Garden Fever - The Garden and Beyond - April 12, 2025

Chaska Event Center - 3210 Chaska Blvd, Chaska, MN 55318

Gardening has no boundaries. Whether or not you have a traditional garden, this event will bring new knowledge to see the possibilities that await you. Kick off the gardening season with us at Garden Fever.

Click Here to print the Garden Fever brochure.

$50/person through March 21 (mailed by March 17)
$55/person late reg, online only (closes March 27)

Click Here to Register

We cannot guarantee walk-in registration availability.

Registration fee includes lunch, speaker sessions, silent auction, vendor fair, and door prizes. Lunch accommodates gluten free and vegetarian diet restrictions.

Registration refunds deduct a $5 administrative fee. After March 27, 2025, no refunds will be issued.

SCHEDULE
8:45 – 9:30 Registration, Vendor Fair Opens, Silent Auction Open for Bidding, morning refreshments
9:30 – 9:45 Welcome by Garden Fever Chair
9:45 – 10:30 Thea Evans:  Native Plants for Pollinators
10:30–11:00 Break: Silent Auction, Vendor Fair
11:00–12:00 Tim Clemens: The Forager’s Garden
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch: Silent Auction, Vendor Fair
1:00 – 1:45 Jennifer Knutson: Adding a Vertical Element to the Garden
1:45 – 2:15 Break: Silent Auction, Vendor Fair
2:15 – 3:15 Stan Tekiela: Shockingly Why “YOU” Are Not Like a Bird
3:15-3:30 Closing Remarks, Door Prizes, and Silent Auction Pickup

$50/person through March 21 (mailed by March 17)
$55/person late reg, online only (closes March 27)

We cannot guarantee walk-in registration availability.

Registration fee includes lunch, speaker sessions, silent auction, vendor fair, and door prizes. Lunch accommodates gluten free and vegetarian diet restrictions.

Registration refunds deduct a $5 administrative fee. After March 27, 2025, no refunds will be issued.

Speakers for the 2025 Garden Fever

About Thea

Thea Evans is the project coordinator for the MN Bee Atlas, a statewide citizen science project studying wood-nesting bees in Minnesota. Prior to working in research, Thea worked in the native plant landscaping industry. She currently coordinates maintenance of the pollinator garden at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab, developing the garden as an educational tool to demonstrate best practices for
pollinator conservation in a garden context.
Pollinator gardening with native plants
Minnesota is home to over 500 native bee species! Learn how to create habitat for these important pollinators in your garden. This presentation will focus on choosing native plants that will thrive in your soil conditions while providing food and nesting habitat for bees throughout the year.

About Tim

Ironwood Foraging Co. was founded by Tim Clemens in 2017 to offer hands-on foraging workshops to the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Tim is a Consulting Mycologist for Minnesota Poison Control, Past President of the Minnesota Mycological Society, a Minnesota Master Naturalist, and a Certified Wild Mushroom Expert. Tim holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota and Certificates in Nature Education and Environmental Education from Cornell University.

About Jennifer

Jennifer Knutson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She has been a University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener since 2007. Jennifer is a member of the Minnesota Horticultural Society and North Star Lily Society. She has been writing a popular garden column that is published in the Brainerd Dispatch since 2008.

Adding a Vertical Element to the Garden with Vines
Climbing vines have a special charm that goes beyond adding vertical interest to a garden. They can have a softening effect on a fence, add beauty to garden structures, or act as a screen. Their lush leaves and appealing flowers decorate the landscape with color and texture. Some provide edible or ornamental fruit, late-season decorative seed pods, colorful fall foliage, or fragrance. Popular perennial and annual vines will be discussed in this presentation.

About Stan

Naturalist, wildlife photographer and author/writer Stan Tekiela is the originator of the popular state-specific field quides such as Birds of (state name) Field Guide, Wildflowers of (state name), and Trees of (state name). Over the past four decades Stan has authored more than 200 field guides, nature appreciation books and wildlife audio CDs for nearly every state in the nation, presenting many species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, trees, wildflowers and cacti.