Gardening Classes At The Barnes

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Last week our mailman asked me about a flower that suddenly sprang up along his route - big pink flowers on bare stems. I couldn't remember the name off the top of my head, but I looked it up and told Mike the next day, it's a bulb known as 'Surprise lily' or 'Resurrection Lily' because the leaves show up in spring and die back, and then the flowers pop up seemingly out of nowhere in late summer.

I found it fast, because I remembered reading about these bulbs when I went back to school a few years ago to learn more about gardening.

I decided to go to school because I really just wanted to easily identify plants I see while out on a walk and feel more confident when choosing what to plant in my yard. And I'm constantly reminded of how glad I am I took those classes at The Arboretum School of the Barnes Foundation. Yes, the same Barnes Foundation that has all those great paintings that have moved down to the Parkway, but the Arboretum and horticultural school are still firmly planted on Latches Lane in Merion.

Classes for this year start Monday, September 9th and you still have time to join them. To learn more, visit TheBarnesFoundation.org.