To submit a garden-related public event for the e-gardens calendar, please e-mail details to events@sperrygardens.com. Deadline is the 15th of the month prior to the event date.

Austin/Travis County
Visit the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center free through Jan. 31. Though not many flowers are in bloom this season, you’ll see beautiful and interesting plants like coralberry, Texas mountain laurel, and Western white honeysuckle displaying their winter fruits. Find details at http://www.wildflower.org/visit/.

Take a “Tree Talk Winter Walk” through the grounds of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on Saturday, Jan. 28. You’ll learn how to replace those drought-stricken trees with hardy Texas natives. Experts include Jim Houser, forest health coordinator with the Texas Forest Service, Guy LeBlanc, noted arborist, and Chris Dolan, oak wilt coordinator for the City of Austin. Kids even get to experiment with arborists’ gear in a Kids Tree Climb. Free admission throughout the day. See the speaking schedule at http://www.wildflower.org/ttww/.

Attend a free seminar on Rose Care and Pruning, Thursday, Feb. 16, 10 a.m. – noon, at the Travis County AgriLife Extension Office, 1600 G Smith Rd., in Austin. You will learn about varieties, planting, fertilizer, disease identification and pruning. Presented in cooperation with the Travis County Master Gardens. Visit www.tcmastergardeners.org or call 512-854-9600.

Dallas/Collin County
Attend a free lawn care seminar sponsored by Dallas Water Utilities on Saturday, Jan. 28, 9 – 11 a.m., in Richland College’s Performance Hall, 12800 Abrams Rd. in Dallas. John and Amanda Griffin, turf and irrigation specialists, will teach you how to care for your lawn like an expert. There will be a drawing for a 60-gallon rain barrel donated by Catch the Rain and bags of Green Sense organic fertilizer donated by Rohde’s Nursery and Nature Store. Call 214-670-3155 to check on space availability.

Mark your calendar for Dallas Blooms at the Dallas Arboretum, beginning March 3 and continuing through April 8. Now in its 28th year, Dallas Blooms features 500,000 spring-blooming tulips, daffodils, Dutch iris and hyacinths, in addition to 100,000 pansies, violas, poppies and thousands of other spring-blooming annuals and perennials. For a 10-day period during the festival more than 200 cherry trees are in bloom, followed by the mass flowering of the garden’s collection of 6,000 azaleas, which bloom through the end of April. A three-day Artscape, featuring nearly 100 artists, is once again a weekend feature, and is scheduled for March 16-18. Find full details at www.dallasarboretum.org/DallasBlooms/index.htm.

Plan ahead for the Collin County Master Gardeners’ second annual Garden Show, scheduled for March 24-25 at Myers Park and Event Center in McKinney. The weekend includes the opportunity to tour the Earth-Kind Perennial Research and Demonstration Garden and the Earth-Kind Roses Research Garden at Myers Park. Find details at www.ccmgatx.org/TheGardenShow.

Mark your calendar for the Great Big Texas Home Show at Cowboys Stadium, Mar. 9-11. The show features HGTV’s Chip Wade and Dig In’s William Moss. Find details at www.GreatBigTexasHomeShow.com.

Enjoy a wine and cheese party and a stimulating Valentine’s Day talk on insect behavior and reproduction, “Love Bugs,” Feb. 14, 6-8 p.m. at Texas Discovery Gardens. Entomologist John Watts makes the presentation. Fee is $25 individual, $40 couple ($20/$30 members). Register in advance. Visit http://texasdiscoverygardens.org/events_and_classes.php.

Fort Worth
Buy advance tickets online for Butterflies in the Garden at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, scheduled for Mar. 3 through Apr. 8. The exhibition features tropical butterflies from around the world in the garden’s spectacular conservatory. Tickets are sold for timed entrance. The event is hosted by the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the Fort Worth Garden Club, the Fort Worth Botanical Society and the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Find details at www.fwbg.org/calendar-of-events/.

Galveston
Get ready for the area’s Purple Martin Invasion by attending a class on Saturday, Feb. 4, 10 a.m.- noon, at South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. Purple Martin Conservation Association member Louise Chambers and carpenter John Barrow will share what’s needed to bring these fascinating mosquito-repelling bird families to your yard. $7 non-members, free for members. www.stxbot.org/stxbot_education_events.html.

Join in a benefit event for Bat Conservation International by attending “Bats Are Doin’ It” at Moody Gardens, Feb. 11, 7 – 11 p.m. The bat-themed evening will allow guests to socialize while they learn more about these mysterious creatures. Tickets: $50 per person (21 or over), $90 per couple. Includes two drink tickets, hors d’oeuvres, special presentation by guest speaker James Eggers, and a night tour of the Rainforest Pyramid. Details at http://www.moodygardens.org/conservation/year_of_the_bat/.

Learn “Organic Approaches for Growing Roses” on Saturday, Feb. 18, 10 a.m. – noon at South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. Accomplished rosarians with the Corpus Christi Rose Society will teach what you need to know and explain the latest organic methods. $7 non-members, free for members. www.stxbot.org/stxbot_education_events.html.

Nacogdoches
Attend the Texas Bluebird Society’s 2012 Season Kickoff on Saturday, Feb. 4, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at Stephen F. Austin University. Featured speakers include Sperry Gardens writer Greg Grant, an expert on attracting bluebirds to the landscape. Find details at www.texasbluebirdsociety.org or register at http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?474728.
 
Attend the February presentation in the Theresa and Les Reeves 2012 Lecture Series on the Stephen F. Austin University campus. Todd Watson speaks on “Everything You Wanted to Know about Planting Right but Were Afraid to Ask....” The presentation takes place in the Agriculture Building, 1924 Wilson Drive, Room 110, 7 p.m. Come early for refreshments and stay afterward for the plant raffle! Visit http://arboretum.sfasu.edu and click on “garden events.”

San Antonio
Enroll the kids in Bexar County AgriLife Extension’s Spring Children’s Vegetable Garden Program, which is scheduled for every Saturday morning, 8 a.m. – noon from Feb. 18 to June 2. Application deadline is Feb. 9. Find details at bexar-tx.tamu.edu.
 
View the Amazing Butterflies information on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJiQelNo1Mc, then visit the San Antonio Botanical Garden (exhibit extended to Feb. 12). The exhibit, which was created by The Natural History Museum in London in collaboration with Minotaur Mazes, invites you to shrink down into the undergrowth to become one of the most extraordinary creatures on earth. Adventure through the leaves, move like a caterpillar, discover an ant that reaps the reward of an unusual friendship, then transform into a butterfly and take flight! Many interactive exhibits. See details at www.sabot.org.

Tyler
Attend the East Texas Spring Landscape and Garden Conference on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Tyler Rose Garden Center. Presentations begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 3:30 p.m. Noted speakers include Dr. David Reed, Malcom Beck, and Carmen Wagner. There is no pre-registration; doors open at 7:30 a.m. Fee for the conference ($35) includes a chicken box lunch and morning coffee with doughnuts. Click here to see details in the pdf file.