Boston Flora

Tag: Jennifer Brennan

  • Thursday, September 10, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – Northeast Region Perennial Plant Symposium

    Join the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the Perennial Plant Association at their annual symposium, this year’s topic will be “Perennial Inspirations and Concepts.” The symposium is open to all levels of gardeners and professionals. This year’s symposium includes six presentations led by some of the perennial industry’s best focusing on plant selection, native perennials and container plantings.

    Featured Presentations:

    Native Perennials and Nativars for the Pocket Prairie Garden
    Jennifer Brennan of Chalet Nursery and Garden Shop, Wilmette, IL

    Jennifer Brennan will highlight the native plants and also native plant cultivars that can be used in various sites including shade, full sun, and half & half shade/sun. Many of these selections are quite useful for nectar and pollen for hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.

    The New American Garden: Modeling the Regional Landscape: An Anarchist Primer
    Donald Pell of Donald Pell Gardens, Phoenixville, PA

    Donald Pell calls his gardens impressionistic models of regional landscapes. Understanding specific plants and how they may integrate into any given landscape is the key to programming these gardens. He will look at how cool and warm season plants are accessed for performance to stabilize soils and create desirable compositions. Donald will discuss the role of ephemeral plants to build desirable seed banks while a garden is evolving and look at the role of aggressive and invasive plants. He will discuss the successes and failures of projects as well as what inspires these gardens. This is a presentation to inspire you to tear out that front lawn and boring boxwood hedges and to create a dynamic and experiential landscape.

    Tropical Flair
    Jason Reeves of the University of Tennessee Gardens, Jackson, TN

    Tropicals work beautifully with perennials, and make a big impact in any garden. The bold foliage stands out whether in large landscape displays or everyday back yard gardens and containers. Get a refresher on tried and true varieties as well as some hot new selections that will make any perennial purist think twice.

    Successful Gardening in Deer Country
    Ruth Rogers Clausen of Easton, MD

    Keeping your beautiful garden safe from deer is as simple as choosing the right plants. Ruth will discuss plants that do not require us to fence the deer out or the gardener in.

    Perennials in Pots: Creative Combinations for Jaw-Dropping Containers
    Deborah Trickett, MCH MCLP of Westwood, MA

    The container gardening craze, which began over ten years ago, shows no sign of slowing down. More than ever these perfectly sized “gardens” are the answer for time-pressed gardeners, down-sizing gardeners, city-dwelling gardeners, aging gardeners and more. The good news is the container gardens of yesterday (think geranium and vinca) have evolved. Today’s containers showcase many types of plants, including perennials. Join Deborah Trickett, principal and owner of The Captured Garden, and learn how to use perennials to transform your containers from “blah” to “aah”. She will share fundamentals of container gardening, “out of the box” design tips, as well as some of her favorite tried and true perennial performers.

    Are They Better or Just New??
    Paul Westervelt of Saunders Brothers, Inc. Piney River, VA

    With so many new perennials released every year, it can be difficult to distinguish legitimately better cultivars from those that are simply marketable. Through production trials, garden visits, vendor visits, and conversations with other growers, Paul works to select the true winners for our region.

    Register at http://goo.gl/EDWmtn

    $99 Early Bird, $109 after September 2

  • Wednesday, September 11, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – Exploring Design & Perennial Selection for the Landscape

    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.

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