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From bulbs to grasses… from shade to extremes… from gardening to the MAX or maximizing the smallest spaces, this year’s presenters share innovative and actionable suggestions to make your garden great…
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!
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Made for the Shade, Creating the Shade Garden of Your Dreams Susan Calhoun - Journalist and regional reporter for Fine Gardening, award-winning designer, writer, and speaker
One of the hardest, but most rewarding, gardens to create is a shade garden. Living in the Pacific Northwest for most of her life and creating gardens here has given Susan the ability to say 'challenge accepted'. Sharing from her own garden as well as client gardens she will give information about planting for texture and color, not just flowers to create an all-season garden. Using bulbs, grasses and ground covers not just rhododendrons and azaleas will help give us the calm, leafy space a shade garden can be. We will talk about the different kinds of shade and how to plant for drought tolerance and soaking rain. We will discuss creating shade where there is none by planting manageable lovely trees. Susan will also include exotics like impatiens, orchids, and podophyllums that are hardy and add a sense of excitement and discovery to a shade garden. The shade garden will soon become your favorite garden! Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 9:30 AM / Hood Room
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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
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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
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Great Plant Picks: Plants for Pollinators Richie Steffen - Executive Director for the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden
Our gardens are built for beauty but serve as a resource for our regional wildlife. Our gardens can be a haven for honeybees and native pollinators with the addition of a varied and diverse selection of plants. Great Plant Picks (www.greatplantpicks.org ) is a regional resource that focuses on plants that thrive in our maritime Pacific Northwest climate. Learn about some of the best performing pollinator friendly plants that will flourish in your garden and how to create a space that encourages healthy pollinator populations.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 1:00 PM / Main Stage
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Cultivate the Rainbow Lorene Edwards Forkner - Author, maker, speaker, columnist for Seattle
Times and GardenRant.com contributor
Romp through a rainbow of plants that thrive in Pacific Northwest gardens. Color is the most obvious element of a garden and an essential tool in the creation of a landscape. In nature, color is a component of pollination, ripening, and other fundamental biological processes. Yet, from a human perspective color is often treated as simply an indulgent finishing touch. Color is powerful and can take a pleasing garden to dynamic heights. We’ll look at using color in the garden to manipulate space, leverage light, and explore ways to love your garden life in every hue and season." Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 1:15 PM / Hood Room
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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
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Designing with Deer-Resistant Flowers Karen Chapman - Author, landscape designer, travel guide & owner of Le Jardinet
What does “deer resistance” really look like? It’s much more than just a shopping list. Join Karen Chapman to learn the concepts behind combining favorite deer-resistant flowers, perhaps with other plants you already have, to create artistic, multi-season vignettes that you’ll love but the deer won’t. With examples for both hot sunny areas and dry shade learn strategies to transform your garden into one you can be proud of but that the deer will leave alone.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 2:45 PM / Hood Room
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Get Bossy with Your Bulbs: Divide, Force, and Plant Successively for a Colorful, Bloom-filled Garden Sean and Allison McManus - Owners/hosts Spoken Garden, Authors The First Time Gardener
Be the boss of your bulbs by learning how to divide them, force them to bloom early, and plant them successively. Take advantage of how bulbs reproduce in your garden and learn how to divide or separate bulbs like daffodils, tulips, dahlias, bearded iris, gladiolus, and more, so you can spread them around your garden, share them with friends or family, or create new container designs without spending money on more bulbs. Discover how to force your bulbs to bloom early to get a jump on the growing season. Also, learn which specific bulbs you can plant successively throughout the summer to have months of blooms.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 3:15 PM / DIY Stage
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What Do Designers Know That You Might Not Phillip Waite - Author, educator University of Idaho, Washington State University, Utah State University
