Spring on over to the garden exchange

Join fellow gardeners for the free monthly Santa Cruz Garden Exchange Saturday from 8 to 9 a.m. in the parking lot of Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Ave., Santa Cruz. Please park in the northern rows of the parking lot away from the building.

Gardeners are welcome to bring seeds, bulbs, succulents, houseplants, veggies, fresh flowers, informational material or any garden-related items to trade within the garden community. You do not need to bring something to participate and you must take back anything not given out. Grab a flyer by attending for garden tour info.

For questions, email santacruzgardenexchange@gmail.com.

Rare plant swap on deck Saturday

The Monthly Rare Plant Swap will be in person from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Anna Jean Cummings County Park, 461 Soquel San Jose Road, Soquel. We will be meeting up the hill at the end of the park. You are welcome to bring rare/uncommon plants, cuttings, corms, nodes, any plant accessories like pots, leca, soil additives, etc. Be sure to bring a bag or container to hold all your new plants/items. Please remember to keep it rare/uncommon. Plant sales are allowed but we are not responsible for any sales or trades that we don’t conduct personally.

Are you a rare plant collector or interested in learning more about rare plants? If so, join the monthly rare plant swap! What is a rare plant? A rare or uncommon plant is one that is not normally found in big box stores such as Trader Joe’s, Home Depot, and other large retailers. Interested in delving deeper into the world of rare plants? Join the Facebook group at Santa Cruz Rare Plants.

Getting started with roses workshop

Join instructor Orin Martin for a springtime class on getting started with and growing roses from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 13 at the Alan Chadwick Garden, 245 McLaughlin Drive, Santa Cruz, for a springtime class on getting started with and growing roses.

This class will be a lively discussion on growing roses in the home garden, appropriate whether you intend to grow one, 10 or 100 roses. While scale matters, the basics are the same. Visualize yourself in your future spring/summer garden, picking and choosing color combinations from a plethora of blooms — it all starts now. To register, visit center-for-agroecology.com.

Library hosts basic composting workshop

Attend a two-hour basic composting workshop from 1-3 p.m. April 13 at the Felton Branch Library patio, 6121 Gushee St., Felton. The workshop will cover general principles of composting and provide sufficient detail about backyard and worm composting to help someone get started. There is plenty of time for participant questions to be answered by the presenters who are master composters. Registration is limited to 25 participants.

To sign up, call 831-824-6484 or visit santacruzpl.libcal.com/event/11787291.

The Garden Digest is compiled by Jesselyn Rego. To submit items for the calendar including events, meetings, resources, or anything garden related, email sentinelhomeandgarden@gmail.com.