Sharing the Earth: Attracting Beneficial Pollinators and Living with Wildlife

Gardeners are an essential resource for birds, pollinators and other wildlife—especially in urban areas where we are literally paving paradise. Simply put, plants are the primary food source for animals, and if gardeners foster more plant diversity through careful plant choices, wildlife will thrive.

Join some of the leading advocates for birds, wildlife and pollinators in these vital seminars and discover the simple steps that benefit wildlife in urban or suburban environments. Not only will you gain a more beautiful garden year round, but you’ll make the environment friendlier to our natural neighbors.

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 cancellations.

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

Buy Tickets Early and Save!

Garden Design for Bees, Butterflies, and Other Good Things!

Sue Goetz CPH, EcoPro—Owner, Creative Gardener and author, Complete Container Herb Gardening and A Taste for Herbs

Gardening for pollinators is becoming more vital than ever as we strip away habitat. But there’s a lot a home gardener can do and reap the enjoyment of a beautiful garden along with help nature. Discover how to design a garden that is bee-friendly and attracts other pollinators, techniques to add pollinator plantings to existing borders, create meadow gardens, and even small container gardens. Find out the best plants to grow and all you need to know for a healthy, sustainable pollinator-attracting garden.

Building a Pollinator Garden: from Grass to Blooming Exuberance

Sharon J. Collman—Award-winning Emeritus Professor, WSU Extension Educator in Horticulture and IPM

This seminar will explore the transition from a bumpy, unhealthy lawn and sheared conifers to a garden of perennials, flowering trees, and shrubs, lots of buzzing by pollinators, and a bonus of water quality benefits. Learn to really SEE the tiny pollinators, flies that look like bumble bees and bumble color-stripes you may have overlooked.        

Wednesday, Feb 9 at 12:30 pm / Hood Room

For the Love of Hummingbirds
John Shewey—Author, The Hummingbird Handbook and co-author, Birds of the Pacific Northwest

Hummingbirds amaze and intrigue us. Their high-speed enigmatic lifestyles are a blur; their startling colors and exotic behaviors are delights. Hummingbirds also inspire us—they are like tiny ambassadors with the power to usher people into a deeper interest in and appreciation for the natural world. Join John for this fun-filled program and learn how to attract hummingbirds with their favorite flowers and astute gardening techniques; learn how to cater to them, and how to be a great hummingbird host in your yard.

Building an Orchard Mason Bee Pollinating Colony in your Backyard
James Ullrich—Owner, Knox Cellars Mason Bees

This demonstration covers developing of a backyard sanctuary for our invaluable native pollinators—Orchard Mason bees. Jim will cover all of the Mason bee's needs, including proper housing, housing location, and plants to assist in the success of bringing Mason bees into one’s yard. He’ll also review the life cycle of the Mason bee, and the maintenance requirements of your colony during the pollination process, and how to harvest, clean the cocoons and store them

Wednesday, Feb 9 at 11:45 am / DIY Stage

Saturday, Feb 12 at 3:15 pm / DIY Stage

Bling on the Wing: 12 Months of Flowers for Hummingbirds

Greg Butler, BLA, ATA—Designer, educator, and owner Design of the Times

Everybody loves hummers. They’ve got the dance moves of those overly choreographed gangs from West Side Story and sport more bling than a limo full of bar-hopping drag queens. Taking advantage of our mild maritime climate makes it possible to turn your garden into a year-round hummingbird feeder just by choosing the right plants. You’ll also get tips on life cycles, behavior, enhancing habitat, and more. Accessorize your garden with tiny flying jewelry!

Saturday, Feb 12 at 9:30 am / Hood Room

GARDEN 101: What’s Bugging Your Garden?
Top Five Garden Pests: Aphids and Weevils and Snails, Oh My! 
Sharon J. Collman—Award-winning Emeritus Professor, WSU Extension Educator in Horticulture and IPM

Attract More Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden
Susan Mulvihill—Author, Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook, co-author, Northwest Gardener’s Handbook and garden columnist for Spokesman Review

Bugs: The Hidden World in the Garden
Ciscoe Morris—Award-winning radio, TV host, columnist and best-selling author, Ask Ciscoe and Oh La La!

Bugs. Insects. Pests. Weevils…they just sound evil, don’t they? Every garden gets its share of insects, but many are beneficial! Discover what’s bugging your garden and what you can do about it without resorting to harmful chemicals. Sharon Collman talks about the top 5 garden pests and helps you to learn “who’s who” so you do not unwittingly kill off the natural allies that are eating your pesty bugs. Susan Mulvihill takes it a step further so you can discover how to attract even more beneficial insects to your garden by eliminating pesticide use, creating habitat for them, interplanting flowers and herbs within your vegetables, and building your own insect hotel to welcome these amazing creatures. Finally, Ciscoe Morris takes you to the hidden world of these fascinating creatures and how to use the beneficial guys to help prevent the troublemakers from inflicting serious harm to your plants.

Saturday, Feb 12 at 2:30 pm / Rainier Room

The Garden 101 Series is sponsored by ColibriNW

Building an Orchard Mason Bee Pollinating Colony in your Backyard

James Ullrich—Owner, Knox Cellars Mason Bees

This demonstration covers developing of a backyard sanctuary for our invaluable native pollinators—Orchard Mason bees. Jim will cover all of the Mason bee's needs, including proper housing, housing location, and plants to assist in the success of bringing Mason bees into one’s yard. He’ll also review the life cycle of the Mason bee, and the maintenance requirements of your colony during the pollination process, and how to harvest, clean the cocoons and store them

Wednesday, Feb 9 at 11:45 am / DIY Stage

Saturday, Feb 12 at 3:15 pm / DIY Stage