On March 10, community horticulture program, GreenBridge, will gather hundreds of gardeners from across the borough to kick off spring at the daylong Making Brooklyn Bloom conference.
For the 31st year, the event will gather horticultural professionals and home gardeners alike to meet each other, learn new gardening strategies and techniques, and discover local organizations that can help enliven Brooklyn through gardening.
This year’s Making Brooklyn Bloom – Think Global, Grow Local: What’s Next for Urban Gardeners? – will focus on a variety of subjects like growing food on roofs and windowsills to reducing a garden’s carbon footprint.
Dr. Sandra Henderson, director of Project BudBurst at the National Ecological Observatory Network, will deliver the Wilbur A. Levin Keynote Address, “When Plants Talk, We Listen: Gardeners as Citizen Scientists,” describing Project BudBurst’s continent-wide citizen science project focused on engaging people to observe and gather data on the impacts of climate change on plant phenology.
Fourteen workshops will be presented by community leaders in urban greening, members of BBG’s Horticulture staff, and experts from other environmental organizations in New York. Making Brooklyn Bloom also features exhibits, networking opportunities, and a program of short films that explore gardening and the natural world.
Visitors to Making Brooklyn Bloom will also have an opportunity to take a free Seasonal Highlights tour at 1 p.m. Each visitor will also go home with a spring gift bag.
Pre-registration for the event is not necessary, although visitors are encouraged to register by 10 a.m. on Saturday at BBG’s Palm House to secure their first choice of workshops and a seat for the keynote address. Admission to BBG is free before noon or with a Making Brooklyn Bloom flyer. For more details about the event, please call 718-623-7250 or visit the Making Brooklyn Bloom web site.
