The Penn State Master Gardeners of Schuylkill County is offering its 2015 Spring Education series to county residents interested in gardening.

On April 11, the seminar will focus on native plant options. The session begins at 9 a.m. and will offer tips on converting a yard to include more native shrubs, benefits of replacing lawn with more productive plants and the special use of native plants in rain gardens.It will be presented by master gardeners Nadia Hassani, Ardella Newswanger and Gabriele Feibert, with Connie Schmotzer of the Penn State Extension in York County.The second session will be at 9 a.m. April 18. The topic will be butterfly/pollinator gardening, offering the best choices for blooming plants to attract pollinators, cataloging the many different, surprising pollinators and plans on building houses for native bees.Presenters will be master gardeners Kathy Hampford, Jessica Simkulet and Jane Kruse.Both workshops will be held at the Schuylkill County Ag Center Conference Room, 1202 Ag Center Drive in Pottsville. Cost to attend is $7 for each session.The programs are made possible through a joint collaboration of the Schuylkill County Conservation District and the Penn State Cooperative Extension.For more information or to register, call 570-622-4225, email

schuylkillmg@psu.edu or visit the website at

http://schuylkill.extension.psu.edu.