Have you ever looked at a beautiful landscape in a magazine or book and wondered “how in the world did the designer come up with such ingenious and beautiful ideas?” Have you ever wanted to hang out in a designer’s studio to watch how they come up with their ideas? How would a designer’s approach to your project differ from your own approach? What does a trained and experienced landscape designer know that you might not know? This session will explore the ‘rules of thumb’ and ‘guiding theories’ that landscape designers are trained in and use in creating functional, sustainable, and beautiful landscapes. This session will share the lessons and guiding theories from the worlds of art, design, sociology, psychology, and horticulture that influence a designer’s approach to problem solving and creating landscapes that are functional and beautiful. Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 4:30 PM / Rainier Room
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PNW Month-by-Month Gardening: Tips for Cultivating a More Resilient Garden Christina Pfeiffer - Seattle based author and horticulture educator
In gardening, as with many things in life, timing can be everything. Some of our long time “tried and true” methods may no longer be as effective as in the past. Long time favorite garden plants and native species may now struggle. This talk will highlight how to optimize key garden tasks and timing for more sustainable and healthy landscapes.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 5:00 PM / Hood Room
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Boost Biodiversity in Your Garden with Insect-Friendly Habitat Amy Campion - Co-author Gardening in the Pacific Northwest: The Complete Homeowner's Guide
News of crashing insect populations may make you feel hopeless about the future. However, there are many things you can do to make a real difference in improving insect biodiversity where you live. In this talk, you'll learn simple steps you can take to create more insect-friendly habitat in your garden, and you'll meet some of the fascinating creatures that show up when you welcome them in.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 / 12:00 PM / Hood Room
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Companion Planting - Facts or Folklore? Linda Chalker-Scott - Author, Ph.D. in Horticulture, ISA and ASCA consulting arborist, WSU Professor
Companion planting is a legitimate horticultural practice that uses ecological principles of beneficial plant relationships to enhance establishment and survival of desired plants. The concept has been misapplied by those who have assigned zodiac, occult, or other pseudoscientific qualities to plants, which creates confusion for home gardeners. This session explains the science behind companion planting, while debunking misconceptions found in numerous popular gardening books and websites. Gardeners who use companion planting in a scientifically sound manner can improve plant health and productivity, decrease damage from insects and disease, and decrease the need for pesticides and fertilizers—all part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 9:30 AM / Hood Room
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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
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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
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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
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Secrets of a Plant Whisperer Anne Biklé - Gardener, soil health expert, co-author of The Hidden Half of Nature and What Your Food Ate
Gardeners often underestimate the power of the plants in their beloved gardens to take care of themselves. In this session, find out how to tap into what plants know about how to thrive in a "stuck-in-place" lifestyle and reap the rewards of a vibrant and resilient garden. Gain the know-how and confidence to tweak your gardening practices so they work with the green bodies of plants and the unique setting of your garden. In large part, plant health and beauty stem from the symbiotic relationships plants cultivate with the microbes and other life forms in the soil. Plants in your garden can feed fungi in exchange for much-needed nutrients. They recruit bacteria to live inside their roots that have the power to repel and vanquish soil pathogens. Symbioses between plants and other parts of the natural world are among the oldest interactions we know about in the history of life—and they matter immensely for plant health and well-being, the soil, and our planet at large. Learning how to get in on the conversations and relationships that plants strike up with soil life and their fellow plants is the pathway to enriching a gardener's repertoire and expertise. This is the secret to the good looks, functions, and feel we all want in our gardens. You just need to know how plants think and talk. Soon enough you’ll be coaxing your plants into rambunctious growth or nursing them back from the edge of death whether petunias in a window box or your favorite towering tree. Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 1:15 PM / Hood Room
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Clipping Time: Exploring The Gibson Technique Mike P. Gibson - World renowned topiary artist
Experience the art of topiary like never before! Join Mike Gibson, a world-renowned topiary artist who will guide you through the entire process of creating a stunning topiary masterpiece. From the initial shaping to the final touches, you'll see firsthand the precision and creativity involved in this remarkable craft.
