Roughly 250 people gathered in Chilton County on Wednesday for the Alabama Master Gardener Association’s fall seminar.

“We have had a great turnout,” CCMGA member Audrey Giles said. “I think since Chilton County is centrally located, a lot of people decided to come.”

The fall seminar is held in a different location in Alabama every year, and includes speakers on the topic of gardening.

The event on Wednesday began with registration at 8:30 a.m. and was scheduled to end at 3 p.m.

Speakers included Jason Powell with Petals from the Past in Jemison who gave a lecture titled, “Bulbs, Tubers and Corms, Oh My!”

Will Sheftall gave a lecture on gardening insights from permaculture, Dani Carroll spoke about seed saving and propagation and Sallie Lee gave a lecture titled “Sex in the Garden” (dealing with pollination).

The event was held in the Clanton Conference and Performing Arts Center, located on the Jefferson State Community College campus off Lay Dam Road.

Sheftall spoke about the relatively new practice of permaculture, a system of gardening that works with natural ecosystems.

Sheftall defined permaculture as a collection of ethics and principles that influence the designing of human ecosystems that will work synergistically with the ecosystems in nature.

Giles said individuals traveled to the event from all over the state.

“We had a bus show up this morning with individuals who traveled from Mobile,” Giles said. “We have had them come from the north, south, east and west. It has been great to see.”

A list of hotel accommodations were provided for those traveling to Chilton County from out of town that decided to stay a few days before or after the seminar.

A boxed lunch was also provided for all of the seminar attendees.

“We tried to offer speakers that covered a little bit about everything,” Giles said.

In 2014, the seminar was held at Lake Guntersville in Northeast Alabama.

Giles and CCMGA member Pat Farmer said having the event in Chilton County was good exposure for the county.

“We normally have about 150 to 175 people who attend these seminars, so this has been the largest one I have seen in a while,” Giles said.

The seminar was $25 per person to attend.

For more information about the Chilton County Master Gardeners, visit ccmga.aces.edu. For more information about the Alabama Master Gardeners, visit mg.aces.edu.