10:00 AM

Elements of Creative Gardening: Experience, Observation and Imagination

How can we bring our experience, our powers of observation, and our imagination to the making of uniquely inspired, sustainable landscapes? Rick Darke will explore the essential elements of creative design by looking at a wide variety of global gardens and regional habitats.

Rick Darke

12:00 PM

Constructing Habitat Boxes: A creatively sustainable approach to providing shelter for all of life's organisms.

The new era of the bird house has arrived!  New England Wild Flower Society's Staff Horticulturalist Nate McCullin will demonstrate how to construct habitat boxes and discuss their origin, functionality and the roles they can play in our landscapes.  This hands-on experience will expose the audience to an artistic approach to interacting with the wildlife in our backyards that is truly limitless.

Nate McCullin, NEWFS

2:00 PM

Cooking Winter Greens

Winter greens include kale, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, and mustard greens. These hearty greens can take a few frosts in the garden and lend themselves to a variety of different cooking and flavoring methods. In this workshop, we will look at all the different greens from a cook's perspective and prepare a simple soup and side dish. 

Andrea Chesman

3:00 PM

Garden Transformations: How Gardens and the Garden Show are transformed

This talk will show before and after images of garden transformations and give a behind the scenes look at how the flower show is created.

Chuck Carberry

10:00 AM

Cooking Winter Greens

Winter greens include kale, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, and mustard greens. These hearty greens can take a few frosts in the garden and lend themselves to a variety of different cooking and flavoring methods. In this workshop, we will look at all the different greens from a cook's perspective and prepare a simple soup and side dish. 

Andrea Chesman

12:00 PM

How to Grow Great Flowers Including Old Favorites and Lesser Know Beauties

How to eat from the garden all year. Providence Journal Gardening columnist Henry Homeyer will share his knowledge - and demonstrate some of his methods - for freezing, storing, and dehydrating garden produce so that you can eat it all year.

Henry Homeyer

10:00 AM

New Ways to Save Energy in Your Landscape

Our landscapes are full of opportunities to conserve energy.  We can take advantage of these opportunities in ways that involve little or no cost and will help beautify our landscapes while also contributing to a healthier environment.

Susan Reed

12:00 PM

The Evolution of the American Urban Forest

Chris Fletcher is the Managing Arborist for the F.A. Bartlett Tree Company in Seekonk, MA. He is a frequent speaker and tour guide for various historic landscapes such as Salve Regina University, The Preservation Society of Newport County in Newport, RI and Juniper Hill Cemetery, a 19th century garden cemetery in the historic town of Bristol.

Chris Fletcher
Bartlett Tree

2:00 PM

Gardening with Wildlife

Plant-animal interactions make the natural world go round. At times the interactions may appear out of control. It is no wonder that gardeners have mixed feelings about the animals that visit their gardens. Though there are countless creatures set to eat our efforts it is important to remember that animals rely on many plants for food and shelter while many plants rely on animals for reproduction and dispersal. This presentation will cover some of the diverse interactions between gardening and wildlife from the big to the small and suggest a plan for working with - not against - wildlife.

Scott Ruhren, Ph.D.
Senior Director of Conservation
Audubon Society of Rhode Island

3:00 PM

The Bins and Outs of Composting

Making compost, the building block of good soil, is easy! Connecticut professional gardener Colleen Plimpton creates yards of the stuff each year for her ornamental garden.  Join her as she humorously instructs in the ways of producing black gold.  For her Show 'n Tell presentation the Bins and Outs of Composting, she'll bring lots of material you never thought of composting, share tips and techniques, and answer your composting questions.  Let's get your 2012 garden off to the right start!

Colleen Plimpton
Morning Glory Gardens

10:00 AM

Backyard Hydroponic Gardening

What is Hydroponic Gardening… A brief overview and techniques used in Hydroponic Gardening. Advantages of Hydroponic Gardening. Hydroponic Gardening made simple for everyday home use.

Guy Comtois
Hydroponics

12:00 PM

How to Design a Kitchen Garden

A kitchen garden goes beyond the simple straight rows of a vegetable garden to combine art and food in ways that enhance the experience of growing food.

Ellen Ogden