As Gibson works, he'll also deliver an engaging lecture about his unique approach and the innovative Gibson Technique that sets his work apart. This is a rare chance to gain insider knowledge, learn valuable techniques, and be inspired by one of the leading figures in the world on topiary art.
Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 2:30 PM / Rainier Room
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Party Crashers: Self Seeding Annuals C.L. Fornari - Author of eight books, host of GardenLine on WXTK (Cape Cod, Massachusetts) award-winning podcast co-host Plantrama
You didn’t invite them to your garden party but they came anyway. Maybe they arrived with another plant, or had been invited to the celebration in previous seasons. Now they show up every summer whether summoned or not. Yet these Party Crashers arrive so colorfully dressed, and with such spirit, that you allow some of them to stay. This talk is about self-seeding annuals that can’t resist a good gathering. It’s also about the gardener being a good host; how to recognize which plants will be the life of the party, and which ones we should escort off the premises. This talk will be especially interesting for those who love free plants and flexible gardening.
Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 2:45 PM / Hood Room
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Garden to the Max Teresa Paige Woodard - Award-winning author, educator and America in Bloom advisor
For those of you compelled to make room for “just one more plant,” this talk is for you. In Teresa’s newest book Garden to the Max (Timber Press 2024), she dives into the maximalist style as it boldly unfolds in the garden. She will take you on an inspiring journey across the country with gorgeous images by photographer Bob Stefko of 20 maximalist gardeners. She'll share how these talented garden creatives curate plant collections, defy rules, build drama with multiples of plants, or max out all-sized spaces to support nature. While many are drawn to the maximalist style, it’s not as simple as throwing everything and the kitchen sink and seeing what sticks. There’s artistry in curating collections not to look like a hoarder’s mess. There’s finesse in using bold colors without appearing gaudy. There are tricks for daringly growing tropical plants outside their traditional growing zones. And there’s a skill to magically layering plants without creating garden chaos. Teresa will encourage you with these maximalist gardeners' ideas and their bounty of plants, showy colors, foliage patterns, statement containers and thoughtful accessories. Her wish is for gardeners to find great joy in designing highly personalized jam-packed patios, exuberant tropical paradises, wildly diverse habitats for birds and butterflies, and stylized plant collections. Besides, the Earth and all its wildlife will thank you.
Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 4:00 PM / Hood Room
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Strolling the Garden Camera in Hand Doreen Wynja - Author, Eye of the Lady inc professional garden photographer
Get inside the professional garden photographer's mind! This rapid-paced presentation is loaded with side-by-side examples of how you might take a different approach to what you’re really seeing, leading to better, more dynamic and dramatic photos. Loaded with options and professional approaches to your subject, this session gives you tools on important photographic elements like light, and the way it falls on a subject, finding other angles, time of day, and what's beyond what you think you see. [Note, this can pertain to more than just a garden!] Doreen covers everything from landscapes to close ups. You will walk away with new skills to use with your camera or your phone. The principles work no matter what device you're using to snap the photo... Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 5:00 PM / Hood Room
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Gardening with PNW Hardy Native Annuals Paul Bonine - Native plant grower, expert and owner Xera Plants, Portland, Oregon
Discover the history and overview of native hardy annuals, a class of plants whose native territory has shrunk to endangered levels. Often overlooked and forgotten, this category of plant is equally important to native pollinators as all other categories combined - trees, shrubs, perennials. They were once widespread and, aside from their importance to pollinators< they have beautiful and practical uses in the garden. They may be employed as a winter weed blocking cover crop for example. Paul will show you where to get plants and seed, how to identify them, (and their seedlings) and how to save seed and insure that they self sow. They have specific requirements for germination and I'll unlock all of those secrets to ensure success. This is a precious and important class of native plants that should be included in every Pacific Northwest garden. Thursday, February 20, 2025 / 12:00 PM / Hood Room
