Help us maintain our beautiful Hauck Botanic Garden home!

Join us as we work to restore Walnut Woods, a 10-acre forest located in Evanston. This workday will focus on caging and maintaining trees as well as continuing to remove invasives.

Learn how to create a seasonal wreath or centerpiece with materials gathered from the garden! These all-natural works of art can be enjoyed through the holiday season and beyond. We’ll supply woven wreath forms, wire and tools and assist you in harvesting and constructing your own personalized autumn décor piece.

INSTRUCTOR: Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist)

COST: $35

We’ll be helping Clark Montessori plant a pollinator prairie.

Have you checked out our Green Learning Station recently? We have rooftop gardens, a compost demonstration area, rainwater catchment systems and an indoor green wall, just to name a few of our current projects! Join us for an informative, informal tour and have your sustainability questions answered by Mary Dudley, our Director of Education.

COST: Free!

The Hauck Arboretum may just be Cincinnati’s best kept botanical secret! A stroll along the pathways of this historic public garden reveals new surprises on each visit. Join us for an informal walk around Hauck Botanic Garden and discover the history of the park and the plants growing within it.

COST: Free!

Help us maintain our beautiful Hauck Botanic Garden home!

Kickstart your week with a trip to the garden and engage in seasonally relevant activities with the Lil’ Sprouts in your life! This free drop-in series for children ages 3 to 8 and their caregivers offers our youngest gardeners and nature lovers an opportunity to learn more about the natural world. We hold Lil' Sprouts on the second and fourth Monday of each month.

COST: Free!

Discover the art and science of winemaking in this engaging workshop! Together we’ll explore Cincinnati’s rich winemaking history, learn about native grape varieties, and craft personalized wine recipes to ferment at home. You’ll participate in a guided tasting, and we’ll also introduce basic chemistry concepts related to wine, such as fermentation and balancing acidity. You'll leave with one pint of ingredients necessary for at-home fermentation. Participants must be 21 or older. All materials will be provided, with optional supplies available for purchase afterward.

INSTRUCTOR: Luis Aguilar-Dwyer, CGC Environmental Education Specialist

COST: $50

Did you know that the CGC is host to seven different types of composting systems? Take a walk with us to learn about the different methods of composting we have and how you can incorporate composting into your life! You’ll see Earth Cubes, vermicompost, bokashi, Johnson-Su bioreactors, a three-bin system, a tumbler and a top-loading composter.

COST: Free!

Join us for an evening of Sound Immersion with Sonya Verma, Inner Radiant Life! In the midst of a busy season, this evening will offer a restorative pause and a chance to slow down. Surrounded by the resonant sounds of gongs, singing bowls, flutes and other instruments, you will be guided into a space of deep relaxation, clarity and renewal.

INSTRUCTOR: Sonya Verma of Inner Radiant Life

COST: $25

Join us for a beloved CGC annual event! Choose to create a centerpiece or a wreath, garland or swag. We'll supply a bundle of fresh cut greens, ribbon and wreath forms or centerpiece trays you can slip into your own container at home. Plan to bring your own pruners, wire-cutters or scissors. Gloves are recommended.

INSTRUCTORS: Sue Sturgeon (Master Gardener and CGC Board President) & Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist)

COST: $50

Please join us for our annual Winter Open House! This festive community appreciation event is open to all. Drop by any time between 4:30 and 7pm to celebrate with the CGC community and let us say THANK YOU for a great year together!

COST: Free (please RSVP so we have a head count)

Join us as we work to restore Walnut Woods, a 10-acre forest located in Evanston. This workday will focus on tackling invasives, including those pesky invasive vines.

In this workshop, you'll learn about iris folding, an old technique from the Netherlands. It's easy to do, but you'd never guess it from the beautiful cards it creates.

You'll be able to choose from several designs and will create a few cards in the workshop. You'll also take home templates you can use to make cards for any holiday or event.

INSTRUCTOR: Alice Palmer

COST: $35

Join Kate from Bloem Handcrafted Jewelry for a unique hands-on workshop! We'll explore the processes involved in preparing, rolling and cutting fine silver metal clay. Botanical textures will be available, as well as the option to carve your own texture by hand. As a special holiday treat, you'll enjoy champagne, sparkling wine and homemade baked goods during the workshop, making it a festive way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Each participant will receive 15 grams of silver metal clay to work with, which is typically enough to make two pairs of earrings and two pendants. Additional silver metal clay will be available for purchase at the class if desired.

INSTRUCTOR: Kate LaBare, Bloem Handcrafted Jewelry

COST: $115

Kickstart your week with a trip to the garden and engage in seasonally relevant activities with the Lil’ Sprouts in your life! This free drop-in series for children ages 3 to 8 and their caregivers offers our youngest gardeners and nature lovers an opportunity to learn more about the natural world. We hold Lil' Sprouts on the second and fourth Monday of each month.

