Mobile Botanical Gardens

Botanical Art: Graphite Pencil Drawing
2026-03-27 10:00 - 13:00, 2026-03-13 10:00 - 13:00, 2026-03-06 10:00 - 13:00, 2026-02-27 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Mobile Botanical Gardens’ Larkins Classroom, 5151 Museum Dr, Mobile, AL, 36608, United States
The Art of Botanical Art: Graphite Pencil Drawing
10 AM – 1 PM on Fridays Beginning on 02/27/26
(See full Schedule Below)
Derek Norman – Instructor: Artist, Author & Educator
$125 for Not-Yet Members
$100 for Members (difference refunded after purchase)
Register Here!
If you have long held the desire to learn how to draw then this class is for you. And also, for those who simply wish to take their drawing skills to a higher level such as the intermediate and advanced student.
Students will progress, from learning appropriate graphite/pencil use and handling technique to developing a keen sound sense of observation. The fundamentals of drawing technique will be taught by a step-by-step process of analytical drawing exercises. Including the study of negative and positive compositions, convex and concave shapes and a range of botanical perspectives. As the class progresses each student will engage in drawing plant specimens as they learn to recognize and create form by understanding the importance of structure, surface texture and light as “value”.
Create a little magic! One step at a time – as you relish and rediscover the joy of drawing in pencil. You’ll see your flower drawings slowly emerge and come to life with shape, form, depth and dimension.
The Art of a Sound Drawing Technique – How to surprise yourself and amaze your friends!
Class Schedule:

February 27
March 6
March 13
March 27

Instructor: Derek Norman
Members $125 / Not-Yet-Members $150
(Discover the benefits of membership and Join Now)!

Register and Pay Here!

Garden Photography Workshop
2026-03-21 11:00 - 14:00 | Mobile Botanical Gardens, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
Garden Photography Workshop
Saturday, March 21 | 11 AM – 2 PM
Instructor: Photographer & MBG Member, Julie Andel
Register Here!
$80 for Not-Yet Members
$75 for Members (difference refunded after purchase)
Join experienced photographer Julie Andel for a hands-on garden photography workshop. The workshop will include an hour of classroom instruction and two hours of hands-on training in and around the Garden.
Classroom instruction will cover basic camera settings, utilizing camera focus modes, and creative compositional techniques for subjects within gardens. The garden walk will reinforce the topics covered in the lecture and students will get real-time practice with techniques such as exposure settings, focusing, and creative compositions. Students of all ages and levels of experience are welcome to participate.
The only requirement for this class is a digital camera. It can be a simple point and shoot camera or a DSLR camera, as long as it’s digital. Students are asked to bring the camera manual if available.
Register Here!

Sketch Club in the Gardens
2026-03-20 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-03-13 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-03-06 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-02-27 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-02-20 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-02-13 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-02-06 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-01-30 14:00 - 16:00 and 6 more dates | Mobile Botanical Gardens, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
What: A casual sketch club experience with oversight from Derek Norman, botanical arts instructor
When: Friday afternoons, 2-4pm*
Where: The Larkins Classroom OR at Magnolia Hill Studio
Cost: FREE for MBG Members, regular admission for nonmembers. (Benefits of membership) (Join Now!)
*The sketch club generally meets on Friday afternoons, subject to availability of space. Contact the office at 251.342.0555 to verify hours of activity on specific dates.

-=-The drawings and paintings shown here are by recent members of the Gardens Sketch Club and botanical art students of the MBG. They serve as examples of what can be achieved by those with none or very little previous experience drawing and painting.
We invite you to visit the Garden’s Sketch Club and to enjoy the therapeutic rewards of learning to draw and drawing to learn! Learn how art can transform and enrich your life plus enhance your physical and mental well-being.
We meet each Friday afternoon in an open studio where we usually work, study, draw and paint. We exchange information relevant to the business of botanical art, art in general and to the consideration of individual botanical art concerns.
Join the MBG Sketch Club. – a whole new world of infinite possibilities! -=-
-Derek Norman, Educator, Designer, Artist, Author, Curator & sometime Writer. 5th October 2024
Join Derek and several of his Botanical Arts students for an enjoyable afternoon of sketching the collections of MBG.

Plantasia! Spring Plant Sale 2026
2026-03-13 09:00 - 2026-03-14 16:00 | MBG MarketPlace, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
This may be the BEST Spring Plant Sale at MBG yet!
With hand selected plants chosen specifically for our Gulf Coast region, you can’t go wrong at the Plantasia Spring Plant Sale! ALSO, get the first pick of the plants available at this year’s Spring Plant Sale at the Preview Party where you can shop from 1000s of plants while enjoying live music, beer/wine bar and great food!