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Dog-Scaping: Creating Dog-Friendly Gardens Shianne Kaina - Botanist, artist, and master gardener with 15 years experience as a horticulturist & educator
You no longer have to make the choice of thriving garden or dog playground. Join us for this engaging and informative session with botanist and master gardener Shianne Kaina, who has five dogs of her own. She has combined her expertise in plants with her passion for animals to develop strategies for designing beautiful, functional gardens that both you and your dog(s) will love. In this session, we will explore practical tips and creative ideas for transforming your outdoor space into a doggie oasis. You’ll learn how to select pet-safe plants, design enriching areas that cater to your dog's natural behaviors, and avoid common pit-falls and hazards. Discover how to balance aesthetics and functionality, ensuring your garden remains a lush, inviting space while accommodating the needs of your beloved dog(s). Whether you're starting from scratch or modifying an existing garden, you'll leave with actionable advice and inspiring ideas to create a harmonious environment for both plants and pets. Friday, February 21, 2025 / 9:30 AM / Hood Room
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The Easiest Seed-Starting: Winter Sowing and Seed Snails Erica Browne Grivas - Lifestyle journalist
Indoor seed sowing can be fun, but seedlings often need special lights, constant monitoring, regular potting up to larger pots, and then hardening off. It can take over your house – and life - for months as your kitchen is lit with eery purple light and counters are swallowed by plants. What if you could sow your seeds outdoors, wait until the seeds come up, and transplant once? Enter the magic of winter sowing. It lets you plant seeds from late winter through spring no matter how cold it gets. By creating a sheltered area with upcycled milk jugs or plastic storage bins, potted seeds can even sit in the snow – if we get any. As a bonus you’ll grow hardier, tougher plants than if grown indoors. Simply keep seedlings watered and away from high temperatures, and the seeds come up when the conditions are right. With winter sowing, you can plant once – no potting up - and transplant directly when plants reach 2-4” tall. They are already hardened off! Learn which plants work best in the Pacific Northwest, how to time your sowing, and get ready to try this stellar timesaving technique. Seed snails are a new viral method that saves so much space. Created by Farida Sober in the UK, you roll up your seeds and potting mix, fitting many more seeds than in a potting tray, with no repotting necessary. Works indoors or out! Friday, February 21, 2025 / 10:00 AM / DIY Stage
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#fernsarethenewsucculents Loree L. Bohl - Author and blogger at theDangerGarden.com
Succulents have been the “it” plant for many years now, and their popularity shows no signs of fading. However, Loree suggests that ferns should rightfully be just as popular, especially here in the Pacific Northwest. Thus, one of her favorite Instagram hashtags: #fernsarethenewsucculents. There are nearly 13,000 recognized species of ferns. This includes everything from tropical tree ferns, small epiphytic ferns that grow like dragon scales on tree bark, and ferns that require a dry sunny location. There are ferns with single fronds (looking like a large leaf), and ferns with black fuzzy stems (stipes in fern talk). Think about that the next time you hear someone dismiss ferns saying “but they all look the same! In this seminar Loree will share many of her favorite garden-worthy ferns—both in her own garden and others she’s visited—and then show how she manages to grow fabulous species that aren’t technically hardy in her Zone 8 garden. Just as varied and spectacular as succulents, ferns can be grown in your garden soil, in containers and yes, epiphytically. Loree approaches ferns from a plant lover’s perspective, not a professional one—and she promises to butcher many of the hard to pronounce fern names in this talk! Friday, February 21, 2025 / 11:15 AM / Plant Academy
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The Happiest Hydrangeas Ryan McEnaney - Author of Field Guide to Outdoor Style and spokesperson for First Editions® Shrubs & Trees
Friday, February 21, 2025 / 1: 45 PM / Plant Academy
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Embrace the Unusual: Underused Oddballs and Forgotten Classic Plants You Should Grow Erin Schanen - Gardener, writer, video creator and founder of The Impatient Gardener
There is a whole world of delightful plants out there that you probably won't find at the garden center, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be growing them. Spice up your plant palette with excellent and unusual plants—many of which can be grown from seed—to create a garden that has the neighbors asking, "What IS that?"
