Join us for our 11th annual Garden Symposium on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at the Stuart Country Day School in Princeton, NJ.  This year the theme is Insights and Inspirations. This event frequently sells out, so be sure to register early!  As an added bonus, registrations postmarked by February 24, 2018 are $80; $90 if postmarked after February 24, 2018.

SOLD OUT!

We have an exciting line up of speakers this year, including:

Joe Lamp’l (aka joe gardener®) has been hooked on horticulture since childhood. As one of the country’s most recognized and trusted personalities in gardening and sustainability, that passion for living a greener life is evident to a nationwide audience who watches Joe in his current role as Creator, Executive Producer and Host of the multi-award-winning PBS series, Growing a Greener World® and previously as host of Fresh from the Garden on DIY Network and more. Joe also shares his know-how on NBC’s TODAY SHOW, ABC’s Good Morning America, The Weather Channel and through his popular books, podcast series, nationally syndicated newspaper column and more.

Joe’s past awards include The American Horticultural Society’s B.Y. Morrison Communication Award, which recognizes effective and inspirational communication—through print, radio, television, and online media, t Best On-Air Talent for Television by The Garden Writers Association, and the Taste Awards for Best Branded Television Series, Best Environmental Television, Series, Film or Video, and Breakout Storyteller of the Year for a television series.

Joe is also the founder and “Joe” behind joegardener.com – a new gardening-intensive website launching in spring-2017. Promising to be one of the most comprehensive sites on the web with a focus on how-to videos, podcasts and blog posts around the most popular topics gardeners want to know.

When not talking or writing about green living, Joe can likely be found in and around his organic garden and spending time with his family on their Atlanta, GA farm.

https://joegardener.com/

GARDENING TO WEATHER ANY STORM 

This presentation was inspired by the incredibly healthy garden Joe Lamp’l created and maintained on the set of The Fresh from the Garden television series for over three years–in spite of many difficult environmental challenges! In this unique and informative presentation, Joe shares his secrets about creating a garden that will stand up to all the unpredictable variables in Mother Nature’s bag of tricks. Joe will explain how best to prepare any garden or landscape to perform no matter how wet, dry, sunny or shady it may be. He’ll also share his methods of dealing with critters of all shapes and sizes. Learn the tricks of proactive gardening – from soil testing and preparation to fertilization and watering, as well as pest and disease control, all in a more eco-friendly way.

 

Gretchen LeBuhn is a professor of biology at San Francisco State University.  As an evolutionary ecologist, Gretchen is interested in the ecology, population biology, evolution, and conservation of plant populations.  The broad focus of her research addresses the relationships between environmental and genetic variation, natural selection and fitness, with specific interest in gene flow, adaption, speciation, demography, and plant-animal interactions.  She works on a diversity of projects from field and greenhouse studies of how different ecological factors influence selection to studies of methods in conservation biology.

In 2008 Gretchen launched the Great Sunflower Project as a way to gather information about our urban, suburban, and rural bee populations.  The project enlists people from across the United States and Canada to plant sunflowers and observe bee visitation, recording the types and numbers of bees present in their area.  Gretchen is co-author with Kate Frey of The Bee-Friendly Garden: Design an Abundant, Flower-Filled Yard that Nurtures Bees and Supports Biodiversity, winner of the American Horticultural Society 2017 Book Award, and the Xerces Society Guide:  Attracting Native Pollinators.

http://biology.sfsu.edu/people/gretchen-lebuhn

USING GARDENS FOR POLLINATOR CONSERVATION

A scientist, gardener, parent and educator, Dr. LeBuhn will talk about how our gardens, yards and parks can create a network of healthy habitats for plants and pollinators.  She will share her knowledge about pollinators, what is known about pollinator gardens and how as citizen scientists, we can all contribute to a healthier planet, one backyard at a time.

 

Lee Reich, PhD is an avid farmdener (more than a gardener, less than a farmer) with graduate degrees in soil science and horticulture. After working in plant and soil research with the USDA and Cornell University, he shifted gears and turned to writing, lecturing, and consulting. His books include  A Northeast Gardener’s Year, The Pruning Book, Weedless Gardening, Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden, Landscaping With Fruit, and Grow Fruit Naturally. He writes regularly for a number of gardening magazines and his syndicated gardening column for Associated Press appears biweekly from coast to coast.

