Traditionally, many resources are used to keep landscapes looking lush and healthy. Tremendous amounts of water are used to irrigate lawns and garden beds. Every year we cover our landscapes with yards of mulch to keep weeds at bay and retain soil moisture. However, we can lower our water bills, stop the annual mulch delivery, and have gorgeous healthy gardens by creating an ecosystem that ultimately cares for itself. The incorporation of native plants attracts wildlife and feeds the soil, the foundation of healthy plants. In this session, you will learn how to identify plants to enhance sustainability; how to naturally enhance soil health; and how to design with techniques that encourage wildlife and minimize water use. This American Horticultural Society online lecture takes place Wednesday, November 15, at 7 pm Eastern. $10 AHS members, $15 nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org
Marie Chieppo is a landscape designer who works with nature and interconnecting systems to enhance biodiversity and the overall health of the environment. With an initial background in public health policy and research, she has designed beautiful resilient landscapes for over twenty years through her business, EcoPlantPlans. Her most recent work focuses on sustainable solutions for plastic plant containers. Chieppo is an Ecological Landscape Designer and Accredited Organic Land Care Professional.
The American Horticultural Society will present an online event on November 9 at 2 Eastern. Native plants offer beauty and critical habitat for wildlife while solving landscape problems and promoting regional charm. We’ll explore their benefits and how to use them effectively by understanding garden ecology. Considerations for plant selection, as well as design and stewardship tips using examples from Texas, will fortify you with knowledge to successfully cultivate these plants in traditional or unexpected ways. $30 AHS members, $36 nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org
Andrea DeLong-Amaya is the Director of Horticulture for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s gardens and nursery programs. With nearly 30 years of experience with native plants in horticulture, ecology, and garden design, she also teaches classes and writes for numerous gardening publications including Taunton’s Fine Gardening, American Public Gardens Association’s Public Garden, and Texas Gardener and Wildflower (the Center’s member magazine). DeLong-Amaya was featured in Jennifer Jewell’s podcast, Cultivating Place, and in her book, The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants.
Join the American Horticultural Society and Yota Batsaki, PhD, Executive Director of Dumbarton Oaks, online on November 8 to learn about Plant Humanities, a new, interdisciplinary field that explores and communicates the unparalleled significance of plants to human culture. The Plant Humanities Initiative collaborates to produce a digital platform of rare historic materials that document plants, building an accessible resource for well-researched, widespread horticultural storytelling. Batsaki will suggest how plant history from a spectrum of fields relates to contemporary topics of climate change, environmental degradation, and cross-cultural exchange. This virtual program will include a presentation, conversation with facilitator, and opportunities for participants’ questions.
Yota Batsaki, PhD, is the Executive Director of Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard University research institute, library, museum, and garden located in Washington, DC. As principal investigator for the institute’s Plant Humanities Initiative, Batsaki applies her expertise in comparative literature to the interdisciplinary study of plants and their significance to human culture. She has published essays and co-edited volumes on the intersection of history, literature, and culture, including The Botany of Empire in the Long Eighteenth Century.
Landscape design inspiration begins with observation of diverse natural settings, systems, and functions. We can learn from landscapes such as layered woodlands, succession meadows, and oceanside areas to address a spectrum of gardening conditions. Together we will learn how to partner with natural systems for healthy, beautiful landscapes; mimic nature’s processes in our own gardens; and make ecologically sound plant choices that will attract pollinators throughout the seasons. Join the American Horticultural Association’s Lifelong Learning program on Wednesday, October 18 at 7 pm Eastern online to hear Marie Chieppo speak of these issues. $10 AHS members, $15 nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org
Marie Chieppo is a landscape designer who works with nature and interconnecting systems to enhance biodiversity and the overall health of the environment. With an initial background in public health policy and research, she has designed beautiful resilient landscapes for over twenty years through her business, EcoPlantPlans. Her most recent work focuses on sustainable solutions for plastic plant containers. Chieppo is an Ecological Landscape Designer and Accredited Organic Land Care Professional.
Plant and landscape enthusiasts come from a wide range of backgrounds and variety of expertise. A land developer, a conservationist, and a gardener have a mutual goal: to steward healthy, beautiful landscapes for public enjoyment. Join American Horticultural Society board chair, land developer and preservationist, and native plant nursery founder Scott Plein for a conversation about the history and role of land development in landscape stewardship. We will discover some beloved plants along the way! The online talk will take place October 12 at 1 pm Eastern time, and is $10 for AHS members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org
Scott Plein is the founding principal of Equinox Investments, LLC, a real estate investment, development, and management firm specializing in community planning, entitlements, and project development in the Northern Virginia area. He established the White House Farm Foundation, a nonprofit environmental educational foundation, and is principal owner of White House Natives, a landscape-quality tree nursery that propagates only plants native to Virginia. Plein also founded KT Enterprises Inc., a leading landscape management company in the Washington Metropolitan area for over 45 years. He currently serves as Board Chair for AHS.
