BATON ROUGE, La. – The 2015 Southwest Louisiana Garden Conference and Expo is scheduled for March 27-28 in Lake Charles.

The Southwest Louisiana Master Gardeners kick off the weekend’s events with its Garden Expo Preview Party featuring a Gumbo Supper & Silent Auction in the Chalkley Room of the Burton Coliseum on Thursday, March 26, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

A donation of $10 is required for admission to the preview party and tickets can be purchased from the LSU AgCenter office at 7101 Gulf Hwy. in Lake Charles or at the door.

“Attendees will enjoy the gumbo supper, participate in the silent auction, preview the garden show and make purchases from the participating vendors that evening,” said LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Robert Turley.

The garden show will be open Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the coliseum, with a wide variety of activities, vendors, speakers and exhibitors.

The show theme is Spirit of Adventure and will feature new and exciting educational programs about garden topics by LSU AgCenter specialists, as well as regional and state guest speakers.

"The garden expo is a wholesome, educational environment and the perfect activity to bring together friends and families," Turley said.

Educational garden seminars will be ongoing throughout the two day event, with topics including home vegetable gardening, pecan insect identification and management in home pecan plantings, integrated pest management and home citrus production.

There will be a plant health clinic with professionals from the LSU AgCenter, as well as Master Gardener volunteers who will help diagnose plant problems and answer garden questions. The 4-H Cart Service will be there to help festival-goers carry out items to their vehicles.

“The Expo attracts over 4,000 garden lovers, residents and visitors each year,” Turley said.

Admission is $3 for adults and free for children 12 and under.

For more information, visit www.gardenfest.org or contact Turley at 337-475-8812 or rturley@agcenter.lsu.edu.

Johnny Morgan