Close to home: Seven free gardening seminars, Home and Patio show, free magazine app

The temperature outside might be trending arctic, but spring is in the air at the Minnesota Home and Patio Show, Feb. 19-22 at St. Paul RiverCentre. More than 300 exhibitors will show home-improvement and gardening ideas. The Outdoor Living and Gardening Area will feature trends in gardening and outdoor spaces.

The Trending Kitchen and Bath Idea Center returns, highlighting new products and design trends. Get your home-design questions answered by members of the International Furnishings & Design Association, and members of the National Kitchen and Bath Association.

A slate of gardening professionals, including "Renegade Gardener" Don Engebretson and KARE-TV's Bobby Jensen, will appear daily, along with some cooking experts.

Show hours are 2-8 p.m. Thursday, noon-8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for members of the military and senior citizens and $2.50 for children ages 6-12; 5 and under are admitted free. (And to keep those little hands busy, check out the Kids' Potting Bench, where Minnesota State Horticultural Society volunteers help children learn how to pot up a plant.)

For more information, call 763-755-8111 or go to www.homeand­patioshow.com.

Need a gardening fix to hold you until spring? Gertens is holding seven free seminars on Feb. 21 that cover everything from fairy gardening to seed starting.

Super Seminar Saturday starts at 9 a.m. with "Houseplant ID and Care," followed by a seed-starting seminar at 10 a.m. A session at 11 a.m. on "Evergreens 101" rounds out the morning events. The afternoon kicks off with a session on selecting and planting trees and shrubs at noon, followed by a seminar on fairy gardening and terrariums at 1 p.m. Learn how to "Get Ready for Spring" at 2 p.m., or about edible landscaping at 3 p.m.

The events are at the garden center at 5500 Blaine Av., Inver Grove Heights. Call 651-450-1501.

New free app Issuu is like having an enormous magazine rack of design publications without cluttering up your own home's decor.

The app collects more than 20 million magazines from around the world on various subjects, including art, design, home decor, food and fashion.

The magazines are laid out like the original hard copies, only with page previews that make it easy to scan an issue and click on the pages that interest you.

So you can catch up on the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens — or back issues of Architectural Digest or Gardening How-To. Also in the mix of searchable items are catalogs and some books.

The app is available for desktops, Android or iOS devices.