Day-Long Conference On Gardening Set For March 8
Aquatic gardening, pest control, and growing plants successfully in the shade are among the topics to be discussed at an all-day garden conference, to be held March 8 in the Lewis B. Rome Ballroom on the Storrs campus.
Keynote speaker Dan Heims, whose articles and photography have appeared in Fine Gardening, Better Homes and Gardens, Organic Gardening, and Sunset Magazine, will discuss successful shade gardening with new perennials, a topic that event organizers believe will be of considerable interest, considering the many wooded areas in southern New England.
Heims, president of Terra Nova Nurseries in Tigard, Ore., is known for introducing as many as 20 to 30 new plant varieties each year.
Additional speakers include:
- Tom Ward, co-director of the living collections of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, who will discuss the best native species and non-invasive exotics for woodland gardens in Southern New England;
- Matt Horn, of Matterhorn Nursery in Spring Valley, N.Y., who will share tips on water gardening;
- Richard Hawke, plant evaluation manager at the Chicago Botanic Garden, whose presentation is titled “Clematis up Close;” and
- Robert Durgy, horticultural diagnostician for the Home and Garden Education Center at UConn, who will offer alternative pest control methods for home gardens.
Registrations postmarked by March 1 are $60; the fee after that date is $70. Registration is limited and non-refundable. Walk-in registration cannot be guaranteed.
Included in the cost of admission are lunch, snacks, and beverages. Garden enthusiasts also will have the opportunity to buy autographed books.
Checks may be sent to Richard McAvoy, Department of Plant Science, Unit 4067, University of Connecticut, 1376 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269.
For further information, call McAvoy at 860.486.0627.
