Mid-Atlantic Regional Perennial Symposium

8:00 am – 8:45 am Registration

8:45 am – Welcome

9:00 am – Are They Better or Just new??

Paul Westervelt, Saunders Brothers, Inc, Piney River, Virginia

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.

 

10:00 am – One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

Jason Reeves, University of Tennessee Gardens, Jackson, Tennessee

With limited funds, Jason has brought whimsy into the University of Tennessee Gardens, Jackson. Used in the right context, old satellite dishes and bicycles, cook stoves, and bedsprings can make unusual but surprisingly tasteful additions to any garden. See how Jason uses “trash” to create gardens filled with imaginative art that sets off show-stopping plant collections in the University of Tennessee Gardens.

11:00 am – Beverage Break

11:30 am – Tried and True Plants

Chuck Hinkle, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

With thousands of choices of plants to garden with, picking which plants to use in your garden can be daunting. While it is fun to try the latest offerings, there is comfort with inviting “old friends” into gardens that you know are going to do their job. This presentation offers a look at some under-used, unusual, or just plain forgotten plants that work well.

12:30 - 1:30 pm - Complimentary lunch

1:30 pm – Tropical Flair

Jason Reeves, University of Tennessee Gardens, Jackson, Tennessee

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 backyard 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.

2:30 pm –Stretch Break

2:45 pm - The New American Garden: Modeling the Regional Landscape: An Anarchist Primer

Donald Pell, Donald Pell Gardens, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania

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 create a dynamic and experiential landscape.

MEET YOUR PRESENTERS

Chuck Hinkle, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Through his experience, Chuck is well versed in the topic, “Tried and True Plants.” Chuck is a gardener at the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College. He joined the staff, working full-time since 1998. Hinkle’s expertise and career started years before when he began as a gardener at Friends Hospital in Philadelphia. He holds a B.S. in horticulture from Temple University. Chuck is a long-time member of the Perennial Plant Association and an avid attendee of the symposium each summer.

Donald Pell, Donald Pell Gardens, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania

Horticulturist and self-proclaimed plant geek and design junkie Donald Pell builds gardens that embrace the wild and allow for a visceral experience with the landscape. His firm, Donald Pell Gardens, designs spaces with bold sweeps of plants to create drama and sustainability with the focus of creating a “place” in the garden. Don has built and managed gardens professionally for more than 20 years and strives to inspire others to the magic and excite- ment of a strong thoughtful space and the drama and abundance of the wild garden.

Jason Reeves, University of Tennessee Gardens, Jackson, Tennessee 

After growing up on a farm in western Tennessee, Jason received his Master’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design from the University of Tennessee. He has worked at the Opryland Conservatories in Nashville, Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. He also worked as a horticulturist in New Zealand. Since 2002, Jason has been a research horticulturist at the University of Tennessee Gardens, at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson.

Paul Westervelt, Saunders Brothers, Inc, Piney River, Virginia

Paul has been the manager of annual and perennial production for Saunders Brothers, Inc., Pineyville, Virginia since 2004 where he grows more than 800 varieties. He earned his degrees in Horticulture, ending with an M.S. from Virginia Tech. His excellence has been recognized by many including the 2009 “Young Professional of the Year” for the Perennial Plant Association and the 2013 class of 40 Under 40 for Greenhouse Product News. He is a regular contributor to Grower Talks Magazine. Paul, a native of Winchester, Virginia, now resides in Arrington with his family.