

2. Gardening for Birds
   Edward Oehlman, Southern Indiana Birdscape Coordinator, American Bird Conservancy

3. Landscape Design with Native Plants
   Paul Bouseman, Deputy Director at Evansville Parks and Recreation Department

You can read more about the speakers on the Fall Fling page where we will also be posting presentation slides shortly.

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Some of our attendees were happy to share their most important take-aways from the event.

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Erik Coyne, community member

“My wife and I have been trying to create a native habitat and better understand what that entails.

Today I learned more about what bees and butterflies need and how we can better co-exist.”

Ann Edmonds, Monroe County Master Gardener

“I really enjoyed and appreciated being pointed to online resources such as the Plant Finder and The Indiana Plant Society.”

Mary Callaghan, Purdue Extension Educator

“I learned about solitary bees versus resting colony bees. I didn’t realize the diversity of bee types and the unique benefits of each.”

Foster Gesten, community member

“I was interested to learn that we should be looking south with landscaping focused on natives as our climate changes.

I also appreciated learning about using different cultivars as focal points in garden design and structure.”