Lewis Ginter Winter Symposium and CVNLA Short Course

Every winter, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia hosts a informative (and affordable) program offering landscape architects, designers, and master gardeners a chance to earn continuing education credits. And it comes at just the right time—in the middle of winter when I'm going crazy with cabin fever. They always have a great lineup of speakers, bringing in people from all over the country.

2010 - Everything Old is New Again
In many ways the old adage is true that “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” Think of the horticultural practices today that resemble those of our grandparents. There’s a reason the “old ways” are back in vogue—rain barrels, home vegetable gardens, and edible landscaping are tried and true examples of man’s resourceful and respectful use of nature’s bounty. This symposium looks at innovations in horticulture and landscape design that are deeply rooted in the past and creatively adapted for the present and future emphasis on sustainability. - from the Lewis Ginter website.

Carol Reese

Ornamental Horticulture Specialist

Great Gaud! Lessons from Grandmother's Garden

Making the old New Again

Peter J. Hatch

Director of Gardens and Grounds

The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden

For more on the talk, click here.

Ray Mims

Conservation and Sustainability Manager

Landscapes Give Back
For more on the talk, click here.

Linda E. Delplace, ASLA

Principal/CEO Oehme, van Sweden and Associates, Inc.

From the Ground Up: Timeless Sustainable Beauty

Michael Van Ness
Executive Director, Lynchburg Grows
How an Old Nursery Grew a New Community

Michael McConkey
Edible Landscaping
History of Some of the Best Edible Landscaping Plants
For more on the talk, click here.

Ira Wallace
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Hierloom Seeds - Sow, Savor, Save
For more on the talk, click here.

Keith Tignor
Virginia State Apiarist
A Queenly Craft with Ecological Significance

Andy Hankins
Virginia Cooperative Extension
Farmscaping for Biological Insect Control

This was an interesting talk on a concept I was unfamiliar with—planting annuals and perennials along or through agricultural fields to attract predatory insects like parasitic and predatory wasps, ladybugs, big-eyed bugs and assassin bugs. These bug will then eat the insects you don't want.

Nicole Schermerhorn
A Thyme to Plant at Lavender Fields Herb Farm
Tried & True Now New: Innovative Ways to Use Classic Herbs