Find your green thumb at The Homestead Resort’s In The Garden weekend over the dates of August 19-21, 2016. You will learn time-honored gardening tips from top professionals and enjoy your choice of hands-on garden themed classes amid the resort’s breathtaking scenery. Speakers include Craig LeHoullier, gardener, author and educator, Mark Weathington, Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University and Andre Viette, Horticulturalist, author and lecturer.

Possessing a PhD in chemistry, Craig LeHoullier’s professional career involved various positions in a major pharmaceutical company. Craig’s passion for tomatoes in particular exploded after joining the Seed Savers Exchange in 1986, and all gardens since focus on open pollinated (non-hybrid) varieties, in a wide range of colors, sizes and flavors. He is responsible for naming, developing and introducing many varieties, such as Cherokee Purple and Lucky Cross, and has been co-leading a unique all-volunteer project to create new dwarf-growing varieties. The project is responsible for 25 new tomatoes available through a variety of seed companies, particularly valuable for space-constrained gardeners who wish to grow wonderful tomatoes on decks or patios.

Mark Weathington is the Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University where he is passionate in his work to connect people with plants. His career in public horticulture has also included the Norfolk Botanical Garden where he served as Director of Horticulture and the Atlanta Botanical Garden as a horticulturist. Mark travels extensively searching for new plants to diversify the American landscape and lecturing on a variety of topics in horticulture to further the JC Raulston Arboretum’s vision of “Planning and Planting a Better World.”  Mark is currently writing Growing the Southeast Garden, a modern guide to gardening in the southeast, for Timber Press.

Horticulturist, author and lecturer, Andre Viette earned his Biological Science Certificate at The State University of New York at Farmingdale, and is a graduate of The School of Floriculture of Cornell University. Mr. Viette hosts his own talk show entitled “In the Garden” and has written several books including Beautiful Roses Made Easy, Mid-Atlantic Gardener’s Guide, and his newest book Mid-Atlantic Getting Started Garden Guide. He has developed André Viette Farm and Nursery in Fishersville, Virginia, which grows over 3,000 varieties of perennials for the sun and shade.

For complete package details, and reservations, visit https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/homestead-virginia/specials/in-the-garden-weekend