Lucinda McDade joined Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (dba California Botanic Garden, CalBG) in 2006 as the Judith B. Friend Director of Research and chair of the Botany Department at Claremont Graduate University. Since 2012, she has also served as the Garden’s Executive Director. She also serves as the Chair of the Botany Department at Claremont Graduate University (CGU) which collaborates with CalBG to offer a graduate program in the plant sciences.
McDade’s research focuses on the large and charismatic plant family Acanthaceae, on the role of hybridization in plant evolutionary history and phylogeny reconstruction, and on plant reproductive biology. She has conducted extensive field work including throughout the Americas, South Africa, Namibia and Madagascar. She has also worked extensively in herbaria in western Europe and elsewhere. McDade’s work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Fletcher Jones Foundation, and more. She has conducted numerous NSF-funded research projects, including curation and preservation of plant collections, understanding constraints on floral evolution, comparative biology in a phylogenetic age, and harnessing the power of herbaria to understand the changing flora of California. McDade has been an invited speaker at many venues including universities and professional conferences.
Before joining CalBG and CGU, McDade was professor and herbarium curator at the University of Arizona from 1992 to 2000, then served as associate curator and chair of botany at the Academy of Natural Sciences until 2006. McDade’s appointments and honors include recipient of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award from the American Horticultural Society; Merit Award honoree, Botanical Society of America (2013); recipient of the Asa Gray award, American Society of Plant Taxonomists (2019); president, American Society of Plant Taxonomists (2003–2004); Melinda F. Denton Memorial Lecturer, University of Washington (1998); president, Association for Tropical Biology (1995); and membership in Sigma Xi (1980). She served two terms, ending in 2022, as treasurer of the Botanical Society of America (BSA), the largest professional society of plant scientists in the United States. McDade serves on the Board of Trustees of the Center for Plant Conservation and has been a member of the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board.
The August 23 webinar at 7 pm Eastern is hosted by the American Horticultural Society and Holly Shimizu, former executive director of the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. and an AHS board member, who will lead a lively and engaging conversation with speakers that will tap into their knowledge and experience. The interactive program format will allow audience members to ask questions of the guests.
The Garden Futures Summitis a two-day, in-person event that looks to sustain the remarkable passion and interest in gardening today by presenting a selection of the most exciting ideas shaping the future of gardens and society at large. The Summit, on September 29th and 30th, will focus on three essential topics within contemporary gardening: environment, community, and culture.
On the first day of the Summit, to be held at The New York Botanical Garden, more than a dozen influential speakers from across the gardening world will participate in sessions organized around the Summit topics. They will discuss the extraordinary potential of gardens and gardening to improve our physical, cultural, and emotional health and well-being.
On the second day of the Summit, attendees will be treated to exclusive experiences at both private and public gardens throughout New York City and the greater metropolitan area that embody the forward-thinking and transformative potential in gardens today. Tours will be announced later this summer.
The breadth of speakers at the Summit and the combination of talks and tours will be of interest to all gardeners, designers, architects, and students who are passionate about gardens and their enormous potential in society. The Keynote Address will be given by Lady Isabella Tree (pictured below) on The Book of Wilding – A Practical Guide to Rewilding Big and Small. Isabella Tree is an award-winning journalist and author of five books. Her first best-selling book, Wilding, tells the story of the daring wildlife experiment she began in 2000: rewilding her and her husband Charlie Burrell’s 3,500 acres of unprofitable farmland at Knepp Estate in West Sussex, UK. In less than twenty years their degraded land has become a functioning ecosystem again, wildlife has rocketed, and numerous endangered species have made Knepp their home. What has happened at Knepp challenges conventional ideas about nature, wildlife, and how we manage and envisage our land. It reveals the potential for the landscapes of the future. Isabella also writes for The Guardian, National GeographicMagazine, and Granta.
Other speakers include Edwina von Gal, founder of The Perfect Earth Project. Edwina von Galis a leading voice in sustainable gardening and landscape design. She founded the Perfect Earth Project in 2013 to promote nature-based, toxic-free land care for the health of people, their pets, and the planet. As principal of her eponymous landscape design firm since 1984, Edwina creates landscapes with a focus on simplicity and sustainability for private and public clients around the world. Joining her as session speakers will be Horatio Joyce of The Garden Conservancy, Vanessa Keith of StudioTEKA Design, Jeff Lorenz of Refugia Design, and Rebecca McMackin, horticulturist and garden designer.
