Home and garden events: Get to know local butterflies

SANTA ROSA: Create a butterfly habitat

The Santa Rosa Garden Club on Monday, Nov. 24, will welcome Price Sheppy, who worked on the Mission Blue Butterfly Project.

An environmental science graduate from the University of Oregon, Sheppy worked on a wetland restoration project at the Aprovecho Sustainable Living Research and Education Center in Oregon and then spent a summer monitoring the endangered Fender’s blue butterfly in association with Washington State University. He also spent five years working in partnership with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy propagating two species of lupine used as larval plants to help increase the population of the federally endangered Mission blue butterfly.

His two-part talk will cover the different kinds of butterflies in Sonoma County and how to create a butterfly habitat in your own backyard.

The meeting, open to nonmembers, is at 1 p.m. at the Luther Burbank Art and Garden Center, 2050 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa. For information, call 537-6885 or email gardenclubevents@yahoo.com.

COTATI: Water-wise workshop

Learn about water-wise landscape design and plant propagation during a hands-on workshop Saturday, Nov. 22, at Pocket Park in Cotati.

The workshop, put on by the city of Cotati in cooperation with the nonprofit group Daily Acts, will be led by Patrick Picard, an expert in permaculture and owner of the award-winning landscape company Equinox Landscaping.

Participants in the workshop will leave knowing how to grow edible and low-water-use plants in their own gardens as well as gain knowledge about the edible and medicinal plants available for public use at Pocket Park. The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes a homemade lunch. To register, visit dailyacts.org. The park is at the intersection of La Salle and Lakewood avenues in Cotati.

SONOMA: Wreath-making class

Sonoma Country Antiques is hosting a hands-on wreath-making class for anyone wishing to make their own holiday decorations with greenery. The Nov. 30 workshop will include demonstrations on how to create a centerpiece and a wreath.

All materials will be supplied for making one 24-inch wreath in the class with assistance from instructors Bonnie Brown and Natasha Drengson, local artists and floral designers. Participants should bring their own hand pruners, gloves if desired, and any greenery they may have. More greenery will be supplied. Cost is $45, with all proceeds after the cost of materials going to Lyon Ranch, a local sanctuary for abandoned and neglected animals.

The event runs 2-4 p.m. at Sonoma Country Antiques, 23999 Arnold Drive (Highway 121), Sonoma. Reservations are required. Call 938-8315 to reserve a spot, or call Bonnie Brown at 935-8986 for questions. The class is limited, so early reservations are recommended.

You can direct home and garden news to Staff Writer Meg McConahey at meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or 521-5204.