Three speakers will offer their expertise on gardening March 11 when the Taylor Garden Club hosts a day-long seminar on “Growing Great Gardens” at the Heinz C. Prechter Educational and Performing Arts Center of Wayne County Community College, Downriver Campus.
The day will start with coffee, tea and pastries provided by Tim Horton’s at 8 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m. The cost is $55, or $65 with an optional “Lunch & Learn” session.
Participants will have an opportunity to network, shop for garden accessories and tools, take part in raffles and compete in a contest for the most awesome garden hat.
Registrations are being accepted by Pattie Kehr at 313-715-8316 or [email protected].
The keynote speaker will be Kerry Ann Mendez, author of “Right-sized Garden,” who will explain how to make smarter use of available space with chosen plants.
Other speakers will be Brienne Gluvna Arthur, garden designer and author of “Foodscaping: Ways to Include Food and Beauty in Your Garden,” and Professor Laura Deeter of Ohio State University, who also will be the luncheon speaker.
Among Deeter’s subjects will be how an understanding of the interaction of soils and plants can help a person grow a better garden.
The seminar will close with a talk by Mendez on dealing with small spaces and plants that thrive in dry-shade and hot-sand locations.
The Heinz C. Prechter Center is located at 21000 Northline.
Comedian to be speaker
The Downriver Town Hall Lecture Series audience will listen and laugh March 11 when comedian, author and comedy writer Jan McInnis takes the podium at Crystal Gardens in Southgate.
McInnis’ comedy material has been used in “Tonight Show” monologues, on radio broadcasts, on greeting cards and in syndicated cartoon strips. She also has been a guest on the “Jerry Springer Show” and was featured in articles in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post for her humor.
In addition, McInnis is the author of “Finding the Funny Fast: How to Create Quick Humor to Connect with Clients.” The speaker majored in communications at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and was a disc jockey for a local radio station.
The Town Hall lecture program will begin at 11 a.m., with doors opening at 10 a.m. For ticket information, call 734-783-9224 or email [email protected]. Crystal Gardens is located at 16703 Fort St.
Coming up . . .
March 11, 12 — Play, Downriver Youth Performing Arts Center production of “James and the Giant Peach,” about an English orphan who enters a magical peach and has a wild cross-world adventure; featuring DYPAC alumni over 19 years old; 2 p.m. at the Trenton Village Theatre, 2447 W. Jefferson; tickets, $12 and $10 ($12 tickets include a backstage tour), are available at www.dypac.com and will be sold at the door.
March 10-25 — Comedy, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” written by comedian Steve Martin; to be staged by the Open Book Theatre at 1621 West Road in Trenton; performances at 8 p.m. March 10, 11, 17, 18, 23 and 24, and 2 p.m. March 12 and 19; the March 19 performance will be followed by a discussion with the actors; opening night tickets, which include an afterparty, are $30; for all other performances, tickets are $10, or $15, students and seniors; for more information or tickets, go to www.openbooktc.com or call 734-288-7753.
March 14 — Downriver Arts and Crafts Guild program, 6 p.m. at the Southgate Veterans Memorial Library, 14680 Dix Toledo; members have been invited to take two or three items to the meeting for a month-long display at the library after the works are critiqued and awarded honors by Martine MacDonald, an artist who teaches at Wayne County Community College, Downriver Campus; open to the public with no charge.
March 14-19 — Play, “Rent on Its 20th Anniversary Tour”; at the Fisher Theatre; tickets, starting at $39, are available at Ticketmaster locations, 800-982-2787 and www.BroadwayinDetroit.com; for information about an open-captioned performance, call 313-872-1000, Ext. 0.