You will also have the opportunity to hear Jennifer Jewell, Radio Host and Author of Cultivating Place. This year, Jewell was awarded the American Horticultural Society’s Great Gardener Morrison Award for outstanding horticultural communication. Her third book, What We Sow, On the Personal, Ecological, and Cultural Significance of Seedswill be published in September. On the topic of Community, session speakers will include Ivi Diamantopoulou, Jaffer Kolb, and Sam Stewart-Halevy of New Affiliates, Adam Greenspan of PWP Landscape Architects, Peter Lefkovits of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Nicole Thomas of Urban Health Lab.
In another thread, horticulture and culture are on a collision course—and that’s a good thing. Forgotten garden histories, the challenges of preserving mid-century landscapes, and the growing engagement of the visual arts with the natural environment are the animating topics in a session to be led by Melissa Chiu. She is director of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the national museum of modern and contemporary art. Dr. Chiu’s current organizational focus is transforming the Hirshhorn into a 21st-century institution through the revitalization of the museum’s campus, including a new design for the Hirshhorn’s Sculpture Garden by artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto. Joining Melissa will be Cindy Brockway of The Trustees of Reservations, David Godshall of Terremoto of LA, Abra Lee, horticulturist and historian, and Brent Leggs of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.
Explore the exquisite beauty of the Caribbean on an intimate, luxurious cruise aboard Le Bellot, one of Ponant’s beautiful new Explorer Class yachts that combines elegant design with innovative, environmentally friendly equipment. The nine-day getaway from January 28 to February 5, 2024 features thoughtfully planned excursions focused on Caribbean gardens and the natural world. This American Horticultural Society travel study trip is with AHS Expert and Host Holly H. Shimizu.
Highlights:
A voyage specially-tailored for English-speaking travelers including discussions with experts, transfers before and after your cruise, and an included excursion or activity in each port of call.
UNESCO World Heritage sites: The Pitons of St. Lucia and Historic Bridgetown in Barbados.
A true picture-perfect sampling of the West Indies: endless white-sand beaches, colorful reefs, idyllic turquoise waters, and the laid-back island way of life.
A discovery of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, considered one of the world’s most stunning archipelagos.
A barbecue lunch on your private beach on the island of Mayreau.
Opportunities to sample local specialties, such as chocolate, spices, and rum.
Exceptional seabeds and reefs with the possibility to observe turtles, barracudas, spiny lobsters, and parrotfish.
Myriad opportunities to swim and snorkel in crystal-clear waters.
Possibility of diving (PADI Open Water Diver or equivalent) with an experienced instructor on board (additional cost). To confirm your interest and request the detailed brochure, please contact us at travel@ahsgardening.org or (703) 768-5700, ext 117.
Terre-de-Haut Island, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe archipelago
Ira Wallace is a worker/owner of the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (www.SouthernExposure.com) which offers over 700 varieties of open-pollinated heirloom and organic seeds selected for flavor and regional adaptability. Ira serves on the boards of the Organic Seed Alliance, and the Virginia Association for Biological Farming.
She is a member of Acorn Community which farms over 60 acres of certified organic land in Central Virginia. Ira is a cofounder of the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello, (www.HeritageHarvestFestival.com) a fun, family-friendly event featuring an old-time seed swap, local food, hands-on workshops and demos, and more. She also writes about heirloom vegetables and seed saving for magazines and blogs including Mother Earth News, Fine Gardening and Southern Exposure.
She was named a 2019 Great American Gardener by the American Horticultural Society and is a 2023 James Beard Foundation Leadership Award Finalist. She is author of the Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast. Her new state specific book series including, Grow Great Vegetables in Virginia, are available online and at booksellers everywhere. Ira is currently working on creating an African Diasporic Seed Collection.
On June 14, join the American Horticultural Society for this live program hosted by Holly Shimizu, former executive director of the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. and an AHS board member, who will lead a lively and engaging conversation with speakers that will tap into their knowledge and experience. The interactive webinar format will allow audience members to ask questions of the guests.
For nearly 30 years, the American Horticultural Society’s (AHS) National Children & Youth Garden Symposium (NCYGS) has educated thousands of teachers who have, in turn, gone on to educate over a million children: A million children who take this knowledge and apply it to the world around them with curiosity, energy, and genuine appreciation.
Mark your calendar! NCYGS 2023 will take place July 12-15 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Look for more details, including registration information, at www.ahsgardening.org
