Each annual Northwest Flower & Garden Festival brings us an opportunity to select three prestigious professionals from the landscape design and horticulture industry to come together and award the medals to each show garden, to vote on the coveted Founder’s Cup Award (Best in Show), and to select the American Horticulture Society Environmental Award winner.

The Seminars by Category are listed in chronological order. Please check the Seminar Schedule for a full list of ALL our seminars. No ticket refunds for Speaker cancellation.

All seminars at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival are FREE with your ticket!

Buy Tickets Early and Save!

Grasses for a Greener World; Grasses and the Wider Environment

Neil Lucas - Recipient of RHS Victoria Medal, Executive Director Knoll Gardens, Author

Neil Lucas, recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal knows ornamental grasses. In this session, we'll take a look at how grasses can work in ‘functional’ horticulture, with a focus on rain gardens and, also, lawn replacement. 

Neil will also share how his interest in grasses led to a deeper understanding of our natural systems and the formation of a small charity, the Knoll Gardens Foundation, which is tasked with learning more about the relationship between Knoll naturalistic style and the gardens wildlife.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 10:00 AM / Rainier Room


  

Magical Mixes

Jacqueline van der Kloet - Author, landscape designer, "Bulb Queen of the Netherlands"

Magical Mixes is the story of Jacqueline’s own trial garden in Weesp, a small city in The Netherlands, just east of Amsterdam. Here she has been experimenting with combinations of spring flowering bulbs for more than 30 years.

Learn about spring bulb combos, examples of best (and easiest!) bulbs for naturalizing, the “lasagna system” for container plantings and a special, insider tour through her work at Keukenhof - the famous bulb garden of the Netherlands.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 11:30 AM / Rainier Room


  

Sun and Shade Perennials: I like it, I love it, I want more of it...

Tony Avent - Author, owner Garden Delights Nursery

What’s new, exciting - and sometimes overlooked- in the perennial world. New plants are entering the market at a pace comparable to the plant-mad Victorian era of the 1800s. Some new introductions make excellent garden plants, while others are overhyped duds. We’ll explore some of our favorites for both sun and shade from our garden trials.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 2:30 PM / Rainier Room


  

Gardening for Biodiversity

Tony Avent - Author, owner Garden Delights Nursery

While many conventional landscape architects and landscapers encourage gardeners to limit their plant palette, we prefer the opposite. Like our society at large, gardens are much healthier and ecologically beneficial when we maximize plant diversity. This requires understanding plant needs, habits, and sizes, and merging those with sound design principles.
Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 10:00 AM / Rainier Room


  

More Wow and Less Work; Grasses and Their Place in Our Gardens

Neil Lucas - Recipient of RHS Victoria Medal, Executive Director Knoll Gardens, Author

Neil Lucas, author of Grasses for Gardens and Landscapes (Timber Press 2023), shares his decades of experience designing with grasses. An advocate for their beauty, utility and variety they have to offer, Neil takes a look at some of the unique qualities that help make them such valuable plants for todays gardens. A frequent contributor, and winner, at the Chelsea Flower Show, Neil's deep understanding and appreciation for grasses and their vast applications will have you rethinking big impact, low maintenance grass options.
Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 11:30 AM / Rainier Room


  

Five Years/Five Projects

Jacqueline van der Kloet - Author, landscape designer, "Bulb Queen of the Netherlands"

The highlights of five different projects in different countries. Each of the projects took Jacqueline almost a year to design, plant and experience the first results. They all feature a base of perennial plants, accompanied by combinations of spring flowering bulbs. Only one of these projects was a temporary one. The remaining four still exist and even get better during their growth.

Get the inside scoop on beautiful gardens worldwide:

Schloss Ippenburg, a privately owned small castle in Bad Essen, Germany

Grote Kerkplein, a public green area around the oldest church of Rotterdam

Shinko Central Square, a public park/green walkway near the centre of Yokohama

Park of Dutch Dreams, a public park and tribute to Piet Oudolf in Doetinchem, The Netherlands

The Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, Chicago, USA
Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 1:00 PM / Rainier Room