COST: Free!

Achieving a beautiful garden in July is pretty simple. Flowers are blooming and everything looks green and lush. But keeping that same garden beautiful in December takes a little more thought.

In this class, we’ll look at which native plants provide “winter interest” such as elegant bark, bright berries or unique seedheads. Then we’ll talk about how you can use these plants in the landscape to create a garden that looks great and supports wildlife all year long.

INSTRUCTOR: Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist)

COST: $20

Have you checked out our Green Learning Station recently? We have rooftop gardens, a compost demonstration area, rainwater catchment systems and an indoor green wall, just to name a few of our current projects! Join us for an informative, informal tour and have your sustainability questions answered by Mary Dudley, our Director of Education.

COST: Free!

The Hauck Arboretum may just be Cincinnati’s best kept botanical secret! A stroll along the pathways of this historic public garden reveals new surprises on each visit. Join us for an informal walk around Hauck Botanic Garden and discover the history of the park and the plants growing within it.

COST: Free!

Kickstart your week with a trip to the garden and engage in seasonally relevant activities with the Lil’ Sprouts in your life! This free drop-in series for children ages 3 to 8 and their caregivers offers our youngest gardeners and nature lovers an opportunity to learn more about the natural world. We hold Lil' Sprouts on the second and fourth Monday of each month.

COST: Free!

In this demonstration-based class, you'll learn how to make and use ricotta and paneer cheese at home. We'll also explore some of the culture and history of ricotta cheese. Each attendee will get to taste the ricotta and will go home with instructions and a cheese template.

INSTRUCTOR: Eduardo Rodriguez, owner of My Artisano Foods

COST: $50

Each class in our Houseplant How-To series will include a deep dive into specific indoor plant species, their unique characteristics and growing needs, common problems associated with their long-term care and the best ways to propagate them. In Houseplants for Beginners, we'll demystify the challenge of growing houseplants as we explore the basics. You'll learn what houseplants need to thrive and how to grow more to add to your collection.

INSTRUCTORS: Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist) and Mary Dudley (CGC Director of Education)

COST:

• Until the end of November, all three classes can be purchased together at a discounted series price ($50, a $10 savings). (Please note that ticket exchanges and partial refunds are not available on series tickets.)

• Starting December 1, any remaining tickets to individual classes will be available for purchase for $20 each ($15 for active CGC volunteers).

Do you love seed catalog season as much as we do?? Then join us for Coffee, Catalogs, Seeds & Shenanigans: a seed catalog party and seed swap!

On this January morning, we'll enjoy warm beverages and potluck-style snacks while we swap seeds and peruse our seed catalogs in community. It's the time of year when all of us gardeners have our noses buried in our favorite companies' latest offerings anyway, so we might as well geek out together (with refreshments!). You just might discover a new variety or two to try in 2026. You're also welcome to bring vegetable, herb or flower seeds to share.

COST: Free

Each class in our Houseplant How-To series will include a deep dive into specific indoor plant species, their unique characteristics and growing needs, common problems associated with their long-term care and the best ways to propagate them. In Cacti & Succulents, we'll explore these fleshy, typically drought-tolerant plants that are ubiquitous in houseplant culture. Some growers have no issues with them, but they can be tricky for others.

INSTRUCTORS: Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist) and Mary Dudley (CGC Director of Education)

COST:

• Until the end of November, all three classes can be purchased together at a discounted series price ($50, a $10 savings). (Please note that ticket exchanges and partial refunds are not available on series tickets.)

• Starting December 1, any remaining tickets to individual classes will be available for purchase for $20 each ($15 for active CGC volunteers).

Nature reverberates with percussion–from rain on the roof to cicadas in the trees to a woodpecker hammering away in the distance. For this first performance in the 2026 Hauck Concert Series, we’ll explore the interplay between human-made and natural percussion through unique works that range from literal to philosophical.

Recent CCM graduate Jacob Ottmer will perform works such as Elainie Lillios’s “After Long Drought,” in which different implements and electronic effects are used on the vibraphone to simulate being entrenched in a rainstorm; “Syntax of Snow” by Matthew Burtner, which combines amplified snow, a glockenspiel and an ambient soundtrack to evoke feelings of meditation in the composer’s home state of Alaska; and John Cage’s “Child of Tree,” which features amplified plant matter and symbolically represents Cage’s idea that all things come from natural beginnings.

PRICING:

• Through December 15, all four concerts in the series can be purchased together for a discounted series price of $125 (a $35 savings)! (Please note that ticket exchanges and partial refunds are not available on series tickets.)

• Starting December 16, any remaining tickets to individual concerts will be available for purchase; see pricing information for individual concerts below.

Each class in our Houseplant How-To series will include a deep dive into specific indoor plant species, their unique characteristics and growing needs, common problems associated with their long-term care and the best ways to propagate them. In Indoor Jungles, we’ll cover the color foliage, vibrant vines and indoor trees that can give a home that tropical feel even in the coldest days of winter.

