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In brief

Garden blitz: The Whidbey Gardening Workshop 2006, featuring a variety of classes and lectures, will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. March 11 at Coupeville Middle School.

Experts from the Island County Washington State University Master Gardener Association will teach 47 classes throughout the day on topics such as Japanese maples, drought-tolerant plants, homegrown grapes, bamboo and yard waste composting.

The keynote speaker, Tonie Fitzgerald, author and an extension educator from Spokane, will talk about “Botany, Fate, and the Lewis and Clark Plant Collection.”

Fitzgerald, author of “Gardening in the Inland Northwest,” will also teach a class, “Solving Tree Crimes: CSI Meets IPM” (integrated pest management).

Sign up early for the best class selection. Tickets are $25 for advance registration or $30 at the door, if space is available. Go to www.island.wsu.edu to register or to see a full class schedule, or call 360-240-5527.

Free workshops: The Arlington Garden Club offers a series of workshops during its monthly meetings from 10 to 11:30 a.m. the second Saturday of each month.

The workshops, “How To Turn Your Thumb Green,” cover a range of topics. On March 11, club member Priscilla Johnson will discuss how and when to divide perennials. On April 8, horticulturist Michelle Clark will present a two-hour program on do-it-yourself garden design.

Workshops are held at the Arlington Boys and Girls Club, 18513 59th Ave. NE, Arlington. A $2 donation is requested.

For information, call 360-403-7769.

Guide training: Washington Park Arboretum is offering training for guides in its Saplings School Program.

Program guides lead kindergarten through 12th-graders in the outdoor environmental and science education program at Washington Park Arboretum.

Programs are offered from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 through 1:45 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Sapling guides are asked to commit to one three-hour shift each week for 10 weeks in the spring.

Each spring, the Saplings School Program serves more than 2,000 students throughout the Puget Sound area.

Those interested can attend an orientation from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. March 13.

For information, call 206-543-8801 or e-mail uwbgeduc@u.washington.edu.

Buggin’: Learn the basics about bugs at two courses on insect identification, life cycles and life styles.

Bug Basics 101 and 102, offered as a continuing education course through the Washington State University Snohomish County Extension, will help students identify insects in their business, home and garden.

Classes, taught by Sharon Collman and Dave Pehling, include slide presentations, labs with live and preserved specimens and displays. An option of obtaining professional credits is available.

Bug Basics 102 is from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 18, 9 a.m. to noon or 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. March 22.

Future workshops build on these basics, providing additional opportunities to learn to identify and manage common pests of crops, nursery and landscape plants, homes or gardens and to recognize beneficial insects or to gain proficiency in methods of monitoring and managing insects.

Each course is $25 and includes materials, or is $10 per WSU continuing education credit.

For registration and information, call 425-338-2400.

Move it: Seattle’s Screaming Flea Productions is producing a new show, “Move This House,” for A&E network.

The show is currently casting families for 12 episodes. Shooting will take place from April through November.

A spinoff of “Sell This House,” host Tanya Memme and design expert, Roger Hazard, head up the team that will pack you up, move you in and design your house for free in three days. The catch is that participants must give up complete control to the designers and agree to put any unnecessary items in storage for a period of one year.

For information, call 206-763-3383, ext. 219, or e-mail sandy@sfpseattle.com.

Herald staff and news services