Symposium Speakers

Seminar Location: Mark Weathington JC Raulston Arboretum

Mark Weathington is the Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University where he is passionate in his work to connect people with plants. His career in public horticulture has also included the Norfolk Botanical Garden where he served as Director of Horticulture and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Mark travels extensively searching for new plants to diversify the American Landscape and lecturing on a variety of topics in horticulture to further the JC Raulston Arboretum’s vision of “Planning and Planting a Better World”. His explorations and speaking engagements have taken him to China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Ecuador, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand and throughout the U.S. He has recently completed A Homeowner’s Guide to Gardening in the Southeast for Timber Press and is currently working on several other projects.

Larry Cornelis “Return the Landscape” Program

Larry Cornelis was born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario but his passion for nature was born in the summers spent on his grandparent’s farm near Wallaceburg Ontario. Larry has been married for 40 years and has a daughter, Becky, of whom he is very proud. He is currently the Habitat Specialist for the local “Return the Landscape” program and is a sought after flora and fauna inventory consultant. Larry has been active over the years with many naturalist clubs and associations including Lambton Wildlife Inc. and the Sydenham Field Naturalists, both of which he has served as President and Director. He is a popular speaker for clubs and associations across southwestern Ontario and in Port Huron. Larry has been involved in many Conservation projects big and small and was responsible for restoring a 25 acre wetland/meadow/woodland complex on the family farm just north of Wallaceburg. His many Conservation awards are testament to his unfailing support of and work for Nature.

Landmark Academy 4800 Lapeer Road Kimball Twp., MI 48074

Master Gardeners of St. Clair County Present

Registrar: Sandy Billings (810) 367-3399 Date: Saturday, March 18, 2017 Time: 7:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Cost: Registration - $90.00 Includes continental breakfast and lunch and snack breaks Registration fee after March 1 - $100.00 Local Hotel Accommodations: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel 800 Harker Avenue Port Huron, MI 48060 810-984-8000 www.doubletree3.hilton.com Marriott Fairfield Inn 1635 Yeager St. Port Huron Twp., MI 48060 810-982-8500 www.mariott.com/fairfieldinn Directions to Landmark Academy, 4800 Lapeer Rd, Kimball Twp., MI 48074 From I-69 E. to Wadhams Rd. exit #196. Turn Left (north) on Wadhams Rd., 1.1 miles, continuing to the light, (Lapeer Rd.). Turn Right, and drive 1.1 miles. It is located on the left (north). Parking in the rear of building. From I-94 E. exit #262. Turn Left (north) on Wadhams Rd. for 9 miles then follow as above from Wadhams Rd.

Be “The Educated Naturalist” Saturday, March 18, 2017 Landmark Academy 4800 Lapeer Road Kimball Twp., MI 48074 Doors open at 7:45 am. Seminar: 8:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Registrar: Sandy Billings Phone: (810) 367-3399 E-mail: [email protected] Registration fee: $90.00 After March 1, 2017: $100.00 (all in U.S. funds) PLEASE NOTE THE SCHOOL IS A SMOKE-FREE CAMPUS. NO SMOKING ALLOWED ON GROUNDS.

Symposium Speakers

Larry Cornelis: "The History of Our Local Forests". Larry's presentation looks at both the ecological and cultural impacts on our regions forests over the last 15,000 years, which includes climate change at both ends of that time frame, native land care, a great rewilding and European exploitation. He will finish up with a focus on our indigenous "Carolinian" tree species.

Make check payable to MGSCC (Master Gardeners of St. Clair County) Checks or money orders only, to be cashed upon arrival in the mail – no refunds will be made after March 1. Mail registration to: Sandy Billings, 99 Richman Rd., St. Clair, MI 48079, call Sandy at (810) 367-3399; or Lisa Sharrow at (810) 329-3722.

Rick Darke: Designing and Maintaining the Living Landscape. Rick will illustrate and discuss how an understanding of living layers and relational biodiversity can be put to practical use in the making and maintenance of residential gardens and community landscapes. Strategies for employing “organic architecture” in creating beautiful, conserving, highly functional layers will be presented in detail.

Symposium Registration fee: $90.00, includes all speakers, continental breakfast, lunch, and snack break.

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 84 research publications and has taught Insect Taxonomy, Behavioral Ecology, Humans and Nature, Insect Ecology, and other courses for 34 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers' Association. The Living Landscape, coauthored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014. Doug is also a regular columnist for Garden Design magazine. Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence.

Email: ____________________________________________ (Future symposium brochures will be sent by email)

Roxbury, CT

Doug Tallamy: A Chickadee’s Guide to Gardening. In the past we have designed our landscapes strictly for our own pleasure, with no thought to how they might impact the natural world around us. Such landscapes do not contribute much to local ecosystem function and support little life. Using chickadees and other wildlife as guides, he will explain how plants that evolved in concert with local animals provide for their needs better than plants that evolved elsewhere. In the process he shows how creating living landscapes sharing by our spaces with other living things will not reduce our pleasurable garden experiences, but enhance them.

Phone: ____________________________________________

Doug Tallamy

Rick Darke: Looking at the Layered Landscape. The richness of life in any landscape is linked to the richness of its layers, and this is true for both people and wildlife. An illustrated discussion of the living layers in local and regional landscapes, both as they occur naturally and as they are often modified by human culture. This exploration will provide a basis for understanding the essential characteristics of healthy layers and how they can be conserved and enhanced in home gardens and shared landscapes.

City: _____________________________________ State/Province: __________ Zip/Postal Code: ________________

Rick heads Rick Darke LLC, a Pennsylvania consulting firm focused on landscape, ethics, photography, and contextual design. His work is grounded in an observational ethic which blends art, ecology, and cultural geography in the design and stewardship of living landscapes. Projects include residential gardens, parks, post-industrial sites, transportation corridors, corporate and collegiate campuses, conservation developments and botanical gardens. Rick’s Pennsylvania home garden, which he and his wife Melinda Zoehrer have made and maintain together, has served as their living laboratory for a quarter century. His many books including The American Woodland Garden, Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest, The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes and The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden co-authored with Doug Tallamy.

Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Landenberg, PA

Mark Weathington: Slave to the Goddess Flora; Plants and Plans from a Lazy Gardener. Gardening is easy – don’t let the experts tell you otherwise! Find out shortcuts and techniques to take some of the work out of gardening as well as some foolproof plants for even the brownest thumb.

Name: _________________________________________________________________________________________

Rick Darke

Early registration must arrive no later than March 1 for the cost of $90.00. Late Registration is $100.00.

Lecture Topics