Friday, February 21, 2025 / 1:15 PM / Hood Room
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Ten Roses You Should be Growing in the PNW Robin Jennings - Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Heirloom Roses
In the wide world of roses, how can you pick the best variety for your PNW garden? Join Robin as she breaks down the ten essential roses for PNW gardens.
Friday, February 21, 2025 / 3:00 PM / Plant Academy
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Oaks for the Future! Evergreen Oaks for Climate Resilience and Beauty in Our Gardens John Coghlan - Garden designer Vashon Island, Washington
Evergreen Oaks have so much to offer: they thrive in our cold winters and our hot, dry summers. They are magnets for wildlife, and they create year-round beauty for our gardens. This seminar will dovetail with my Show Garden for 2025 which will feature unique and wonderful botanical treasures, many sourced from Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery near Portland. Friday, February 21, 2025 / 4:45 PM / Plant Academy
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Leveraging the Power of Lavenders Lloyd R. Traven - Plantsman, owner Peacetree Farm
The use and production of lavender has exploded massively in the last decade, becoming easily the fastest growing part of perennial production world-wide. What is causing this movement and how can YOU participate? The world's foremost breeder and introducer of new lavenders takes you on a journey to illuminate getting onboard and sharing the joys of a plant that thrives right here in the Pacific Northwest. So many uses, so many reasons, and so many choices!! Let's see the options and help you make the best choices for your own requirements.
Saturday, February 22, 2025 / 10:00 AM / Plant Academy
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Fuchsia-La! The Hidden Empire of Fuchsia Species for the Garden & Greenhouse. R. Theo Margelony - Blogger at Fuchsietum.com, President of the Oregon Fuchsia Society. PNW
While we're all familiar with the many, many fuchsia hybrids bred for our gardening pleasure over the last 225 years, there are a number of little-known fuchsia species. Besides Fuchsia magellanica, the classic hardy fuchsia of our garden beds in the Pacific Northwest, there are a number of other species that can be grown in the ground or in the greenhouse. Take a trip of discovery through the hidden empire of these uncelebrated beauties.
Saturday, February 22, 2025 / 11:15 AM / Plant Academy
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Gravel Gardening Andrew Bunting - Vice President of Horticulture at Pennsylvania Horticulture Society
In this presentation, join Andrew Bunting, Vice President of Horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society as he explores gravel gardening, a new water-wise alternative to more traditional garden design and landscaping approaches. Learn about the many aesthetic and ecological benefits of gravel gardens, including offering an easy stormwater management solution, creating habitat for vital pollinators, and providing hardiness and resiliency, while also adding drama and ornament in the garden. The presentation will showcase examples of the versatility and beauty of gravel gardens ranging from Bunting’s own award-winning home garden Belvidere, alongside corporate campuses and other non- residential locations. You will learn how to establish gravel gardens from conception to final execution and will acquire information for key considerations such as infrastructure, plant choices, planting approaches, material selections, and planting design. Saturday, February 22, 2025 / 11:30 AM / Rainier Room
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Dishing Dirt with Bess and Richie – The Best and Worst for 2025 Bess Bronstein - horticultural consultant/educator and ISA Certified Arborist® Richie Steffen - ED for the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden. What are the best plants and garden tips for the upcoming spring? Come and hear what Bess and Richie have to say about it in this interactive, audience-centric talk. Bess Bronstein, an arborist, educator, and lecturer along with Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C Miller Botanical Garden are ready to give their unbiased opinion on the what is good for the garden and what is a waste of time. Their horticultural knowledge is immense, and they are ready to solve your garden issues.
