The 2013 Northeast Region Perennial Plant Symposium will take place Wednesday, September 11, from 8 – 5 at the Elm Bank Horticulture Center in Wellesley, presented by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and The Perennial Plant Association.
Following registration at 8 am, David Culp of Sunny Border Nurseries will speak on The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year Round Beauty. Brandywine Cottage is David Culp’s two-acre garden where he has mastered the design technique of layering – interplanting many different species in the same area. David will illustrate a basic lesson in layering: how to choose the correct plants, how to design a layered garden, and how to keep it maintained.
Following a break and visit to the Elm Bank Gardens, Stephanie Cohen, the Perennial Diva, will share The Path to an Exciting Mixed Border: Perennials and Shrubs. Creating a garden for four seasons is always Stephanie’s goal. In recent years, adding flowering shrubs that play nicely with perennial plants has added a new dimension. Interesting flowers, lovely bark, fall color, berries, and interesting shapes make shrubs and perennials perfect buddies in the border. The Perennial Diva is not only opinionated about perennials, but she has added shrubs to her love ’em or leave ’em list. Her book is illustrated below.
Before lunch, Dr. Denise Adams will lecture on American Home Landscapes. American landscape design certainly has evolved over the years–from Colonial subsistence gardens to Victorian gardens of excess to 1980’s backyard barbecues. This lecture will provide a survey of American residential landscape history. Learn about the major landscape design trends and most popular plants since our country’s establishment to the present with special emphasis on the New England landscape.
After lunch, Lloyd Traven of Peace Tree Farm will speak on Bringing the Awesome Every Day. When you go shopping before a fancy party, do you say to yourself “I hope I can find the same dress everyone is buying?” Do you want your living room decorated just like your neighbor’s? Of course not. Your garden should be no different. All want their garden to stand out, to shine, to stop traffic (in a good way.) We all need fresh ideas, new choices, different methods and a whole new design concept. Water-friendly, edibles, foliage, container combinations – the rules have changed and a new world awaits.
Jennifer Brennan of Chalet Nursery and Garden Shop will speak on Perennials for Problem Areas. Whether it is for our own gardens or for clients and customers, there are always those problem areas that need recommendations of perennials that do not just survive but thrive. Heavy clay soil and deep shade are also included. Whatever the conditions, there are perennials that will work. Expand your problem solving palette with these selections.
Finally, John Friel of Emerald Coast Growers will present Tell Me What’s New! Tell Me What Works! The growing zones of Massachusetts and region encompass great diversity. John will present a roundup of perennials and ornamental grasses, new and known, that will provide great punch to the landscape.
Registration fee is $99 per person before August 25, and $109 per person after August 25. This price includes lunch. The program will be held at 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, and you may register online at www.perennialplant.org or by calling 614-771-8431. You may also mail the registration form found on the website to 3383 Schirtzinger Road, Hilliard, OH. Checks may be made payable to the Perennial Plant Association.
