SYMPOSIUM: Saturday, March 3, 2018
GARDENING WITH WILDLIFE: The Balancing Act
at HVRHS, Falls Village, CT
NOTE:To register after February 25, call 860-355-1547 or email to knelson151@sbcglobal.net. Registration at the door is usually possible but depends on enrollment. Same day enrollment may not include lunch.
Critters are an important part of our gardening life. From bears in the peach trees to butterflies on the milkweeds, from hummingbirds feeding on lobelia to mites on the phlox - we are constantly aware of, interested in, and often frustrated by, critters in our gardens.
This year we asked several experts to put together talks addressing many of our critter questions. Kathy Diemer, Mad Gardeners’ newsletter editor and photographer extraordinaire, is putting together a slide show to run during registration and breaks. It will include many of the critters we won’t have time to discuss. The endlessly fascinating but not garden-friendly deer and the tiny voles that eat the roots of garden plants will find a place in the slide show but not in the talks – nobody seems to have anything more to add to those conversations. Kathy’s slides will cover the many critters that inhabit her back yard, from the frustrating to the cherished – insects (good and bad), birds, and many mammals – as well as the plants that provide them with food and housing.
Heather Holm, an award winning author and speaker, will start the day off with a buzz sharing her passion of the fascinating world of native bees and the plants that support them. She will address native plants that attract specific bees and beneficial insects, including predatory and parasitic wasps, beetles, flies, true bugs, and lacewings and how the predator-prey relationships in the insect world help keep problem insect populations in balance.
We all strive to create gardens that are welcoming to native insects, while looking attractive to their human caregivers. We asked Mad Gardener and professional photographer, Karen Bussolini, to provide lots of beautiful photographs to illustrate the good plant choices and restorative land practices she will be discussing that create “wildlife-friendly plantings disguised as gorgeous gardens.”
Senior Extension Educator and long-time friend of the Mad Gardeners, Donna Ellis, from the University of Connecticut, will address identifying some of the newer insect and mite pests in the garden and how IPM methods to help control them can be implemented. Donna has worked with the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture for 28 years, there is no better person to address this topic.
Tom Wessels gave a summer talk and a guided woodland walk to the Mad Gardeners many years ago, and we haven’t forgotten the engaging way he shares his knowledge of the woodland and woodland edge biodiversity. With humor and wit, Tom will cover woodland co-evolution and the justification for native plants that will enhance and boost biodiversity, while using examples that can be incorporated into designed landscapes.
Click on the image below to download the symposium flyer:
To register after February 25, call 860-355-1547 or email to knelson151@sbcglobal.net. Registration at the door is usually possible but depends on enrollment. Same day enrollment may not include lunch.
Recertification credits: We will be requesting recertification credit for Connecticut private applicator, ornamental and turf, and arborist licenses, and for NOFA Organic Land Care AOLCP credits. Let us know if we should request others. Check this website or contact Kathleen Nelson, knelson151@sbcglobal.net, to check on approvals.
posted 9/24/14 from New Milford, CT