Studies have shown that gardening has numerous health benefits for all ages and physical abilities, and mobility issues don’t mean people have to drop their passion. 

Charles Darwin was many things, but in the classic sense of the word, he was not an artist. Lacking in the ways of visual art, and with miserably bad handwriting, the scientist eventually enlisted the help of his sons in creating utilitarian illustrations of the plants and animals with which he worked.  

Bonnie Refinski-Knight, an N.C. State Extension Master Gardner volunteer, will host a presentation on composting. The class will include an example of a compost bin. 

Come out to the Macon County Master Gardener Association’s plant sale. 

NC State Extension Master Gardener volunteers staff a booth on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month (May through August) at Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market in Waynesville.

The Haywood County Extension Office is presenting a free class on “square-foot gardening,” a simple, versatile system that takes up less space and requires less work and water to cultivate. 

Lake Junaluska’s yearly plant sale is May 4.

For sale will be a few thousand plants, including an assortment of annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables, and several varieties of native plants from the Corneille Bryan Native Garden, said Melissa Tinsley, Lake Junaluska director of grounds.

Wildcat Ridge Farm is welcoming visitors throughout May to enjoy the peonies in bloom. 

Experts are using the spring weather to remind people to test their soil if that has not been done in the last two to three years.

The annual native perennial plant sale sponsored by the NC State Extension Master Gardener volunteers has been extended.