Women@NCSA invites you to RSVP for our in-person event celebrating Pride month and practicing self-care through gardening and horticulture on Thursday, June 20, from 5–7 p.m. This event is open to all affiliates, colleagues, and friends of NCSA and UIUC.
Join Illinois State Master Gardener Specialist Candice Anderson for a workshop on crafting your own terrarium garden. Each participant will learn how to create their own low-maintenance indoor terrarium garden with plants and accessories. Come enjoy snacks and light refreshments and connect with the community!
Women@NCSA is providing snacks and supplies, so this event is free. Spots are limited, and RSVPs will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The RSVP form will close on Thursday, June 13, at noon CST.
✨ Inspiration Behind This Event
Pride Month
Pride Month celebrates LGBTQ2SIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit, Intersex, Asexual, and +other ways to describe gender identities and sexual orientation) joy in living open, authentic lives. It commemorates historic and ongoing struggles that make doing so possible. Celebrating Pride fosters inclusion and support for our LGBTQ2SIA+ friends, colleagues, family members, and peers by building a safe environment, providing education opportunities, normalizing acceptance, and fostering connections.
Learn more about Pride Month's history and traditions and check out resources provided by the Human Rights Campaign to celebrate Pride and show up for the community.
Gardening Benefits
According to the American Horticulture Society, indoor gardening is a wonderful way to bring the tranquility of an outdoor garden inside your home. Indoor gardening is an enriching and fulfilling pursuit that brings nature into daily life with many benefits, such as:
- Houseplants can act as natural air purifiers by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, enhancing the air quality of your home.
- Indoor plants are also known to reduce stress and improve productivity, and they're beautiful to look at!
- Studies have shown that being around plants can help lower blood pressure, improve sleep quality, and even boost the immune system.
About Our Guest: Illinois State Master Gardener Candice Anderson
Candice Anderson (she/her) is responsible for offering leadership, developing trainings and providing expertise in Horticulture Sciences in Illinois for the Master Gardener Program. Her primary areas of focus are home horticultural, indoor plant, and greenhouse production topics.
Candice graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor's degree in Horticulture Production and Management-Floriculture and a Master's Degree in Agricultural Education. While at the U of I, she was an active member of the Horticulture Club, as well as various other clubs and honor societies. Her experience includes serving as a teaching assistant, curriculum developer, camp educator, and research assistant. In addition, Anderson has experience working in a research greenhouse setting at the U of I Plant Care Facility where she assisted in the growth and maintenance of various research crops.
Candice developed her love of horticulture growing up on a farm in rural Piper City, IL. Through various 4-H horticulture projects and by taking a horticulture class in high school, she was able to realize the possibility of horticulture as a career path. Candice's other interests include cake decorating and floral design, which she also discovered as a teenager in 4-H.
She is a member of the Illinois State Specialty Growers Association, Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, the Illinois State Florist's Association, and is an Illinois Certified Professional Florist and Certified Floral Designer. She also serves on the Extension Master Gardener National Committee.