Start Making Those Shopping Lists! Check out what plants will be available at the sale:
2026 Spring Plant Sale List: (EXCEL) | (PDF)

Find out more information about the Spring Plant Sale & Preview Party HERE!

Plantasia! Spring Plant Sale Preview Party!
2026-03-12 16:00 - 19:00 | MBG MarketPlace, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
Plantasia! Spring Plant Sale: Preview Party!
Date: Thursday, March 12th
When: 4pm – 7pm
Where: Nita’s MarketPlace at Mobile Botanical Gardens
5151 Museum Drive
Mobile, AL 36608
$45 Nonmembers | $40 MBG Member | $50 Day-of (Members & Nonmembers)

A Plant Sale Fiesta! A Build your own taco or nacho bar by Taco Mama
Beer, Wine & Margaritas by Bottles Up of Mobile
Live Music by Keith ‘The Mailman’ Burns

Don’t Wait! Get Your Tickets HERE!

Find out more information about the Spring Plant Sale and to view the list of plants that will be available HERE!
There will be several first come, first served, picnic tables and chairs at the Spring Plant Sale Preview Party for all those that attend.
Want to ensure your group has a table ready upon your arrival? Reserve a table today!
Reserved tables include your tickets AND complimentary wine! Check out our Reserved Tables options HERE

Blossoms & Bugs: A 6-Week Art Workshop with Artist Honey Dean
2026-03-05 13:00 - 16:00 | Mobile Botanical Gardens’ Larkins Classroom, 5151 Museum Dr, Mobile, AL, 36608, United States
Blossoms and Bugs: Drawing and Painting Botanicals and Insects
Thursdays from 1 – 4 PM
March: 5, 12, 19, 26 | April: 2, 9
An Art Workshop with Honey Dean
Register Here!
Presented by botanical artist and natural science illustrator Honey Dean, this workshop will cover the basic skills of drawing and watercolor as applied to traditional scientifically-accurate representations of flowers, foliage, and insects.
Students can expect to work with live specimens (except for some of the bugs, perhaps) as models and will complete the class having produced several small drawings and paintings in graphite, ink, and watercolor. Students of all ages and levels of training in art are welcome to participate.
Art supplies for the class will be furnished by the instructor, with cost included in the workshop fees. The Mobile Botanical Gardens will provide the blossoms and bugs.
Class Schedule:

March 5
March 12
March 19
March 26
April 2
April 9

$260 for Not-Yet Members
$240 for Members (difference refunded after purchase)
(Discover the benefits of membership and Join Now)!

Register and Pay Here!
A Brief Biography of Janice Neill “Honey” Dean
Honey Dean is a botanical artist and natural science illustrator who resides in Lucedale, Mississippi. Originally from the Mississippi Delta, Honey was trained in art at the University of Mississippi, graduating with an extended major in art and an additional major in English. It was the English degree that provided her livelihood—as her college advisor suggested, “Artists have a hard time making a living, but every town needs English teachers.” This proved to be true, and an advanced degree in English and a doctorate in Education furthered her career as a teacher, principal, and college professor. Art was her passion throughout, and she brought the Arts in Education program into several elementary schools in Greenville, Mississippi. She always created art herself, participated in several art groups in the Delta, Jackson, and Fairhope, Alabama area, co-owned The Studio, a frame shop and gallery, with her sculptor husband, Michael Dean, and showed her work at exhibits and galleries throughout the South. Honey has since retired from education and her art associations, but she continues to paint and occasionally enters art shows. Her home in Lucedale, The Honeycomb, serves as her studio and gallery. Her motto comes from an old tombstone in England: “The wonder of the world, the beauty and the power, the shapes of things, their colors, lights, and shades. These I saw; look ye also while life lasts.”

Natural Beekeeping: Principals & Practices for the Backyard Apiary
2026-02-28 13:00 - 16:00 | Mobile Botanical Gardens, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
Natural Beekeeping: Principles and Practices for the Backyard Apiary
Saturday, February 28 | 1:00-4:00
Instructors:
Veronica Culberson, Honey of the Hill
Dr. Don Culberson, Entomologist Professor
Register Here
$45 for Not-Yet Members
$40 for Members (difference refunded after purchase)
The technological advances of the Industrial Revolution have brought beekeeping science into the future. There are all sorts of devices, methods and treatments that, while seemingly beneficial to the commercial side of the trade, can often leave the hobby apiarist wishing for a simpler and more natural experience for themselves and their bees. Many of the current standard beekeeping practices conflict with the bees’ natural rhythms and inclinations in order to forcibly support the production of more and more honey, but at what cost? The bees have managed themselves quite well out in the wild for the past 150 million years or so, finely tuned evolutionary beings that they are, what could we possibly do to top that?
This class will uncover the vast differences in industrial and hobby beekeeping and show how the standards for one don’t really apply to the other, and how they may actually disadvantage the bees. We will discuss the whys and hows of honeybee behaviors, what the bees want, and how to use their natural tendencies to support their health and production. Other topics covered include apiary site selection and setup for healthy and productive colonies, hiving options, sourcing livestock, inspecting your bees and record keeping, supporting rather than preventing swarming, natural disease and pest management, expanding your apiary organically, and how we learn from our failures.
Weather permitting, we will be viewing live bees during this 2+ hour course.
This is not a beekeeping 101 class but if you’re an aspiring, new or even seasoned beekeeper who’d like to learn about the more natural, low impact and regenerative side of beekeeping and how to apply it to your own beekeeping journey, then this is the class for you.
Register Here