INSTRUCTORS: Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist) and Mary Dudley (CGC Director of Education)

COST:

• Until the end of November, all three classes can be purchased together at a discounted series price ($50, a $10 savings). (Please note that ticket exchanges and partial refunds are not available on series tickets.)

• Starting December 1, any remaining tickets to individual classes will be available for purchase for $20 each ($15 for active CGC volunteers).

Greenspaces come in many shapes and sizes. From a neighborhood pocket park to your local forest preserve, all of our greenspaces are important. They provide crucial ecosystem services, give people a place to recreate and offer a place for us to connect with nature. But managing these spaces is a challenge, and local governments, nonprofits and neighborhood groups often need support in managing public greenspace for the benefit of the broader community.

That’s where YOU come in! The Civic Garden Center’s Greenspace Guardians focuses on giving people like you the resources and know-how to jumpstart and maintain greenspaces in their communities. If you’d like to learn how to play a leadership role in conservation projects on public lands, you’re in the right place!

COST: $300 (scholarships available)

As Earth Day draws near, join us for a two-part event examining the state of our planet and the roles we play as part of its rich and tightly woven tapestry.

During the first half of the performance, professional choral ensemble Heri et Hodie and recent CCM graduate percussionist Jacob Ottmer will present Canadian composer Andrew Staniland’s deeply moving “7 Last Words for the Earth.” Performed with non-traditional staging, this concerto for women’s choir and percussion takes its name from the seven last words of Christ from the cross and sets an abstract text taken from a speech by Greta Thunberg. Through movements such as “Rage,” “Secrets,” “Rain,” “Hope” and “Words,” the piece urges us to pay attention while we still can. The performance will begin with a presentation about the music and its themes.

When the final notes have faded, we’ll hear from Mary Kroner, who uses her thoughtful weaving of stories, song and humor to open us to new ways of remembering that we are part of the natural world with vital roles to play. Hope comes from understanding our part in the working systems of our planet, giving us a way to participate; teaching Reverence is an important goal. Mary’s original works “X Marks The Spot” and “Welcome to the Ever Rotating Constantly Changing Circulating Mystical Earth Pageant” are past offerings made at the CGC and other settings.

PRICING:

• Through December 15, all four concerts in the series can be purchased together for a discounted series price of $125 (a $35 savings)! (Please note that ticket exchanges and partial refunds are not available on series tickets.)

• Starting December 16, any remaining tickets to individual concerts will be available for purchase; see pricing information for individual concerts below.

The twelfth-century composer, herbalist and mystic Hildegard von Bingen, while better known to modern audiences for her music, was a careful and scientific observer of the natural world, cataloguing and detailing the uses of herbs for both physical and mental wellbeing and finding solace and health in nature. In her expansive work Physica, we see a curious mind placing scientific inquiry within a theological framework of the goodness of creation.

Join us as we experience Hildegard’s soaring music while participating in simple activities that help us see the world through her eyes. After a brief introduction to Hildegard, we’ll break into three groups and make our way out into Hauck Botanic Garden to explore three stations, each with a performer offering a sampling of Hildegard’s music and an accompanying activity: herbs for health and herbal tea in the Herb Garden, an overview of botanical salve-making (sample included!) in the Food Forest, and creating a small piece of meditative personal art in the Tranquility Garden. Each group will have the opportunity to experience all three stations.

Please note that this event will be held outdoors. In the event of bad weather on September 27, the performance will be moved to October 4 at 3pm. We will be standing and walking a considerable amount during this event, occasionally over uneven or unpaved terrain. The Herb Garden and Tranquility Garden are accessible by mulched or paved path, but the Food Forest is more difficult to reach.

PRICING:

• Through December 15, all four concerts in the series can be purchased together for a discounted series price of $125 (a $35 savings)! (Please note that ticket exchanges and partial refunds are not available on series tickets.)

• Starting December 16, any remaining tickets to individual concerts will be available for purchase; see pricing information for individual concerts below.

For our final performance in the 2026 Hauck Concert Series, we’ll gather together in the CGC’s auditorium to hear beautiful string quartet music. Throughout the afternoon, we’ll share spiced wine and mulled cider, light bites, guided conversation and good company. At the end of the event, we’ll raffle off the one-of-a-kind centerpieces–all made by CGC Horticulturist Julie from garden findings–for lucky audience members to take home. Each ticket includes one (1) drink ticket and light bites.

PRICING:

• Through December 15, all four concerts in the series can be purchased together for a discounted series price of $125 (a $35 savings)! (Please note that ticket exchanges and partial refunds are not available on series tickets.)

• Starting December 16, any remaining tickets to individual concerts will be available for purchase; see pricing information for individual concerts below.