The Massachusetts Master Gardener Association announces Inspiration for Next Year’s Garden, the 2017 Massachusetts Gardening Symposium to be held Saturday, September 23 from 8:30 – 3:30 at Westford Academy in Westford, Massachusetts. This year’s Symposium speakers come from diverse backgrounds and have different fields of gardening concentration, but all share one passion: teaching others.
Thomas Rainer, author of Planting in a Post-Wild World, will speak on The Garden of the Future: Reimagining the American Yard. Learn how plants fit together in nature and how to use this knowledge to create gardens that are more satisfying, more resilient, and less work.
David L. Culp, Vice President of Sunny Border Nurseries, will present Perennials: The Best Plants of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. How do tried and true favorites compare with new introductions? What are the current trends? And what horticultural advances might the future hold?
Kathleen Gagan, owner of Peony’s Envy, discusses Designing Gardens with Peonies. Learn how to create your own “peony plan” including cultivar and site selection, mixing types of peonies, structuring mixed gardens, and companion planting.
Janet Macunovich, garden designer, author and educator, will follow with The Art of Fall Garden Clean Up. Every hour you spend in the fall can save you 2+ hours in the spring, yield months of winter pleasure, and give your plants a valuable head start for the new season.
Early bird pricing through August 6 – $75 per person. August 7 – September 16 (registration deadline) $90 per person. Price includes lectures, Garden Marketplace, and lunch. No walk-ins. To register online, visit http://massmastergardeners.org/2017-gardening-symposium/
Widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost horticulturists, Armitage is a professor at the University of Georgia, Athens, where he teaches, conducts research on new garden plants, and runs the University of Georgia Horticulture Gardens. He is generally credited with creating the concept of the independent trial garden, the first one of which opened in Athens in 1982. He is the author of ten books, including Armitage’s Native Plants for North American Gardens and Armitage’s Garden Annuals. He has been cited as one of the ten most influential people or organizations in the floriculture industry.
Armitage is not the only distinguished honoree. The Jackson Dawson Award will go to Pierre Bennerup, president of Sunny Border Nurseries, one of the leading producers of perennial plants for the northeast. Sunny Border, headquartered in Kensington, Connecticut, is known around the world for being on the cutting edge of new plant development. Pierre, the second generation Bennerup in the industry, is an integral part of the global horticulture community and has been instrumental in searching out new plants suitable for North American gardens.
Also to be honored is Holly Shimizu, Executive Director of the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. Ms. Shimizu, who will receive the Thomas Roland Medal, has been responsible for the overall operation of the USBG for the past nine years and, under her leadership, the widely acclaimed new National Garden opened 2006. Ms. Shimizu is well known through her work as one of the hosts of The Victory Garden and as a frequent commentator on horticultural topics for National Public Radio.