Adult Programs

What a pleasure to have fresh cut flowers from your own garden! Join us for a look at cutting garden design whether formal or informal, for an acre of land or ten pots on a terrace. Bring elegant, fragrant, colorful, and sculptural blooms indoors throughout the year. Learn about the best plants for wonderful cut flowers.

Jane Brook Barba
SP GAR 219

Flowers play a crucial role in creating the atmosphere for a wedding. Learn the elements of effective floral wedding design: styling and construction of bridal bouquets and corsages, altar and pew arrangements, and table centerpieces. A materials fee of $200 is due upon registration. Please bring lunch to classes meeting all day.

Certificate Requirement, Classroom Hours: 16
Prerequisite: Basic Centerpieces and Arrangements–FLO 301. Students may be enrolled simultaneously in FLO 301 and FLO 302.

Maureen Laning
SP FLO 302 Section B

Drawing II is a continuation of Drawing I: Basic as it relates to the accurate drawing of plants. Students apply the foundations and learn how to draw each aspect of plants: stems, leaves, branches, root systems, and flowers. Students should take Drawing II immediately following Drawing I. A materials list is mailed with your confirmation letter. Please bring lunch for classes meeting all day.

Certificate Requirement (tracks 1 & 2), Classroom Hours: 15

Prerequisite: Drawing I–BIL 301
Lauretta Jones
SP BIL 302 Section A

Become skilled at retrieving your images. Learn methods of processing, organizing, and managing your photos. Explore proper naming, filing, organizing, printing, Web site usage, and e-mailing of images. Basic image control, enhancement, alteration, sizing, cropping, and rotation are demonstrated. Prerequisite: Experience taking photos with a digital camera. Bringing a digital camera to class is optional.

Donald Gambino
SP GWP 123 Section B

Join the New Canaan Nature Center Horticulture Director, Alan Gorkin, as he leads a tour to Stonecrop Gardens.

We will tour the gardens on our own and get a behind the scenes look at horticultural practices as they were done on the estates of yesteryear.

Bring a bag lunch and expect to do some walking over rugged terrain. NCNC will provide transportation. There will be plants for sale at the gardens.

Join us for an evening of cocktails and sumptuous hors D'oeuvres. Locally grown, sustainable foods have inspired the menu for this year's Secret Garden Party. The delicious, regional fare will be exquistely prepared by guest chefs Kathy Oberman and Katie Wachtel.

Guests will be invited to purchase a toast for a chance to win a nature-inspired original jewelry design by Scott Cusson. Champagne is courtesy of Steve Batchelor and Diageo. "Green" Appletinis are courtesy of Stirrings. A live auction will bring exciting, nature-inspired surprises. Those who purchase tickets to the Secret Garden Party will also recieve a ticket to the Secret Garden Tour and Luncheon.

Tickets are limited. Call (203) 966-9577 x50 for reservations and information.

The 19th annual Secret Gardens Tour will once again allow you to visit six fabulous private New Canaan gardens, including the Nature Center's own Sally Waters Herb Garden. From large to small, tour attendees will have an opportunity to experience a variety of gardens where they will stroll through arbors, along winding paths and among lavish perennial beds and flowering trees for a truly tranquil experience.

This special event will also feature a catered luncheon held at the New Canaan Nature Center from 11:30 - 2 p.m and a Tea will offered in the Herb Garden from 2 - 4 p.m. For more information click here.

Luncheon at the New Canaan Nature Center 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Tea in the Herb Garden 2 - 4 p.m.

Garden tour: $50.00
Garden Tour & Luncheon: $75.00

For tickets and more information, call (203) 966-9577 x50

Sponsored by Connecticut Cottages & Gardens

Before the summer camp season or next year's school semester begins, get certified in Wilderness First Aid. Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities offers an exceptional 16 hour Wilderness First Aid course for those individuals who work with youth groups, adults or any group in an outdoor setting, or those who need recertification in the 80-hour WFR course.

Recommended by the American Camping Association and other national professional organizations, Wilderness First Aid packs lessons in numerous first aid emergencies into this two day program. This in-depth course is known throughout the country for its unique ability to prepare its participants for diagnosing and treating emergency situations in the backcountry. Through lecture and mock rescue scenarios, participants will cover the basics of bone and muscle injuries, shock, temperature-caused illnesses, head trauma, and other medical conditions and how to treat these when advanced medical help is not readily available.

