You are invited to join us for the 4th Annual Home Gardener program of the Mid-Atlantic Horticulture Short Course. The conference is sponsored by The Virginia Horticultural Foundation. This year’s program is on Thursday, January 31, 2008, at the The Founders Inn & Spa in Virginia Beach and includes a hot buffet lunch prepared by the chefs of the Swan Terrace Restaurant and free (and plentiful) parking.

The theme is “Exotic Specimens” and features three published authors, two television personalities – and others – totaling six horticulture professionals speaking throughout the day about the pros and cons of using exotic gardens specimens in our landscapes. Book signings, a book store and silent auction to benefit horticultural scholarship funds are added benefits to attendees.
 

8:15	Gardening in a Changing Climate Todd Forrest, Vice President of Horticulture & Living Collections, The New York Botanical Garden Gardeners are attuned to the climate – the gardens we create are planned around rainfall, minimum temperatures and frost dates. So how should gardeners respond to climate change? Mr. Forrest discusses the impacts of climate change on gardens and how gardeners are adapting to this change. Learn to mitigate future change by adjusting gardening techniques.
9:15	Exotic Garden Plants: Using the Good, Adapting the Bad Felder Rushing, Garden Writer and Author of Passalong Plants and Tough Plants for Southern Gardens Unusual plants provide all-season zest to the garden with little effort on your part. Early plant explorers experimented – with some disastrous environmental results. Yet modern-day plant breeders are showcasing fantastic new variations on common old plants – both native and imported – that provide zest without taking over the countryside. Learn to select and use these plants effectively, with little or no design or horticultural know-how, and without being made to feel like an environmental traitor.
10:15	Book Signing (Felder Rushing) & Refreshment Break
10:45	Successful Home Gardens: Combining Natives & Exotics Bryce Lane, Lecturer & Undergraduate Coordinator, Host of In the Garden with Bryce Lane, NCSU Dept. of Hort. Proper plant selection is essential to achieve a successful home landscape in the Southeast. There has been a big push to use native plants in our landscapes because they may be more adapted to the soils and climatic conditions of the area, but using natives may not always be the best strategy. One needs to consider all available plants for a particular area – both native and exotic plants. Discover the art and science of combining native and exotic plants.
11:30	Lunch (included in your registration fee) and Book Signing (Sherry Kern and Jim Williams) Relax and mingle with other gardeners while enjoying a hot buffet lunch prepared by the chefs of the Founders Inn.
12:45	Exotic Ferns for Your Garden Sherry Kern, Instructor Tidewater Community College, Author of Best Plants for Hampton Roads: A Landscape & Garden Companion, Master Gardener Volunteer If you're looking for texture and variations of color for the partly sunny to the shady locations in your yard, ferns can fit your needs. With a little care, there are both exotic and native ferns that thrive in your Hampton Roads garden.
1:15	Getting to Know Some Varmints in Your Yard Jim Williams, Horticulture Landscape Manager City of Hampton, Author of Best Plants for Hampton Roads: A Landscape & Garden Companion Are moles, voles, rabbits, deer or other critters causing problems in your home landscape? Learn some suggestions for controlling these pests. Audience participation is encouraged!
1:45	Silent Auction Bidding Closes & Refreshment Break
2:00	Where the Wild Things Grow Marie Butler, Landscape Coordinator, VA Zoological Park When folks visit the Virginia Zoo, plants are not usually the first thing on their minds, but plants are the first thing they see. From the brightly planted front entrance to the naturalistic African exhibits, zoo horticulturists use earth-friendly techniques to set the stage for our animals and the public. Frankly, they do "weird" well. Come see where the wild things grow!
2:45	Closing Remarks

Questions? Call (757) 523-4734

---