SYMPOSIUM & EVENTS

Special Lecture — Monday, January 19, 2009
Horticulture with Humor from Down Under

Co-sponsored by the Pendleton and Elisabeth Carey Miller Charitable Foundation and the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden

Monday, January 19,2009. Reception 6:45 p.m., Lecture 7:15 p.m.
NHS Hall, Center for Urban Horticulture
Cost: Members $5, Non-members $10, Limit: 200 people.
Registration: Required. Email info@northwesthort.org or phone (206)780-8172.

Stephen Ryan owns Dicksonia Rare Plants in Mount Macedon, Victoria, Australia. Mr. Ryan will discuss horticulture in Southeastern Australia from his perspective including gardens, nurseries, and the plants they grow.

2009 Spring Symposium
The New Gardening Approach:
Great Design for Sustainability, Habitat and Biodiversity

Co-sponsored by the Pendleton and Elisabeth Carey Miller Charitable Foundation and the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden

March 21, 2009, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm
Bastyr University Auditorium, 14500 Juanita Drive NE, Kenmore
Cost: Members $45, Non-members $65 (lunch included)
Registration: Email info@northwesthort.org or phone (206)780-8172.

Speakers

Robert Herman: Selecting Planting Combinations by Habitat
Designing and planting by habitat is a German ecological approach to combining perennials. Robust, low maintenance plants are selected and grouped according to their ideal growing situation. Robert Herman, an American who managed one of the top European perennial plant nurseries, will explain the habitat concept and design strategy and feature some of the American native perennials that have played a significant role in plant selection.


John Greenlee: Meadows by Design
Ornamental grasses have come a long way and are now playing an important role in the greening of the American garden. A huge selection of grasses and grass-like plants are now readily available from nurseries for inclusion in a broad array of planting schemes. This ever expanding interest in creating grass ecologies and the growing knowledge of how to do it right, is leading to what John Greenlee, owner of Greenlee Nursery and renowned ornamental grass expert, calls the "Meadow Revolution." John will explore the relatively new art and science of designing, planting, and maintaining meadows and natural lawns. He will show examples of successful meadow plantings from around the country and look at the future of grasses in both ecology and horticulture.

Kate Frey: The Contemporary Garden Today: A Manifestation of Our Desires, or a Participant in the Larger Eco-System
What challenges do we and our gardens face today? Our gardens should generate happiness, but should also sit lightly on the planet and be sustainable. Sustainability is more than what the name implies. Sustainable gardening is not a matter of simply procuring an array of plants that are adapted to local climate and soil conditions, consume small amounts of resources, offer wildlife habitat, shade our houses and grow on healthy, permeable soils. Kate Frey, who was the managing horticulturist and designer of the organic gardens at Fetzer Vineyards for 18 years and the winner of a silver-gilt and two gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, will demonstrate how we must create these sustainable systems ourselves.

Dan Pearson: Emotional Landscapes
Ever since childhood, when his family moved to a derelict house with an overgrown garden surrounded by woodland, British garden designer Dan Pearson has been fascinated by the idea of sense of place. Over the years Dan has learned to "read" the landscape to find the clues that identify sense of place. The geology, topography, climate and history determine the way we must engage with the site to create a space with authenticity, integrity and meaning and the local ecology tells us what we should be growing there.

Sometimes the mood of a place is generated from nothing more than a gut feeling but, however subtle, this feeling is the key to capturing and distilling the magic of a place. The gardens and landscapes that Dan creates always relate to a feeling or emotional state suggested by the site. They are identifiable by a strong connection with nature and the natural environment. You will see how his gardens use these inspirations to create spaces where the experience of being within them is uniquely site specific, sensual, contemplative and thought-provoking.

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