Here We Grow Again – A Garden Symposium Cancelled

Symposium 2020 Cancelled!

It is with sincere regret that we announce the cancellation of this Saturday’s, March 14th Symposium, Here We Grow Again. We have growing concerns over the health of our attendees in the wake of COVID-19, the coronavirus. In addition, the venue, Stuart Country Day School, is facing the very real possibility of having to close down early because of concerns over the health and safety of its faculty, staff and students. Given these developments, we believe it is in the best interest of all concerned to cancel our event.

We will be issuing a full refund to all attendees. We remind you that this event is entirely run by volunteers and it will take us some time; please allow 4 to 6 weeks for us to process your refund. We will be conferring about the possibility of rescheduling at some future date. We’ll keep you posted!

____________________________

NOTE: Book sales will be cash or check only for this event. No credit cards will be accepted for book sales.

Registration

Mail your completed registration form with your check payable to RMGofMC to: Suzanne Hickman, 15 Farm Road, Ewing, New Jersey 08638. The cost is $80 if postmarked by February 14, 2020; $90 after that. If you have questions, contact Suzanne Hickman at 609-883-6397 or send an email to RMGofMCSymposium@gmail.com (this is a case sensitive address). Carpooling is recommended. Click here for the Registration Form.

This daylong program has been approved for 4 Continuing Education Units for all Rutgers Master Gardeners.

The Schedule

• 8:00-9:00 Breakfast/Sales/Garden Auction
• 9:00-9:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks
• 9:15-10:15 William Bryant Logan – The Thousand Year Woods
• 10:15-10:45 Coffee Break/Sales/Garden Auction
• 10:45-11:45 Karen Chapman – Foliage and Focal Points: Ideas for Gardens and Budgets of All Sizes
• 11:45-12:45 Lunch/Sales/Garden Auction/Slide Presentation
• 12:45-1:45 Vincent Simeone – Invasives vs Exotics: What We Really Need to Know
• 1:45-2:15 Coffee Break/Sales/Garden Auction
• 2:15-3:15 Margaret Pickoff – Going Organic: Ecological Soil and Weed Management for the Home Gardener
• 3:15-3:30 Closing Remarks and Announcement of Garden Auction Winners

The Speakers

The Thousand Year Woods
WILLIAM BRYANT LOGAN is the author of Sprout Lands – Tending the Endless Gift of Trees; Oak – The Frame of Civilization; Air – The Restless Shaper of the World; and Dirt – The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth that was made into an award-winning documentary. He has spent the last thirty years studying trees. Logan, a certified arborist, is on the faculty of the New York Botanical Garden and founder/president of Urban Arborists, Inc., a Brooklyn-based tree company. He won numerous Quill and Trowel Awards from the Garden Writers of America, was a contributing editor to House Beautiful, House and Garden, and Garden Design magazines, and a regular garden writer for the New York Times. He won a 2012 Senior Scholar Award from the New York State chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), a True Professional of Arboriculture award from the international ISA, and a NEH grant to translate Calderón de la Barca. He has published translations from the Spanish, including the work of García Lorca, Ramón del Valle Inclán, and Calderón.

Foliage and Focal Points: Ideas for Gardens and Budgets of all Sizes
KAREN CHAPMAN was born in England and grew up with a trowel in hand. She moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1996 and joined one of the leading garden nurseries as a garden plant specialist. Helping hundreds of customers create beautiful combinations of plants to enhance their outdoor living spaces was always a delight. In 2006, she established Le jardinet in order to provide a service that takes all the time, stress, and guesswork out of the design process. Recently, she taught container gardening at Edmonds Community College. She currently teaches container and landscape design in workshops/events and online. When not teaching, she can be found writing. Her articles and designs have been featured in many national gardening publications. Co- author with Christina Salwitz on Fine Foliage and Gardening with Foliage First, her latest book is Deer-Resistant Design.

Invasives vs Exotics: What We Really Need to Know
VINCENT A. SIMEONE has worked in the horticultural field for over twenty-seven years, with a specialty in woody plant identification, culture, use, and the selection of superior varieties. For the past twenty-three years, Vincent has worked in public horticulture as Director at Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in New York. He teaches horticulture classes at NY Botanical Garden and has assisted Allan Armitage with garden tours globally. Very active in local and national organizations, Vincent serves on several committees, including the Gold Medal Plant Award Committee and the LINLA Landscape Awards Committee, as well as the former chairman of the APGA Plant Collections Committee. He has written and contributed gardening articles to magazines and newspapers and published six books: Grow More With Less: Sustainable Garden Methods, Great Flowering Landscape Shrubs, Great Flowering Landscape Trees, Great Landscape Evergreens, The Wonders of the Winter Landscape, and New York and New Jersey: Getting Started Garden Guide. In 2010, Vincent contributed to a first ever textbook on public garden management. Awards include Man of the Year by the Long Island Nursery and Landscape Association (2010), the centurion award by Farmingdale State College as one of the top 100 alumni over the past century (2014), and the distinguished arborists award from the NYS Arborists-ISA chapter (2015).

Going Organic: Ecological Soil and Weed Management for the Home Gardener
MARGARET PICKOFF is County Horticulturist for Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County, where she delivers educational programming on home horticulture and coordinates the Master Gardener program. She holds a Master of Science degree in Plant, Soil, and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maine, specializing in organic crop production and soil fertility. She developed her interest in plants and land stewardship while working on small farms and in community gardens in New Jersey, Maine, and Washington State. She has also served as Farmer Educational Coordinator for the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey. In addition to the Master Gardener program, Margaret oversees the Rutgers Environmental Stewards program in Mercer County.