19th Annual P.L.A.N.T. Seminar: "Perennially Inspired"

8:15 am – Welcome
Dr. Steven Still, Emeritus Professor, Ohio State University

8:30 am - The Right Size Flower Garden

Kerry Ann Mendez, Perennially Yours, Kennebunk, Maine 
Change happens. Many still dream of “Better Homes and Gardens” landscapes but job demands, kids, money, hectic schedules, aging bodies, and changing interests have led to nightmare gardens. This inspiring lecture provides easy-to-follow downsizing strategies, recommended no-fuss plant material, and design tips for stunning year-round gardens.

9:30 am - Let’s Have an Earth Friendly Plant Orgy

Brent Heath, Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, Gloucester, Virginia 

We have all probably heard the word “orgy.” We, as members of polite society, would not participate in such practices but plants happily jump into the same bed as long as nutrients, light, and moisture are favorable. We collect and plant in layers. First layers include trees and shrubs for structure; followed by bulbs, perennials, and ground covers. The last layer is “over-seeding” with annuals and vegetables. We have yet to meet many plants that do not make good bed companions.

10:30 am - Beverage Break

11:00 am - Tougher is Better!!!! Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses!

Stephanie Cohen, Perennial Diva, Collegeville, Pennsylvania

Grasses can be very short or veritable giants. They grow in sun or shade, wet or extremely dry, and they manage to grow in a variety of soils. Grasses can be tropicals, annuals, or perennials, used as filler plants or garden divas. See some new grasses, tried and true grasses, and older grasses that are garden mainstays. The important thing is to use them so they really rock your garden! Stephanie won’t tell you that she never met a grass she didn’t like, but winners definitely are more preponderant than losers. Do not ask about turf grass or the horticultural police will escort you to the door!

12 noon – Lunch on your own

Join Chris for a fast-paced look at the exciting new sun and shade-loving perennials for 2015. Chris guarantees you’ll experience a variety of “thrills & chills” as you enjoy a sneak preview of over 100 tantalizing new perennials. From the newest double-flowered coneflowers to Chris’ own hellebore hybrids, you will be entranced by these colorful new garden plants. Chris promises plants presented are hardy to zone 5.

2:15 pm – Beverage Break

2:30 pm - Container Gardening: Drama Every Season

Paul Zammit , Toronto Botanical Garden, Toronto, Ontario

Paul believes seasonal transformations should be reflected in dramatic container arrangements. Enjoy an energetic presentation where he will discuss the steps for creating an eye-catching, lasting planter. He will highlight many of his favorite choice plants, container combinations and planter accents.

3:30 pm - Get To “Know” Maintenance

Laura Deeter, PhD, Ohio State ATI, Wooster, Ohio
Perennials are our “babies”. Yet as they grow up, they often behave in inappropriate ways, becoming bullies, thugs, or simply lazy. As gardeners, we break our back, knees, and bankbook for our babies and we want them to perform their best throughout their lives. But we (and our clients) are also busy and can’t spend every waking moment catering to every whim and desire. Get to “know” maintenance with tips and tricks to make your perennials work for you!

Stephanie Cohen

Stephanie is a contributing editor for Fine Gardening, Green Profit, and PHS’s Green Scene, a writer for Blooms of Bress- ingham, and a nationally-known perennial gardener. For more than 20 years she taught at Temple University, Ambler and was a founder and director of the Ambler Arboretum. Her book, The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer, was an award winner of the Garden Writers Association. The second book, Fallscaping, was quickly followed by the Non-Stop Garden. She has been honored with the Award of Merit, the Peren- nial Plant Association’s highest honor, and more recently, was selected as a Fellow by The Garden Writers Assocation.

Laura Deeter

Laura is a professor at the Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI), The Ohio State University. She teaches herbaceous and woody plant identification, plant health management, landscape design, garden maintenance, perennial production, and computer aided design. Laura has been awarded the ATI Distinguished Teaching Award and The Ohio State University Alumni Award for Distinguishing Teaching, the Perennial Plant Association Academic Award, and the American Horticultural Society Teaching Award.

Chris Hansen

Chris is the vice-president of Great Garden Plants of Holland, Michigan. Great Garden Plants, established in 2007 is an online source of new and exciting garden plants. Chris’ career in horticulture includes time in internships at the Mis- souri Botanic Garden and Longwood Gardens, as Director of Horticulture for Wayside Gardens, and in a wholesale nursery for several years. During this time Chris has visited and photographed thousands of nurseries and home gardens.His experiences searching for new perennials will be highlighted in “Thrills & Chills – New Perennials for 2015.”

Brent Heath

Brent is a third generation bulb grower and co-owner with his wife, Becky, of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, a wholesale/retail mail-order flower bulb catalogue and web site business that provides bulbs to many botanical gardens, cities, universities, landscape designers and discriminating gardeners across the country. Brent and Becky have received numerous awards including the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gold Medal of Honor, National Garden Club of America Gold Medal and the Garden Writers Association Hall of Fame.

Kerry Ann Mendez

Kerry Ann Mendez, owner of Perennially Yours in Kennebunk, Maine, is dedicated to teaching people of all ages the art of low-maintenance perennial gardening and landscaping. As a garden consultant, designer, writer, teacher and lecturer, she focuses on time-saving gardening techniques and workhorse plant material as well as organic practices. Over 8,000 people have taken her classes. She has been in many national magazines including Fine Gardening, Garden Gate, and Better Homes and Gardens’ Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living. Her gardens have been in several gardening books.

Paul Zammit

Paul, a graduate of the University of Guelph, is the Nancy Eaton Director of Horticulture at the Toronto Botanical Garden. Formerly, he was employed for almost two decades as perennial department manager at Plant World, a large retail garden. Paul’s container designs have been showcased several times in many gardening magazines, most recently, in an issue of Canadian Gardening. He has won first place in the Scotts Miracle-Gro, Do Up The Doorstep competition, for his container entry at Canada Blooms.