Irvine Nature Center

UPDATE: The Native Plant Seminar & Sale is ON. Most events are inside, and we'll be able to hold the event regardless of the weather. Hope you'll join us!

SEMINAR WALK-INS: If you plan to arrive before 8:30 a.m., please start at Irvine Nature Center so we can register you. If it is after 8:30 a.m., please go directly to Garrison Forest School and register there. (Follow the on-campus signage to locate the Irvine event.)

Join us for our annual Native Plant Seminar & Sale on August 27, 2011. It's perfect for homeowners, garden club enthusiasts, Native Plant Society members, nursery/landscape professionals, land managers and environmental educators.

The 2011 seminar will feature three speakers who are noted experts in their field:

• Rick Darke Bringing A Bit of Real Wildness into Your Home Habitat | In his 1870 classic The Wild Garden, William Robinson called upon gardeners to bring a bit of real wildness into their designed landscapes. Rick Darke will take a fresh look at the wild garden concept in a modern ecological context, and will illustrate why it is the most enjoyable, practical approach for livable, vibrantly sustainable modern landscapes. Rick Darke is an independent consultant focused on landscape ethics, contextual design and photography. His work blends art, ecology and cultural geography in the design and management of livable landscapes, and has been featured in The New York Times and Garden Design, and on NPR. His published works include The American Woodland Garden, The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes, The Wild Garden: Expanded Edition, and most recently a chapter in The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable Gardening.
• Dick Bir Showy Native Understory Trees and Shrubs | As landscape trees mature and more homes are built in woodlands, garden focus often turns to ferns and wildflowers. However, showy shrubs and small trees have an important impact on both the stability and seasonal appeal of naturalistic landscapes. As you’ll learn from Dick Bir, selecting and successfully establishing understory woody plants is doable using the Southern Highland Reserve as a reference. Dick Bir is a horticulturist and conservationist, as well as faculty emeritus from the Department of Horticultural Science at NC State University. He has written hundreds of publications including Growing and Propagating Showy Native Woody Plants. Dick was one of the pioneers of current native plants education and research and was instrumental in the development of the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference. He has spoken across the country, and has won the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award from the American Horticulture Society and Swarthmore College’s Scott Medal.
  
• Michael Raupp How Insects Make the World Go Around | Insects provide a wide variety of services to humans living in cities, suburbs and rural areas. These include pollination of plants, cycling of nutrients and control of important pests. This session with Michael Raupp will help you learn about the roles insects play in our gardens and landscapes, not only as bad guys, but also as good guys that make the world go around. Michael Raupp is a professor and extension specialist at the University of Maryland at College Park. He earned his B.S. and M.S. from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in entomology at the University of Maryland. His programs teach the theory and practice of integrated pest management to growers, landscape managers and master gardeners. He has been published more than 250 times and is a regular guest on Good Morning America and has appeared on CNN, NPR, BBC, Discovery News and Dr. Oz. He also received the Secretary of Agriculture’s Award for Environmental Protection.
  

Throughout the day, the region’s finest native nurseries will provide an opportunity to learn more about species native to the Piedmont region and to purchase a wide selection of top quality native plant material. Seminar registrants will be admitted to the plant sale at 7:30 a.m.

Print the 2011 Native Plant Seminar & Sale flyer or brochure. You may also contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  at 443-738-9224.