Looking forward to spring
The History
In early 2007, several of us MGs attended a gardening symposium at Winterthur. Kathy Enquist, then our president, and I were driving home after an exhilarating day listening and learning. Out of the blue, Kathy said thoughtfully, “So, do you think we could do that?” I contemplated the possibility, and then I said “Yes.” From the beginning, I felt that if we were going to do this, we needed to have the premier speakers in the field come to Mercer County. We began at the top, asking the esteemed Dr. Allan Armitage to come—and he said, yes! We knew it should have a theme, an aspect we embraced for every subsequent Symposium. We created an ad hoc committee with Mary Lee Eldridge, Marge Steinberg, and me, Nora Sirbaugh, in the lead. Greenie Neuburg and her team organized book sales. The first event was at Princeton University and the registration fee was $100/person! Since then, we’ve held our symposiums at Stuart Country Day School since they readily committed to let us book in advance every year. Also, as our attendance increased, we reduced the registration fee, because we always felt that it was not about profit—it was about education. Over the years, It’s been hugely successful and well-attended—in recent years nearly 300 people.
Nora Sirbaugh
July 2024
The Speakers
The Symposium speakers are shown most recent first; click on the Year column header to show them in order from 2008-2024. Symposium for the years 2020, 2021, & 2022 were CANCELLED due to COVID-19. Learn more about the speakers by clicking the links in the right column.
| Year | The Speakers | Symposium Themes & Speakers' Topics | More about the Speakers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | March 16, 2024: Cultivating Community | ||
| 2024 | Teri Speight | Growing Community Through Gardening | Cottage in the Court |
| 2024 | Gary Johnson | Root Systems: The Forgotten 50% | Root Systems: The Forgotten 50% |
| 2024 | Jenny Rose Carey | Customizing Your Seasonal Flower Garden | Northview Gardens |
| 2024 | Douglas Tallamy | Homegrown National Park | Doug Tallamy's Hub ⏤ Homegrown National Park |
| 2023 | March 11, 2023: Back to the Future | ||
| 2023 | Karen Chapman | Design Dilemmas & Savvy Solutions | Le Jardinet |
| 2023 | Joseph Tychonievich | How Genetic Engineering Works | Joseph Tychonievich's Gardens Website |
| 2023 | Suzanne Wainwright-Evans | Biological Controls Beyond Ladybugs | Buglady |
| 2019 | March 16, 2019: Return to Our Roots | ||
| 2019 | Roy Diblik | The Art of Developing Perennial Plant Patterns | Northwind Perennial Farm |
| 2019 | Anthony Aiello | The Five W’s of Plant Exploration—Who, What, Where, When and Why | Cultivating Beauty |
| 2019 | Holly Shimizu | How Climate Change Will Affect Our Gardens | Holly Shimizu's Website |
| 2019 | Brie Arthur | The Foodscape Revolution | Brie Grows |
| 2018 | March 24, 2018: Insights and Inspirations | ||
| 2018 | Joe Lamp'l | Gardening to Weather Any Storm | Joe Lamp'l's Website |
| 2018 | Gretchen LeBuhn | Using Gardens for Pollinator Conservation | LeBuhn Lab |
| 2018 | Lee Reich | Fearless Pruning | Lee Reich's Website |
| 2018 | Paul Zammit | Creative Containers: The Appeal, The Potential, and The Possiblities | Paul Zammit's Website |
| 2017 | March 11, 2017: Refresh, Renew, Restore | ||
| 2017 | Tony Avent | Landscaping in Drifts of One | Plant Delights |
| 2017 | Ruth Rogers Clausen | A Glorious Last Hurrah! | Ruth Rogers Clausen Books on Amazon |
| 2017 | Ken Druse | The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of a Challenging Climate | Ken Druse's Website |
