While the weather shifts back and forth between spring and winter, robin sightings and snow squalls – those who love to grow know to be patient, gather up sticks, look over storm damage, turn the compost heap, find ideas, plants, resources. Time to steep in botanical beauty, curiosities, natural sciences, good books. Page through seed catalogs yet again. Visit Logee's, greenhouses and conservatories, arboretums. Gatherings of people who share a passion for horticulture or gardens large or small are good places to be as the season shifts, one day at a time. Here are a few.

The all-day UConn Extension 2016 Garden Conference on Friday, March 18, at the University of Connecticut, Lewis B. Rome Commons in Storrs. National speakers and local experts on various aspects of garden design, maintenance, plant selection.

Speakers include: Artist and writer Andrew Keys, Uncommon Plants for Northeast Gardens: Book Favorites and B-Sides , whose first book is Why Grow That When You Can Grow This?: 255 Extraordinary Alternatives to Everyday Problem Plants, published by Timber Press in 2012.

Ruth Kassinger, science writer, A Garden of Marvels. “When I'm not writing about the history, science, and pleasures of gardening, I'm taking care of the dozens of plants – citrus trees, figs, coffee bushes, pineapples, and lots of other tropicals – in my home conservatory.” – from the author's biography on Amazon.

Lynn Felici-Gallant, designer and writer, Slow Containers: Rethinking Annuals-Only Design. UConn Plant Diagnostician Joan Allen, Organic Pest Control in the Vegetable Garden. Smith College Assistant Professor Jesse Bellemare, Horticultural Insights into Plant Conservation in the Face of Climate Change.

Included is an information packet, lunch, snacks, free parking (in an adjacent lot to the conference). Selected autographed books plus a wide array of gardening books will be available for purchase. Plants are also available for purchase. Contact Joan Allen, (860) 486-6740, email joan.allen@uconn.edu, or visit www.2016garden.uconn.edu. Fee is $100 for walk-ins.

Hor·ti·cul·ture: The art or practice of garden cultivation and management. Synonyms: gardening, landscaping, cultivation; floriculture, arboriculture, agriculture.

A great resource where people share information and their experiences is the annual CT NOFA Winter Conference at Western CT State University in Danbury, Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13. Workshops, speakers, information, resources, networking. Here is a link to a recent story with photographs and information.

An all-day educational conference that combines plant production, sustainable landscape design, retail marketing, the UConn Sustainable Landscape Conference: A Conference for the Landscape and Horticultural Professional at the Lewis B. Rome Commons on the University of Connecticut Storrs campus, is Thursday, March 17.

Speakers and topics include: Lisa Cowan, principal and lead landscape architect at Studioverde, Maine, and Irene Brady Barber, founder of Greenscapes Design, Ecological Design Approaches for Tough Urban Spaces.

Roy Diblik, co-owner of Northwind Perennial Farm of Wisconsin, Perennial Plant Communities: The ‘Know' Maintenance Approach.

Richard Harper, UMass Extension Assistant Professor, Urban & Community Forestry, do-it-yourself diagnostics.

Debra Knapke, The Garden Sage, garden designer, author, and lecturer at Columbus State, Ohio, The Garden Aesthetic in a Time of Change.

Angela Palmer, founder and co-owner, Plants Nouveau, Are You Prepared for the Cultural Shift? Marketing Plants to Future Generations. Fee is $110 for walk-ins. Registration is limited and nonrefundable; see www.2016slc.uconn.edu for complete details or contact Donna Ellis (860) 486-6448; email donna.ellis@uconn.edu.

That Sandy Merrill is passionate about helping things grow is evident by spending even a few minutes around her. She simply lights up when talking about gardening, earth, mixing soil – what she calls “playing in the dirt” – pure joy. She will share tips and techniques gleaned from years of experience and professionals at the Successful Seed Starting seminar on Saturday, Feb. 27, 9:30 a.m., at Woodland Gardens, Manchester. Free and open to the public.

Merrill will share seed starting tips, techniques, and how to raise healthy seedlings at home. No registration needed. Bring your questions. Merrill is garden seed buyer and packet seed coordinator at The Chas. C. Hart Seed Co., which is the oldest seed company in the U.S. still owned and operated by its founding family.