His farmden has been featured in such publications as the New York Times and Martha Stewart Living, has won awards from National Gardening and Organic Gardening magazines, and has been included in “Open Days” tours of the Garden Conservancy.  When the Garden Conservancy expanded Open Days in 2016, Lee became a regular presenter in their Digging Deeper series in the Hudson Valley of New York.

http://www.leereich.com/

FEARLESS PRUNING

A slide lecture to take the mystery out of pruning, so that lilacs, roses – all trees and shrubs, in fact – can be pruned to look their best and be in vibrant health. After going over the many benefits of pruning, we’ll take a look at the tools for the job and then – most important – discuss how plants respond to various types of pruning cuts. After that, we enter the “real world” with the how, why, and when of pruning various groups of plants. 

Paul Zammit, a graduate of the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, is the Nancy Eaton Director of Horticulture at the Toronto Botanical Garden.  He is a regular speaker at garden clubs and horticultural trade shows inspiring audiences across Canada and in the United States. In recent years, Paul has presented in Germany, Switzerland and Bermuda.  He has appeared both on television and in print.

Paul and Uli’s home garden has been featured in Canadian Living, Gardening Life, Canadian Gardening and Gardening How-To.  His personal garden was awarded first place in the environmental garden category in the 2001 City of Toronto Garden Contest followed by an award in 2003 for the Best Use of Plant Material in the City of Toronto West District Garden Contest.

Paul’s container designs have also been showcased in numerous gardening magazines.  Most recently, on the cover of the May 2011 issue of Canadian Gardening.  In 2008, he won first place in the Scotts Miracle-Gro, Do Up the Doorstep competition, for his container entry at Canada Blooms.

Paul has been awarded the Young Professionals award by the Perennial Plant Association.  In 2010, he was the recipient of an Industry Service Award.

Formerly, he was at Plant World, a large retail garden centre where he was the perennial department manager for almost two decades.

http://torontobotanicalgarden.ca/press/spokesperson/paul-zammit/

CREATIVE CONTAINERS:  THE APPEAL, THE POTENTIAL, AND THE POSSIBILITIES

Just as outdoor garden spaces change throughout the year, Paul believes seasonal transformations should also be reflected in dramatic container arrangements.  Join Paul for an energetic presentation where he will discuss the steps to success for creating an eye catching and lasting planter. He will also highlight many of his favorite choice plants, container combinations and planter accents.

 

Schedule of the Day:

8:00-9:00 Breakfast/Book Sales/Gardener Auction

9:00-9:15 Opening Remarks and Welcome

9:15-10:15 Joe Lamp’l—Gardening to Weather Any Storm

10:15-10:45 Coffee Break/Book Sales/Gardener Auction

10:45-11:45 Gretchen LeBuhn—Using Gardens for Pollinator Conservation

11:45-12:45 Lunch/Book Sales/Garden Auction/Slide Show

12:45-1:45 Lee Reich—Fearless Pruning

1:45-2:15 Coffee Break/Book Sales/Gardener Auction

2:15-3:15 Paul Zammit— Creative Containers: The Appeal, the Potential and the Possibilities

3:15-3:30 Closing Remarks and Announcement of Gardener Auction Winners

“Boxed Lunch Choices: NO Substitutions”

Condiments on the side

 

HONEY BAKED HAM on croissant, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, potato chips and chocolate chip cookie

 TUNA SALAD on sliced multigrain, lettuce, tomato, potato chips, chocolate chip cookie

VEGETARIAN OPTION: provolone, lettuce, tomato, banana pepper, olives on sliced multigrain, potato chips, fruit cup

GLUTEN FREE OPTION: Chef salad with ham, turkey, swiss and cheddar, tomato, fresh leaf lettuce,  potato chips and fruit cup

 

Register Early and Save!  $80 if postmarked by February 24, 2018. $90 if postmarked after February 24, 2018.

Registration by mail is required and must be postmarked by March 10, 2018.  Registration confirmation will be made by email only, unless otherwise requested.  If a mailed confirmation is requested, include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

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