The Hardy Plant Society/Mid-Atlantic Group Presents 

Adventures in Botany

March 16, 2019
8:00am. – 4:00pm
Delaware County Community College
Media PA

Click here to register for the event.

Click here to see the event brochure with schedule and pricing

This year’s symposium focuses on fascinating tales of plant exploration around the world, from the time of the founding of our nation through the present day. For centuries, people have searched for new food, medicine, and aesthetic delights in the plant world. Some, like John Bartram, enjoyed long, successful careers botanizing in the new world, while David Douglas, for whom the Douglas fir is named, was lost in mysterious circumstances in Hawaii at a young age, and E.H. Wilson, best known for finding the Davidia involucata, or handkerchief tree, sent back many thousands of new plants from Asia to his patrons in Europe and America that we still happily grow in our gardens. 

Today, legendary adventurers like Dan Hinkley, our keynote speaker, continue to risk life and limb (or at least a bandana) in pursuit of new botanical gems from Vietnam, Chile, and elsewhere that add diversity and a ‘wow’ factor to our own landscapes. Presentations will cover: a short history of the evolution of plants and some surprising new discoveries; Lewis & Clark’s historic Western expedition; the awe-inspiring first public botanical garden in America, now hidden beneath Rockefeller Center in New York City; a plant breeder’s latest plant discoveries from as close as Virginia and as far away as Myanmar. 

Speakers 

Bruce Crawford is the Director of Rutgers Gardens in New Brunswick, N.J. and an adjunct professor in landscape design at Rutgers. He is a popular educator throughout the state and a regular contributor to Gardener New. He’ll set the stage for the day with a lively review of the latest findings about botanical evolution. rutgersgardens.rutgers.edu

Dan Hinkley is an internationally known plant hunter, author, and former owner of the Heronswood Nursery in Washington state. (Many of you probably still have copies of that catalogue!) Dan will share his plant hunting adventures and plant discoveries from around the world, focusing on finds most suitable for Mid-Atlantic gardens. 

Victoria Johnson, is associate professor at Hunter College and author of the new bestseller American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic. Hosack was Alexander Hamilton’s family physician, who became obsessed with using plants as medicine, leading him to found the first public botanical garden in America. It now lies buried beneath Rockefeller Center in New York City. americaneden.org

Rick McCourt, is the Curator of Botany at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. The Academy is home to the herbarium
of more than 200 specimens collected on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Rick will tell us all about that collection and some of the plants introduced to the Mid-Atlantic region. As an extra treat, tours of the herbarium—in Philadelphia—will be scheduled later in the year. ansp.org 

Peter Zale, is the Associate Director, Conservation, Plant Breeding and Collections at Longwood Gardens. He makes several plant hunting trips each year, has introduced and bred dozens of new introductions currently under evaluation, and will share some of his latest discoveries from across the U.S. and around the world. longwoodgardens.org 

Click here for more information about our speakers.

Enroll and Experience It!

Our 23rd annual March symposium offers a full day of great horticulture information for both novice and seasoned gardeners. Besides a day of great speakers, there will be shopping opportunities with local growers and other special vendors, plus an extensive silent auction with lots of unique garden-related books, plants, and tools. 

Come celebrate the end of winter with a group of like- minded plant geeks from the tristate area. We have state- of-the-art facilities at the DCCC campus, which is set in a beautiful arboreal landscape in Media PA. 

Please note that credit cards will be accepted by HPS/ MAG, but may not be accepted by all vendors, who will appreciate cash or a check. A complete list of vendors will be available on our website in March.

Register AND pay online with a credit card to receive a special credit to use for the Silent Auction.

No refunds unless the event is canceled. 

Click here to see the event brochure with schedule and pricing

Click here to register for the event.