Camping at the Nature Center is available for the evening. Group discounts for multiple reservations and non-profit organizations are available. Additional instruction in Adult CPR may be also be available, please inquire at time of registration. Program includes light breakfast, lunch and snacks.

16 hour course is $195.00.
A non-refundable deposit of $95.00 is due at time of registration.

Learn how to build your own rustic garden structure - your choice of a trellis, obelisk or gate. Beautiful and natural, it will compliment any garden.

Furniture maker Frank Hamm shows you how to collect wood, and guides you through the process of design and construction of an attractive, sturdy structure.

Techniques covered in this workshop can be applied to building other rustic furniture. Enjoy the outdoors while learning a skill that you can use to enhance any garden or home.

Bring gloves, measuring tape, hammer, pruning saw, and a portable electric hand drill (if you own one). Extra tools will be available. Parent/child pairs are welcome.

Tour Stone Barns Center for Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, Ny. Come visit a beautiful self sustaining community farm and agricultural center. New Canaan Nature Center will provide transportation and an experienced guide. We will see the working greenhouses , organically pastured animals, Educational and visitor facilities as well as being able to shop at the organic farm store. Each participant will receive a 4 pack of eggs. Refreshments are available at Blue Hill Café- we will leave the Nature center after at noon, bring a lunch to eat on route. We will tour on our own from 1-3, and receive a guided tour from 3-4. Be prepared to walk over rough ground, and in all kinds of weather.

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a farm, a kitchen, a classroom–an exhibit, a laboratory, a campus. The mission of this unique, nonprofit, member-driven collaboration is to celebrate, teach and advance community-based food production and enjoyment, from farm to classroom to table.

The four-season and pastured livestock farm grows crop varieties best suited for our locality and raises the types of animals Westchester pastures can support. All our farm products are raised for food. The farmers continually explore the most appropriate breeds, seeds and ecological dynamics for creating a diverse, resilient and reliable food system. The farm is the Center's core educational resource

Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Blue Hill Café showcase the farmers' year-round activities by bringing the field to the plate. The restaurant and café are the biggest customers of the four-season and livestock operations, purchasing products at fair market value. In both the restaurant and the café, menus are dictated by what products are in season and at peak flavor.

Whether a terrace, rooftop, or nook tucked into a corner of a backyard, cottage gardening can transform a space into an exuberant, colorful, and fragrant place. Taking its elegance and classic design from England, American cottage gardening has its own style, choice of plants, and attitude. After viewing slides of local cottage gardens, from the surprisingly formal to the purely simple, study the design concepts, and techniques. Explore planting possibilities, including small trees, shrubs, evergreens, annuals, perennials, and wildflowers. Please bring lunch.

Jane Brook Barba
SP GAR 167 Section A

Drawing upon 30 years of evaluating a wide range of popular and exotic, ornamental woody plants, Brad Roeller highlights trees and shrubs that are inherently resistant to deer browsing. Discover the latest information available about deer repellents and other proven methods of discouraging deer. Learn environmental and biological factors that influence deer and their choice of food.

Brad Roeller
SU GAR 139 Section A

An aesthetic combination of plants in a well-sited border is a pleasure in all seasons. In this class, learn where to put a flower bed; how to determine whether you have sun or shade; how to lay out the bed and prepare the soil, what to plant, and how to put it all together.

This class is a recommended prerequisite for A Perennial Border for All Seasons–GAR 180.

Brid Craddock
SU GAR 179

Perennials are a constant but ever-changing presence in the garden. The gardener’s challenge is to combine a variety of herbaceous plants and a few shrubs into a living collage. The first step is understanding nature’s geometry to provide structure in a perennial border. Learn the “checkerboard theory” of design and how to use strong plant shapes to create an effective four-season garden.

Recommended Prerequisite: Border Basics for Beginners—GAR 179, or at least three years of gardening experience.

Brid Craddock
SU GAR 180

Gain the basic skills and knowledge needed for successful cultivation of perennials in a variety of garden settings. Topics include site selection, soil preparation, tools and planting techniques, maintenance practices, plant selection, landscape use, and design basics. Please bring lunch.

Michael Ruggiero
SU GAR 231 Section B