Master Gardeners invite the public to Community Speaker Series 2025

Gardeners and anyone looking to expand their knowledge about healthy ecosystems are invited to attend a Community Speakers Series 2025 hosted by the Johnson County Master Gardeners and Hills Bank.

The presentations focus on soil health, prairie restoration and the Monarch Research Station in Marion. The free program is open to community members and designed to give gardeners of all experience levels the confidence to create beautiful, functional gardens.

Three one-hour presentations will be presented in person on Sunday, March 2, from 1 – 4:30 p.m., at the Johnson County Extension Office, 3109 Old Hwy 218 South, Iowa City. There is no fee to participate, however, registration is required at https://go.iastate.edu/XR8GMT and attendance is limited to room capacity.

Hillary Olson, Natural Resources Conservation Service State Soil Health Specialist, and Jeremy “JD” Hollingsworth, SE Iowa NRCS Soil Health Specialist, will address “Building Soil Health.”

Cedar Rapids native August "Augie" Bergstrom, Station Manager, will highlight the workings of the “Monarch Research Project” in Marion.

Program participants are encouraged to bring a reusable/refillable water bottle to the program and adopt our initiative to avoid using single-use plastics: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Everything we can do to help our environment makes a difference.

Note: If the weather presents hazardous travel issues, an alternate date of Sunday, March 24, has been chosen. Weather updates will be posted to social media and the JCMG Blog - https://jcmg-thymes.com/.