JOHNSTON, IOWA (February 18, 2020) — Anticipation is growing for Iowa PBS's upcoming gardening special. Gardening with Steil premieres Sunday, March 1, at 2:30PM as part of Festival 2020. The program will be rebroadcast Saturday, March 7, at 1PM on Iowa PBS's main channel, with additional airings on Iowa PBS WORLD .3 and Iowa PBS Create .4.
From growing succulents, air-plants, and mini-hostas to designing terrariums and cutting gardens, Gardening with Steil will intrigue, inform, and entice viewers to add a little garden goodness to their lives. The program features host Aaron Steil, the assistant director of Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University, and co-host Cindy Haynes, associate professor and consumer horticulture-extension specialist at Iowa State University, as they travel across the state and share current garden trends.
"We wanted to explore a variety of topics growing in popularity within the gardening community and beyond," said Iowa PBS Senior Producer and Director Andrea Coyle. "These concepts are accessible and applicable to anyone interested in gardening. Whether you live in an urban or rural area, Gardening with Steil has something for you."
Viewers will join Haynes as she travels to In the Country Garden and Gifts in Independence, Iowa, to meet with Josh Spece, owner and industry expert. There she learns about succulents, air-plants, and mini-hostas. Steil then shows viewers how they can "bring the outdoors in" using these unique plants in a couple of fun projects.
Gardening might be a hobby for some viewers, but using science can help gardens and surrounding ecosystems thrive. Gardening with Steil explores becoming a citizen scientist with volunteer Stephanie Fox from the Iowa Butterfly Survey Network. Nathan Brockman, curator of the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing, also shares tips and tricks for attracting and protecting pollinators like butterflies, bees, and birds.
Viewers will also learn how to design a cutting garden to ensure they always have fresh flowers on hand while maintaining garden beauty all season long — and how to arrange these beautiful cut flowers using some unexpected plants from their own backyards.
Gardening with Steil is presented by Iowa PBS as part of Festival 2020, Iowa PBS's only extended pledge drive of the year. With programming airing on Iowa PBS .1, Iowa PBS WORLD .3, and Iowa PBS Create .4, Festival 2020 takes place February 23-24, February 28-March 9, and March 14-15.
Learn more at iowapbs.org.
For more information about Iowa PBS, please contact Susan Ramsey at 515.725.9703 or susan.ramsey@iowapbs.org.
Iowa PBS is formerly known as Iowa Public Television. New name. Same essential mission.
As Iowa's only statewide television network, Iowa PBS's mission to educate, inform, enrich and inspire Iowans guides its quality, noncommercial programming that tells Iowa's stories like no one else can. Four statewide, public channels offer programs of lasting value to Iowans, regardless of where they live or what they can afford: Iowa PBS .1, Iowa PBS KIDS .2, Iowa PBS WORLD .3 and Iowa PBS Create .4 on Channel 11, Des Moines; Channel 12, Iowa City; Channel 21, Fort Dodge; Channel 24, Mason City; Channel 27, Sioux City; Channel 32, Waterloo; Channel 32, Council Bluffs; Channel 36, Davenport; and Channel 36, Red Oak. More information can be found at iowapbs.org.