About the Instructor:
Presented by Mobile Botanical Garden’s beekeeper, Veronica Culberson, and her entomologist professor father, Dr. Don Culberson. Veronica and Don have been keeping bees without the use of chemical additives and unnatural feedings for 10+ years. What started as an experiment in backyard gardening has developed into a love affair with pollinators and community outreach. As their knowledge and their apiaries have grown and flourished through the seasons, so has the desire to educate.

Gardening Basics Part 2: Growing Vegetables in the Coastal South
2026-02-21 10:00 - 12:00 | Mobile Botanical Gardens, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
Gardening Basics: Growing Vegetables in the Coastal South
Saturday, February 21
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Register Here
Learn how to grow vegetables suited to our unique climate! In this class Master Gardener Barbara Boone will teach on growing vegetables in the South, companion planting and knowing what to plant in what season.
Early registration is requested. Drop-in registration on the day of the class will be offered if spots are still available.
$7 for members (difference refunded after purchase)
$10 for not-yet-members
The Mobile County Master Gardeners generously donate their time and teaching expertise. All registration fees go directly to MBG to support the work of caring for our plant collections.
Register Here

How to Make Elderberry Syrup Workshop
2026-02-07 13:00 - 15:00 | Mobile Botanical Gardens, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
Elderberry Syrup Workshop
Saturday, February 7th
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Instructor: Veronica Culberson, Honey of the Hill
Register Here!
$35 for Not-Yet Members
$30 for Members (difference refunded after purchase)
After selling out the first time, we are offering a second class! Start the new year off right with a post-holiday immune boost! Join us for a lesson on everything elderberry!
Elderberry syrup is a popular and long-trusted herbal wellness remedy and illness preventative. Well known for its abundance of vitamins and antioxidants, people have historically used elderberry combined with other natural immune supporting herbs and fruits to fight off seasonal illnesses like the flu and colds.
In this class we will learn all about elderberry syrup, from the source to the solution. Learn to identify elderberry plants in the wild, how to nurture them in your own yard, safe and sustainable harvesting, various preparations, storage and uses. Everyone will take home a pint of completed traditional elderberry syrup and a small potted elderberry plant to add to their landscape.
Register Here!

Gardening Basics Part 1: Preparing Garden Soil
2026-01-24 10:00 - 12:00 | Mobile Botanical Gardens, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
Gardening Basics: Preparing Garden Soil
Saturday, January 24
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Register Here
Learn how to start a bountiful garden from the soil up! Master Gardener Pat Hall will teach you all about choosing the best site for your vegetable garden, testing and preparing your soil for planting and how to create a raised bed garden.
Early registration is requested. Drop-in registration on the day of the class will be offered if spots are still available.
$7 for members (difference refunded after purchase)
$10 for not-yet-members
The Mobile County Master Gardeners generously donate their time and teaching expertise. All registration fees go directly to MBG to support the work of caring for our plant collections
Register Here

Festive Nights in The Garden
2025-12-20 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-12-19 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-12-18 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-12-12 17:00 - 20:00 | Mobile Botanical Gardens, 5151 MUSEUM DR, MOBILE, AL, 36608, United States
Festive Nights in the Garden
December 11 & 12, 18-20 • 5-8pm
Introducing our first Festive Nights in the Garden! Come enjoy an evening of holiday lighting, nature-themed hands-on crafts, a mini wreath making station and marshmallow roasting around fire pits.
Santa will be stopping by on the 11th, 12th, 18th and 20th, with a break to feed the reindeer on the 19th! Personal photos are allowed, no photo fee.
Stop by the gift shop for holiday gifts and a coffee and hot cocoa bar with coffee generously provided by Carpe Diem!
All activities, the coffee/hot cocoa bar and Santa are included in the ticket price. Pre-sale tickets coming soon!
Adults:
MBG Members: $15
Non-members: $18
Youth (5-17):
MBG Members: $6
Non-members: $8
Children 4 and under are free.

Interested in sponsoring this event? Come join the festivities!
Send an email to cklemmer@mbgardens.org to find out more info.
