Basement and kitchen remodeling classes
Considering a home improvement project this spring? Castle Building & Remodeling is offering free classes on some of the most common types of remodeling projects. "Green Basement Remodeling" focuses on how to incorporate eco-friendly building products into your home renovations. Topics include the design process, project budgets, cost-saving ideas, rebates and incentives and affordable design tips, 10 to 11:30 a.m. March 19 at Natural Built Home, 4020 Minnehaha Av. S., Mpls. "Planning a Kitchen Remodel" is offered from 6 to 7:30 p.m. March 22 at Castle Design Studio, 5 West Diamond Lake Rd., Mpls. Please RSVP for classes at 612-887-8383 or go to castlebri.com.
LYNN UNDERWOOD
Fresh ideas
Spring is on the horizon, bringing a seasonal favorite — Bachman's Spring Ideas House. The historic Bachman family home in south Minneapolis has been repainted, refurnished and redecorated with fresh seasonal items to inspire your own home decor. The Spring Ideas House opens March 17 and will continue through April 17 at 5936 Lyndale Av. S. Self-guided tours, $5, are offered in 30-minute increments. For daily hours, tickets and other information, visit bachmans.com.
Rain garden workshops
Your yard can do double duty — providing beautiful habitat for bees and butterflies while helping to keep lakes and rivers clean. Learn how to create rain gardens that do both at a series of workshops, "Planting for Pollinators," presented by Metro Blooms this spring. The series kicks off March 31, 6 to 9 p.m., with a $15 workshop at the Longfellow Park Rec Center, 3435 36th Av. S., Mpls. Other workshops will follow at 10 locations throughout the metro area. For dates, visit metroblooms.org.
A free workshop on "Building a Rain Garden" will be offered by the District 10 Como Community Council from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on March 20. Participants will learn the benefits of rain gardens and how to create one that works, including planning, construction, specific plants and how the Capitol Region Watershed District can provide technical expertise and even grant money to help offset costs. The workshop will be held in the Newman-Benson Chapel at Lyngblomsten, 1415 Almond Av., St. Paul.
Flower show opens
A perennial rite of spring, Macy's Flower Show with Gardens by Bachman's, will open next Sunday. This year's theme is "America the Beautiful," featuring landscapes inspired by the various regions of the United States — from the Southeast's tropical blooms to the Northeast's coastal grasses, the Midwest's fruited plains to the cactus-filled deserts of the Southwest. The centerpiece will be a floral interpretation of the Statue of Liberty.
New to this year's show is a personal audio tour of the flower show, available to stream on any device by visiting macys.com/flowershowaudio (the audio tour will not be operational until the flower show opens).
The free show will be presented March 20 through April 3 during regular store hours in the eighth-floor auditorium of Macy's downtown Minneapolis store, 700 Nicollet Mall.
Kim Palmer
