Gardening Symposium

Homegrown National Park; Building Networks for Life! – Dr. Doug Tallamy

Dr. Tallamy is a nationally acclaimed lecturer and professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. Chief among his research goals is to understand the many ways insects interact with plants and animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home won awards from the Garden Writer’s Association, and he is a regular columnist for Garden Design Magazine.

Our parks, preserves, and remaining wildlands are too small and separated from one another to sustain the ecosystems upon which we depend. The Homegrown National Park (HNP) concept promoted by Dr. Tallamy is a national challenge to create diverse ecosystems in our yards, communities, and surrounding lands by reducing lawn, planting natives, and removing invasives. Our natural life support is in jeopardy. However, if many people make small changes, we can restore healthy ecological networks and weather the changes ahead.

Environmentally Friendly Gardening – Dr. Linda Johnson

Dr. Linda Johnson is Associate Professor of Sustainability and the Environment at Chatham University with over 25 years teaching and speaking experience on gardening and environmental issues.

Dr. Johnson will show you how to work with nature to create synergistic natural results that promote a healthy environment in your garden and yard with less work and input. This presentation will provide practical advice on how to create the critical, diverse ecosystems in our yards and communities that Dr. Tallamy will discuss in his presentation and present as a national challenge.

Foodscaping with Native Plants – Brie Arthur

Award-winning landscape designer, grower, and bestselling author, horticulturist Brie Arthur has two decades of professional horticulture experience. She now shares her expertise as a correspondent on the Emmy award winning PBS Television show “Growing a Greener World”. You can follow Brie’s gardening journey through her website, on social media and YouTube channel, Brie the Plant Lady.

Brie will explain how gardeners can be good stewards of nature by using sustainable approaches in their landscapes. Foodscaping is all about making the most of your space to cultivate the flowers and food that you want to grow while using native plants to bring a healthy botanical diversity to your garden. You won’t want to miss her strategies for deterring deer, rabbits, and voles, the bane of so many gardeners.

Native Plants Suitable for Tidewater Virginia – Dr. Janet Steven

Dr. Steven is an Associate Professor at CNU in the Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology. She has been involved in conducting a floristic study of the Mariner’s Museum Park, and teaches plant identification, taxonomy, and conservation to CNU students while being involved in the Fear to Hope environmental program.

In this workshop Dr. Steven and her students will identify native plants suitable for use in our local gardens that will provide habitat for wildlife, especially pollinators, beneficial insects, and birds. She will explain how you might choose your plants, save and grow native seed, and propagate by other means while giving you tips on how to grow them successfully.

From Fear to Hope and the Stewardship of Nature – Dr. Rob Atkinson and Dr Janet Steven

Dr. Rob Atkinson is a professor of Biology at CNU specializing and teaching classes in Wetlands, Environmental Conservation, and Wetland Ecology. His projects focus on wetland mitigation, Atlantic White Cedar swamps and similar concerns. He has been a leader in CNU’s Fear to Hope Program.

This presentation by Dr. Atkinson and Dr. Steven will highlight the Fear to Hope program that is concluding its third year at CNU. The program involves CNU faculty and students, and began with research collaboration with students in our local public schools. This year the program expanded north to Maine and south to the Gulf of Mexico.