If you've ever tried to create a garden, you know it requires back-aching work and some super soil skills. Now, imagine creating a sprawling space like Idaho Botanical Garden.

The folks at IBG started sowing seeds in 1984 and have worked hard ever since to give Boiseans a place to relax, look at scarecrows, learn about all things green, and view some super holiday lights. Today, you can show your appreciation and celebrate National Public Gardens Day with a trip to IBG.

From 10 a.m. until the allusive "dusk," you can scope out the super shrubbery and glorious greens for FREE. You can visit plant displays while learning about Boise's native plant heritage and water conservation's role in creating pretty plants.

From 1-5 p.m., you can also visit with IBG education partners United Water, City of Boise Public Works
Environmental Education, and Silvercreek Supply. You can find out what they do while enjoying some time outdoors.

More info about National Public Gardens Day and other IBG events is available at the garden's website.

Love the look of well-put-together greenery, but have a knack for killing off all the plants you purchase from big greenhouses? Stop by the Idaho Native Plant Society Pahove Chapter's annual Native Plant Sale today from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the MK Nature Center.

The sale will feature an array of wildlife-friendly vegetation that's already adapted to the sometimes crazy climate and soil of the Treasure Valley. You can also chat up some people with far-greener thumbs than yourself; knowledgeable botanists will be on hand to help you decide what vegetation is right for your yard. And your purchases go to support the society and the MK Nature Center, so you can feel good about spending some green on greenery. But leave your credit card at home—the sale only accepts cash and checks.

Visit the society's website for a list of plants available at this year's sale.

• Mika Belle

More than 100 people lined a catwalk on April 20 to celebrate Earth Week in a style many might call "trashy."

The event was held on the Boise State campus in the Simplot Ballroom, where 10 models posed in clothing that had been vastly transformed from its original appearance.

"Up-cycling is taking something old and turning it into something better," explained Krista Peterson, the fashion designer for the event.

Peterson also created a special line of clothing out of some items that could literally be considered trash, such as used Starburst wrappers, coffee filters, paperclips, shower curtains and more.

"I love making weird things and making people smile and wonder why I did those things," she said.

It was the third such show for Peterson, who graduated with a fashion degree from Brooks College in Long Beach, Calif. Since then, she has won awards, created a handbag line and started an upcycled-clothing blog, lazy-saturdays.com.

The crowd responded well to her creations at the Trashion Show, which was also headlined by musical performer Bridgeport, which sang a few witty ditties on an acoustic guitar. The event was one of many Earth Week celebrations hosted by Boise State's Sustainability Club.

Maegan Ward is the president of the club and enjoyed delivering an important message while having fun.

"We want to raise environmental awareness, locally and globally," Ward said.

To view a slideshow of the event, click here.

Sure, green lawns and tulips are pretty, but after a while, looking at the same old outdoor landscape design can become a bit like that Bob Marley poster you've been using to fill wall space since college—it gets a little dull. Variety is the alleged spice of life, and today, the folks at the Idaho Botanical Garden want to help you add some pepper to your existence—well, at least to your garden.

The IBG's adult education series continues its spring 2012 classes today with Design Your Garden for Four Season Interest. The workshop will feature tips on how to plot out landscaping for every season, selecting the right plants—foliage, blooms and evergreens—to keep it fresh. You won't miss those gray winter days and stark outdoor spaces when you have something lush and lovely to look at.

Terry Sims, award-winning landscape designer and the woman behind The Garden Artist, will give you all the green deets, and disperse handouts, so you won't forget a thing.

The class starts at 7 p.m. and costs $15, or $10 for IBG members. The class meets at the garden's cottage. To register, call 208-343-8649. Visit the garden's website for a full schedule of classes.

Sustainable Futures, the nonprofit that provides vocational and life skills to people facing employment barriers and makes neat-o drinking glasses from old booze bottles, has been growing by leaps and bounds.

Sustainable Futures opened up at a bigger facility complete with a showroom; sells its wares at locations across Boise, Ketchum, Seattle and Portland, Ore.; and now boasts a website with online shopping capabilities, so you don't have to elbow your way into the tent at the Capitol City Public Market.

