Television gardening host Arlena Schott and Jeremie Miniatures brought the “Magic of Miniature Gardening” to local enthusiasts at the P&L Concrete and Garden Center in Escalon on May 15.

Schott’s lively patter and energetic personality held the attention of more than 30 fans as she rapidly created container gardens out of soil, wood and plants complete with miniature houses and outdoor furniture that even included barbecue grills.

Producer of a Wisconsin-based show called Garden Wise Living, she is touring the U.S. giving demonstrations to promote small and independent garden centers. After giving three presentations in this area, she headed south to the Los Angeles area.

The presentation was free, P&L event coordinator Renee Rondon noted. Attendees were invited to purchase materials furnished by Jeremie Miniatures and take them home to make their own downsized gardens.

Before her audience Schott concocted four different gardens, the first complete with a rural cabin in a large terra cotta bowl, the second under glass like an old-style terrarium, the third a miniature farm scene including a chicken coop and animals and the fourth called “Snob Hall” and furnished with a two-story home and elaborate landscaping.

“Arlena Schott has been keeping things green for over 26 years,” according to her website. “She watched in awe at how her Grandpa Edward Workman brought to life hundreds of plants that Arlena learned to care for on the family ranch in Fallon, Nev.”

She opened her first garden shop and nursery in Nevada when she was 19, ran a landscaping business there for 14 years and spoke frequently at garden clubs before moving with her family to Wisconsin in 1995.

Her television show was born in 2002 when she asked a local TV station to broadcast a warning on garden watering requirements during a long, hot summer and the TV producer afterwards offered her a regular show of her own.

Besides running a TV show, Schott has a radio show about poultry and “the chicken whisperer,” Rondon said.