Classes & Events

Learn & Grow

Give your growing talent some polish by attending classes & plant-centric events at the Depot.

All around the seasons, Karen teaches classes herself or provides a class with special growers who both will add to your knowledge & enhance your skillset.

Check back for added events & classes – the most upcoming will be here at the top, and past events (so you can get an idea of our offerings) are listed in the accordion tabs below.

Coming Up ::

December 14, 2025 | 2:00pm

Wreath Making Class at Initiative Brewing –

On Sunday, Dec 14th from 2-4pm, create a Holiday wreath with Karen of the Madras Garden Depot ~ Hosted at Initiative Brewing/The Fortress, 715 SW 4th St. in Madras.

We’ll provide all materials, including: evergreen foliage, colorful berries & cones. Feel free to bring other materials such as dried flowers or pods, jingle bells, ribbon.

Please bring your own clippers and some gloves if you’re sensitive to cut greens.

You must pre-register for this event. Click this link to complete payment.

Bring a friend, enjoy snacks or drinks at Initiative, and we’ll see you there!

Past Classes & Events ::

Succulent Pumpkin Garden Class

Do you love fall, lovely heirloom pumpkins and succulents? Then you are in the right place!

We’ll be using a colorful mix of tender and hardy succulents and unique heirloom pumpkins to create a long-lasting & colorful fall/winter centerpiece. They usually last into the New Year . . . and the succulent plants can then be transplanted to a container or garden bed.

Included in the cost are: 1) an heirloom pumpkin, succulents (a blend of both indoor & cold hardy types), 2) dried flowers and seed heads, 3) moss and all other fill materials needed.

Please bring your own scissors (and disposable gloves if you have a sensitivity to sphagnum moss.) You are also welcome to bring your own seed heads or interesting dried flowers to add. During your pumpkin construction, we’ll serve molasses cookies, warm cider & hot cocoa.

Fall Wreath Class at Studio on 5th

We are pleased to collaborate with Studio On 5th for a Fall Wreath Crafting Class!

All materials are provided to create a fall wreath that can easily transform into a winter wonderland for the holiday season!
We will have a wide variety of dried flowers such as: Verbena, rabbit brush, lavender, hops and more!

We encourage you to bring items to personalize your wreath: ornaments, ribbons & flowers – let your imagination go wild!
Bring gloves & clippers if you have them.

We’re excited to see you all there!

Porch Planter Class

We’re excited about a favorite class coming up. Make an Evergreen Porch Planter, led by Claire Hafer. Claire really knows her way around decorating outdoor spaces, especially entry areas!

Join us inside our cozy greenhouse to create your holiday planter while beating the chill with warm seasonal refreshments. We’ll have a great collection of amazing evergreen and other natural decorative “ingredients” to play with, and we encourage you to bring foraged goodies of your own from your garden.

This is an all ages class, but we do ask that each child under 12 have an adult accompanying each of them.

Crevice Gardening

Mark Akimoff will teach crevice gardening, which considers root structure and soil preparation in planting succulents and other strong-rooting plants into garden crevices, rock gardens, and other stony surfaces.

BIO:
Mark is the owner of Illahe Rare Plants a, specialty nursery of flower bulbs and geophytes from around the world. Over his 25-year career as a professional horticulturalist, Mark has worked in many sectors of the industry. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Horticultural Science from Oregon State University and studied biotechnology at Montana State University.

At the nursery in Salem, Oregon Mark trials many different dryland and xeric plants to better help gardeners adapt to changing climate conditions we are seeing especially in the drought-stricken Western US.

Beginning Hypertufa

Heads up all succulent & alpine gardening fans! Come join us at the Depot for our annual Hypertufa container class. Each participant will make 2 Hypertufa rock-like projects to take home and plant up! (They make really nice gifts, also.)

Hypertufa is a recipe of cement & other inorganic & organic additives, and the final product greatly mimics quarried stone. Rectangular stone troughs have long been used for planing small, hardy alpine plants, but more xeric (water thrifty) rock garden plants such as sedums & sempervirens can also be used. Each hypertufa is unique & beautiful!

We’ll mis our recipes by hand and we have a huge inventory of forms to use, incorporating different tints & stains.Wear grubby gardening clothes and bring sturdy rubber gloves. Be ready to get dirty & have fun!