Saturday, February 22, 2025 / 1:00 PM / Main Stage
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History in Bloom: Finding Harmony in Your Home's Architecture and Garden Design Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein - Authors, HGTV stars, founders of Cheap Old Houses
The aesthetics of a historic home's exterior can inform our approach to landscape design. Together, let's explore common historical architectural styles found in and around Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and discuss how plantings can be used to enhance their character-defining features.
Saturday, February 22, 2025 / 2:30 PM / Rainier Room
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Crazy About Coral Bells! (And Their Allies…) Dan Heims - Award-winning author, president Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.
Dan presents a brief history of this group of plants (the Saxifragaceae), followed by slides of native populations and the breeding programs that have transformed this quiet woodland group into some of the most sought-after perennials today.
Saturday, February 22, 2025 / 3:00 PM / Plant Academy
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How to Fool your HOA! Ellen Zachos - award-winning author, speaker, and podcaster
When most people think about edible gardens they picture tomatoes, herbs, and maybe a few berry bushes. And often, edible gardens are relegated to the backyard, where occasional messiness won’t irritate the neighbors. But what if you only have a small garden in front of your home or condo? Should you be denied the joy of fresh, homegrown food? Of course not! In this presentation you’ll learn how to create a beautiful garden that feeds both body and soul, by combining attractive edibles with tasty ornamentals. Saturday, February 22, 2025 / 4:30 PM / Rainier Room
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Dry Gardening in the Pacific Northwest: Tips, Tricks and Plant Selection Ideas Bryon Jones - Horticulturist/Arborist Lead - Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington
Let’s talk about Dry Gardening! What plants do you plant when it rains less? How do you prepare your garden for warmer Pacific Northwest Summers? Why would you want to understand the soils your plants thrive in? Come join Bryon as he dives deeper into understanding how you too can create beautiful spaces and be successful with Dry Gardening.
Saturday, February 22, 2025 / 12:00 PM / Hood Room
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Bird-Friendly Gardening Jen McGuinness - Author, photographer, blogger at FrauZinnie.com
Learn how to make your garden spaces - small, medium or large - more welcoming for songbirds. With an emphasis on organic gardening and native plants, this presentation shares ways to attract common birds and migrators to the garden, emphasizing the components birds need for a safe habitat: food, shelter/nesting areas and access to fresh water.
Sunday, February 23, 2025 / 10:45 AM / Hood Room
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All-America Selections Winners for 2025 Diane Blazek - Executive Director National Garden Bureau and All-American Selections
Ever wonder what the AAS logo means on plants? Wondered about what "Tested Nationally & Proven Locally" really means? This 90 year-old non-profit organization tests plants all over North American and promotes only the ones with superior garden performance to ensure success in your garden. Diane is here to present the latest AAS Winners and give some sneak peeks into how the AAS Judges are trialing plants.
Sunday, February 23, 2025 / 1:00 PM / Main Stage
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Groundcovers Greatest Hits: A Top 10 and Personal Favorites Kathy Jentz - Author, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine, host of GardenDC Podcast
Groundcovers can provide many eco-system benefits from tree root protection to erosion control to wildlife food and shelter. Kathy Jentz, author of the new book, Groundcover Revolution, will cover several of these beautiful, hard-working plants and some of her personal favorites.
Sunday, February 23, 2025 / 1:15 PM / Hood Room
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Flowering Bulbs Crash Course for Beginners Sean and Allison McManus - Owners/hosts Spoken Garden, Authors The First Time Gardener
Is this your first-time planting bulbs? Not sure how to get started? New gardeners (or anyone who needs a refresher) will learn hands-on skills and best practices for planting their flowering bulbs with confidence and ease. This session will provide skills you can apply to planting both spring blooming bulbs, like daffodils and tulips, and summer bloomers, like dahlias and gladiolus, to help your bulbs thrive, including correct planting depth, spacing, proper handling, and the materials and tools needed to get the job done. Sunday, February 23, 2025 / 3:15 PM / DIY Stage
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