Botanical Garden Education & Events

Need a Speaker?

Need a speaker for your academic, Master Gardener, garden club, or other event? Contact us at [email protected] for one of the zoo’s expert horticulturists to speak.

Upcoming Botanical Garden Events

Landscaping for the Homeowner Classes

Get the most out of your landscape and create a landscape that will enrich your life!

Join Steve Foltz, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s Director of Horticulture, for one of the most informative and complete landscape series for homeowners in the region. If you are planning on garden renovation or a new installation in your landscape, these classes provide great insight on design, preparation and plant selection with an emphasis on plants that do best in the Tri-state area. Take time now to gain the knowledge of soil preparation, maintenance and plant selection, and you’ll be ready to hit the ground running in spring creating a thriving & beautiful garden.

Cost per Class: Members: $10 / Non-Members: $15

Cost for Series: Members: $45 / Non-Members: $70

Part 1: Design Your Landscape February 5: 7:00-9:00pm The focus of this class is the simple steps that every designer takes when evaluating a new landscape or renovating an existing landscape. This class will set the stage for where you want to take your garden. If you have a new house or want to expand on what you already have, this class will give you the tools to plan for success.

Part II: The Best Trees And Shrubs For Your Landscape February 12: 7:00-9:00pm Choosing the right tree for your landscape can be a hard decision. A slide presentation will illustrate the various types of trees that you can use. Screening, evergreens, and flowering shrubs that will enhance your landscape will also be discussed, with a special emphasis on the best trees and shrubs in the Botanical Gardens here at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, that will provide season long color, and bring pollinators right to your front door.

Part III: Bringing In Color And Pollinators With Annuals And Perennials February 19: 7:00-9:00pm Make your garden come alive this year with the use of plants that will provide more than just beauty to your landscape! Learn the joy of using plants. The CZBG has been trialing Annuals and Perennials for over 15 years. See which plants we rely on for the best, most beautiful landscape!

Part IV: Now That I Have It, How Do I Take Care Of It? February 26: 7:00-9:00pm This class will go over all the things you need to do in the garden to help make it the best it can be. From lawn care to tree care and everything in between, we will walk you through what it takes to put joy back into gardening! Part V: Putting It All Together March 4: 7:00-9:00pm This class goes into more depth on which plants go well together and combines everything we have learned over the previous 4 weeks. Questions about invasive plants, using chemicals in the landscape, insect and disease problems will all be covered. This class is really meant to give you the confidence to go out and create the best landscape you have ever done. Healthy gardens make for happier, healthier people!

Come join us in our quest to bring gardening to everyone’s lives!

Purchase Tickets

General Events

Zoo Blooms

The saturated colors and sun-catching glow of masses and masses of tulips in bloom is a truly spectacular experience. Zoo Blooms delivers not only the region’s largest tulip display, but also hundreds of trees and shrubs in full regalia. Magnolias, cherries, crabapples, serviceberries, viburnums, other bulbs, loads of perennials, and more all in their spring glory! Generally the best tulip display is around the middle of April, but the peak varies somewhat according to the weather. Each week all through spring the landscape continuously changes as the many plants of our extensive collection come into bloom. You need to visit several times to experience the fullness of the season!

Tunes and Blooms

Every Thursday evening during April the Zoo hosts Tunes & Blooms. These are FREE concerts in the garden. Enjoy great local bands amongst gardens aglow with the blooms of 100,000 tulips and hundreds of other spring bloomers.

Tree Carnival

A rising star in our line up of garden events, Tree Carnival is a fun and educational experience for the entire family. Kids can learn about trees, test their knowledge, earn their Tree Planting License, and take home a free tree! A party atmosphere. There’s even the famous Mr. Tree to hug!

Plant Sales

We continually propagate many plants for our own use. Many are rare and unique plants that unavailable or hard to find on the market. Occasionally we hold plant sales and many gems can be purchased. For more information, email [email protected].

Tours

Schedule your own garden event at the zoo! Industry groups, Master Gardener groups, garden clubs, plant societies, private companies, families, and others frequently schedule their own garden tours and/or parties. You can too! Email us at [email protected] to schedule a tour.

Native Plant Symposium

The annual all day symposium about native plants. Great outside speakers along with the zoo’s Native Plant Program Manager, Brian Jorg. CEUs available. Affordably priced. Includes lunch.

Plant Trials Day

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden horticultural staff and volunteers, in conjunction with several other organizations, conducts plant trials on annuals, grasses, and perennials in accordance with regimented protocols. Such trials enable us to develop useful data for gardeners, other public gardens, plant producers, and others in the green community. For more information regarding our Plant Trials programs, please contact us at [email protected].

Sustainable Landscapes Day

The concepts of “going green” have come down on the green and building industries in a big way in recent years and a lot of argument over the meaning of sustainability and the means of achieving it has ensued. This program is designed to sort out fact from fiction regarding such issues as soils, irrigation, and the very best low input plants for landscape applications. CEUs available. Affordably priced. Includes lunch.

Home Landscapes Lecture Series

A late winter ten week series of lectures regarding all aspects of landscaping for the homeowner by one of the region’s top horticulturists and the zoo’s Director of Horticulture, Steve Foltz. If you are planning on garden renovation or a new installation in your landscape these classes provide great insight on design, preparation and plant selection with emphasis on plants that do best in the Tri-state area. A different aspect of landscaping is covered each week such as perennial design and tree care, but one way or another everything is covered! Sign up for individual classes, or for the entire series and save! Very affordably priced.