Ask a Master Gardener Days
2024-06-06 09:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York) | Massabesic Center, 26 Audubon Way, Auburn, NH, United States
UNH Extension Master Gardeners will be waiting for you to visit the Massabesic Center on select mornings this growing season! Bring all of your pressing questions about plants, discover inspiration for adapting spaces at home, or just enjoy the blooms! These events are also the perfect time to learn about getting involved in volunteer gardening opportunities at the Massabesic Center.
The luscious gardens on site include pollinator and bird-friendly plants, a rain garden space, vegetable gardens, raised beds, and more. As an ongoing partnership between New Hampshire Audubon and University of New Hampshire Extension’s Master Gardener Program, Massabesic’s Demonstration Gardens provide a place for sharing best practices in eco-friendly home and community gardening, which enhance human health and well-being and wildlife habitat.
Dress for walking in short grass on flat but uneven terrain. Sunscreen and personal insect repellant are recommended. Building hours (and bathroom access) are 11am to 5pm, so plan accordingly. Visit the gift shop and meet our animal ambassadors after you spend your morning exploring the gardens. Consider packing a lunch to enjoy at one of the picnic tables surrounding the gardens. Children are welcomed and encouraged!
Gardeners will not be on site during inclement weather, but visitors are still welcomed.
This event is free to attend. No registration required.
Support our programs and join or renew your membership today! Not sure of your membership status? Email our member services department or call (603) 224-9909 x310.
For mobility, sensory, behavioral, or other accessibility accommodations, please contact Massabesic Center Director, Kimmie Whiteman.
Photo by Kimmie Whiteman, Massabesic’s gardens in bloom.

METALSUM – Art Inspired by Nature and Imagined Through Found Objects
2024-06-06 11:00 - 17:00 | McLane Center, 84 Silk Farm Road, Concord, NH, 03301, United States
“METALSUM”, art for the home and garden. Found and repurposed objects welded into abstract, representational and whimsical art with an emphasis on portraying the natural world.
–
Jane Kolias creates decorative rustic metal art from found, abandoned and discarded objects. She finds things in nooks and crannies of antique and thrift stores, salvage yards, friend’s back yards, roadway ditches, abandoned fields, forays into the woods and sometimes her own kitchen drawers.
Inspiration for these designs comes from observing nature, the creativity of fellow artists, and the found objects themselves. Each finished piece has its own unique configuration and blend of components which become garden and landscape pieces, wall hangings, and tabletop items.
Jane starts each project with a design in mind. As she considers which bits of scrap metal to use, the process becomes fluid and dynamic, creating a synergistic partnership between herself and the various components. This often results in the finished piece only somewhat resembling her original design.
If she knows the name or purpose of a component, she will label it, but for many pieces the component’s utility is unknown to her. She occasionally adds paint to a finished piece but her preference is to leave each work unpainted for a more organic look. For outside art, she applies several layers of clear protective coating to help abate rust formation.
Artist’s bio: Jane Kolias, a native New Hampshirite now residing in Vermont, has an extensive and lifelong association with the arts. As a young adult, she was active in the performing arts including community theatre and competitive ballroom dance. As a textile artist she has designed quilts and costumes, has worked with metals in jewelry design and fabrication, and has created landscape art such as stonewall and rock garden arrangements. Her most recent endeavor, “METALSUM”, involves welding found objects into abstract, representational and whimsical art with an emphasis on portraying the natural world.
