Join the Northeast Louisiana Master Gardeners this Saturday, January 18, for their 10th Annual January Gardening Seminar and Seep Swap. This year's theme, Native Plants and Native Landscapes, highlights the importance of incorporating native plant species into our landscapes and conservation efforts underway to protect natural areas that we draw inspiration from.
Louisiana is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna that lives throughout the state's different habitats. According to the seminar's keynote speaker, Dr. Dwayne Estes, one of those habitats and its inhabitants are in danger: the grasslands.
Estes says, "They [the grasslands] are in really bad shape. They once occupied around 110 million acres of the southeastern landscape. Unfortunately, we have lost nearly 95-99% of what we once had."
This seminar is designed to teach people how to help combat the total destruction of the southeastern grassland ecosystem. Dr. Estes along with the seminar's two other guest speakers, Dr. Charles Allen and Tammany Baumgarten, will focus on restoration projects and encourage gardeners to incorporate native plant species in their gardens and the surrounding landscape.
Estes believes we have to act now because, "These grasslands are so vital to the story of American history and especially these days to biodiversity in the region."
The Master Gardeners seminar will be held in conjunction with Saturday's Ag Expo at the West Monroe Convention Center, 901 Ridge Avenue. It will begin at 7:30 a.m. and lasts until 1:30 p.m. with a $20 registration fee. Walk-ins are welcome.
To pre-register or find out more about the seminar, contact the LSU AgCenter at (318) 323-2251.