IN Mt. Lebanon Spring 2016 | Page 83

SPOTLIGHT GARDENING PROGRAMS Growing Everything Organically (Including Roses) 1:30 p.m., Saturday, March 19 Award-winning garden writer Doug Oster will present. Seed Share 10 a.m., Saturday, March 26 Share vegetable seeds and your stories about adventures in gardening. The library will offer 30 types of new garden seeds from Fedco Seeds— kale to tomatoes to cauliflower, and more. Register at the reference desk or 412.531.1912 ext. 209. Cost is $10 per person. In the Shakespearean Garden 6 p.m., Monday, March 28 Speaker Nancy C. Heraud, Penn State Master Gardener and author, will talk about the plants mentioned in the literary works of William Shakespeare. Gardening in Small Spaces 6 p.m., Monday, April 11 Landscape designer and garden writer Martha Swiss will highlight the plants and techniques for gardening in small spaces. Martha Swiss is a garden writer for Pennsylvania Gardener Magazine. After the 1948 coup, Communist ideology permeated citizens’ lives and dominated all aspects of society in former Czechoslovakia. The greatest rival for the new regime was the church. Father Valarian Milchik, pastor of St. Gregory Byzantine Church, will focus on the religious persecution during the totalitarian rule in Slovakia from 1948‑1989. Mt. Lebanon Genealogy Society 1 p.m., Mondays, March 21, April 18, May 16 Discuss family history and pick up research tips. Growing Today’s Roses 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 11 American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian David McKibben will guide you through proper plant selection and growing techniques so you can grow good roses. Landscape Design for the Home Gardener 5:30-8:30 p.m., Thursdays, May 12, 19, 26 Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Gardens Master Gardener and landscape designer Claire Schuchman will teach this three‑week course geared to the novice. She will use the concepts of sustainable design like “right plant/ right place”; shading out weeds with ground covers; use of hardy natives plants; and installing rain barrels or permeable pavement. Please bring: graph paper, pencils, ruler, package of different colored pencils, and some 18"‑ 24" tracing paper. Students will benefit from having a plot plan or a survey of their property, if available, and pictures of gardens they like. ATTENDANCE IS LIMITED; REGISTER AT THE REFERENCE DESK. Week One: site analysis, which is simply an inventory of site features including the house, a garage, trees, paths, driveways, easements or even a bad view. Also things like soil conditions, wind, shade and sun. INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE GROUPS Week Two: The dreaming begins when the students will develop a “program” which includes planning for outdoor activities like children’s play areas, a pool or pond, entertaining, and napping, as well as privacy, lighting and security. These ideas will go on paper and be moved around like a jigsaw puzzle until the student is happy with the placement. Week Three: We take all that information and begin to put it into a realistic form using the scale of 1" = 8' on graph paper. Supportive materials covered during the three sessions will include a discussion on the five elements of good design, necessary tools to accomplish the plan, and a time for practical questions and answers. No advance registration is required; however, participants should plan to attend all three sessions and bring the recommended supplies and information about their property to get the most out of this landscaping course. Morning Spanish Literature & Conversation Group 10 a.m., Wednesdays Speak and read in Spanish on a variety of topics. All levels welcome. Francophone Literature & Culture 10 a.m., Wednesdays, March 2, April 20, May 4 Read and discuss—in French—the modern and classical writers of the Francophone world. New members welcome. Conversational Chinese and Chinese Culture 7 p.m., Thursdays Practice your conversational Chinese and explore Chinese culture. All levels welcome. German Conversation Group 7:30 p.m., Mondays, March 14, 28, April 11, 25, May 9, 23 Practice your German conversation. All levels welcome. Advanced Italian Conversation 10 a.m., Thursdays French Conve