Today, you can cruise the selection of Earth-friendly merchandise and get a glimpse of what this organization is all about at its open house, happening from 4-7 p.m. Scope out Sustainable Futures' digs at 5858 W. Franklin Road. It won't cost you a thing, and don't forget that wine and spirit bottle donations are always welcome at the showroom.

If you've ever seen those super-sweet mazes made of shrubbery, you know that properly pruning a hedge can instantly class up your yard. The folks at Idaho Botanical Garden know that, too.

And today, you can gain some greenery grooming skills with certified arborist Dwight Allen. At 7 p.m., Allen will instruct workshop attendees on what tools to use (no machetes), when to prune (probably not in the snow or while intoxicated), how to prune (because the shrubs can't ask you), and good reference books (in case you forget anything).

The workshop is part of IBG's spring series of adult education classes, and you can view a full schedule of the classes here.

Classes meet at the IBG Garden Cottage. This evening's class costs $20, or $15 if you're an IBG member. Call 208-343-8649 for more info and to register.

Hey, guess what? It's March. Yeah, we know, it snuck up fast. And while it's still kind of wintery up at Bogus Basin, in the valley, it's pretty darn spring like. Well, except when crazy Mother Nature changes her mind and throws us a random snow flurry.

With the change in season come plans for warmer-weather activities, like making your yard look super nice. Start planning ahead and stroll over to the the MK Nature Center today for its Winter Wednesdays Lunch and Learn series. The Center's experts will talk about landscaping with plants native to the Boise area.

From 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., you can dream up a stellar makeover for your outdoor space and savor a soup-and-salad lunch from Open Table Catering. Each part of the series features a different topic and costs $16.50. You can register and purchase tickets at brownpapertickets.com.

It's Presidents' Day, which generally means that banks and post offices are closed, furniture stores are having big sales, and you might be lucky enough to have the day off. Why not use your free Monday to learn a little something?

Today, the Idaho Environmental Forum will present a special Presidents' Day luncheon at the Crystal Ballroom in the Hoff Building. Sen. Mike Crapo and special guest Tom Tidwell, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, will discuss the Clearwater Basin Collaborative, forest planning rules and lots of other green stuff. Oh, did we mention there's lunch, too?

Registration and the lunch buffet begin at 11:30 a.m., and the program is set to conclude by 1 p.m., so you can still go shop/ski/lie around and dread going back to work on Tuesday. The lunch and program cost $13, the program only is $5, and school-age children can partake in the lunch/program for $7. Visit idahoenvironmentalforum.org for more info.

Some parts of life seem tedious or just plain boring—like doing laundry, sweeping up the random assortment of food crumbs that have somehow accumulated on the kitchen floor and grocery shopping. Wouldn't it be awesome if we all had personal assistant robots to take care of every inconvenient chore, so that we could focus on more important things like our careers, badminton and learning to spell every state capital backward?

Well, alas, robo-assistants don't exist, aside from Roombas. But the Idaho Botanical Garden wants to make grocery shopping a little less awful. Today, IBG will host Grow Your Own Groceries, instructed by Teresa O'Connor, co-author of the book Grocery Gardening.

Shopping for sustenance will be a little less awful sans the shopping-cart-bumper-car battle of the grocery store. O'Connor will talk about her favorite things to grow in the Treasure Valley, and about how to transition them to your dinner table.

The class takes place at the IBG cottage at 10 a.m., and costs $10 for IBG members, $15 for nonmembers. Visit the garden's website for more info.

There are a few precious days in late fall when Boise trees hang on to their last few leaves, before surrendering to Old Man Winter and morphing into a pile of stark-naked sticks. And once the trees have given up, we settle into a long season of bleak landscapes, devoid of color until the first promising blooms creep up in springtime.

Well, unless you go to Edward's Greenhouse today. The Holiday Open House will be alive with haute holiday plants, which will add some vivacity to the gray dullness of winter. Holiday baskets, floral decor, poinsettias, fresh-cut Christmas trees, wreaths, ornaments and gifts will all be available for purchase. Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to deck the halls, and you can buy all the pretty stuff you need to do so at Edwards. Delivery is available, and refreshments will be served. And if you need to occupy your little ones while you formulate your holiday decorating strategy, Santa will be on site.

So head on out to Edwards from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, and spend some green on green, red and whatever-colored stuff. It beats getting mowed over at Walmart trying to find the perfect faux garland to go with your plastic poinsettias.