| 2017 | Don Leopold | Creating and Restoring Sustainable Landscapes with Native Plants and Natural Plant Communities | Leopold ⏤ SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry |
| 2016 | March 12, 2016: Changing Conversations in the Garden | ||
| 2016 | Thomas Rainer | Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes | Thomas Rainer's Grounded Design Website |
| 2016 | Linda Chalker-Scott | The Informed Gardener—Dare to be Heretical! | Garden Professors |
| 2016 | Whitney Cranshaw | Gardening for Insects—or Not! | Whitney Cranshaw ⏤ CSU Agricultural Sciences Website |
| 2015 | March 21, 2015: Bringing Life to the Garden | ||
| 2015 | Elizabeth Murray | Living Life in Full Bloom | Elizabeth Murray's Website |
| 2015 | Kelly Norris | Dig This: Stylish Gardening for Savvy Gardeners | Kelly Norris's Website |
| 2015 | Mike Raupp | How bugs make the world go around | Bug of the Week |
| 2015 | Janet Mucunovich & Steven Nikkila | Simplify to keep on growing | Janet Mucunovich ⏤ Garden A-Z |
| 2014 | March 15, 2014: Gardening by Design | ||
| 2014 | David Culp | The Layered Garden | David Culp's Website |
| 2014 | Lynden Miller | Parks, Plants and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape | Linden Miller ⏤ Public Garden Savior |
| 2014 | Dan Benarcik | Display Techniques of the Pros that can be Applied to the Home Landscape | Dan Benarcik's Website |
| 2013 | March 16, 2013: Gardening for the Future | ||
| 2013 | Michael Dirr | ⏤ In Praise of Noble Trees ⏤ Adventures in Breeding Hydrangeas & Viburnums: Respect the Tried & True While Embracing the New | Michael Dirr ⏤ Department of Horiculture, University of Georgia Michael Dirr's Books on Amazon Michael Dirr's Blog ⏤ HMI Website |
| 2013 | Heidi Hesselein | Enriching Your Garden with a Plethora of Perennials | Pleasant Run Nursery |
| 2012 | March 17, 2012: Garden Scents and Sensibility | ||
| 2012 | Ken Druse | Natural Companions | Ken Druse's Website |
| 2012 | Tovah Martin | Trowels and Tomorrow: Garden Stewardship | Tovah Martin's Website |
| 2012 | William Cullina | Botany of Design | William Cullina ⏤ U Penn's Morris Arboretum |
| 2012 | Barry Glick | Wonders of the Wild | Barry Glick's Sunshine Farm & Gardens Website |
| 2011 | March 26, 2011: Come Garden With Me | ||
| 2011 | Margaret Roach | Making a Garden for 365 Days | A Way to Garden |
| 2011 | Joe Eck | Our Life in Gardens | Joe Eck's ⏤ NYT Book Review |
| 2011 | Rob Cardillo | Lies, Deceit, and Distractions: The Art of Garden Photography | Rob Cardillo's Website |
| 2010 | March 13, 2010: Passion for Gardening | ||
| 2010 | C. Colston Burrell | The Sustainable Garden: Magic or Myth | Colston Burrell's Website |
| 2010 | Carol Reese | Special Effects in the Landscape | Carol Reese ⏤ All the Dirt on Gardening |
| 2010 | Jerry Fritz | Cool Combinations: Add Drama to the Garden | Fritz Garden Design |
| 2009 | March 21, 2009: Spring into Responsible Gardening! | ||
| 2009 | Rick Darke | Livable Landscapes for a Changing Environment | Rick Darke's Website |
| 2009 | Doug Tallamy | Bringing Nature Home | Homegrown National Park |
| 2009 | Stephanie Cohen | Native Perennial Plants: Sustainable, Colorful and Wonderful! | Stephanie Cohen ⏤ Direct Native Plants |
| 2008 | March 15, 2008: Responsible Gardening with Pizzazz! | ||
| 2008 | Allan Armitage | Native Plants are also for Gardeners | Allan Armitage's Website |
| 2008 | Erica Glasener | On the Road with A Gardener’s Diary | Erica Glasener ⏤ Joe Lamp'l's Website |
| 2008 | Stephen Scanniello | Bring Your Roses Into the Garden | Stephen Scanniello's Website |