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Friday, March 14, 2025
The Wayne Theatre, Waynesboro Virginia
No day of registrations. Last day to register is 3/10/25 by 5:00 pm.
Click HERE for the most up to date 2025 Shenandoah Valley Plant Symposium day of agenda/schedule of events.
AGENDA:
8:00 – 8:30 Registration- coffee and light refreshments provided
8:30 – 8:45 Welcome & Announcements:
8:45 – 9:50 The Power of Plants: How Gardening Helps Mind, Body and Soul
Bryce Lane – Undergrad Professor
Did you know that a twenty-minute walk in a garden is equal to taking two anti-depressant pills! Time spent working or walking in a garden has bona fide benefits to our physical, mental and emotional health. This talk highlights many of the ways gardening makes us better, and shares much of the current research that supports what we gardeners already knew.
9:50 – 10:10 BREAK– light refreshments provided
10:10 – 11:20 Specialist Bees
Nancy Adamson- Botanist, Ecologist, Biologist
Like butterflies, some bees have long-term relationships with particular plants. These specialist bees depend on pollen from one plant species or a few related plants for their young’s survival and transformation into adults. Learn about enticing plants for your garden and when to expect pollen-hungry visitors.
11:30 – 12:40 The Big Picture: Regenerating Life, Landscapes, Climate and Living Soils
Dale Hendricks- Horticulturist, Gardener
The native plant movement in many ways has been a success. How can the native plant and permaculture movements inform and enrich each other? How can we add more natives to our diet? Is the real world so simple as “good and bad guys”? Must we be at war with invasive plants? Why are they moving and taking over so fast? Can we be a civilization of stewards and gardeners?
12:40 – 1:40 Boxed Lunch from Panera Bread
1:40 – 2:50 Early Plant Explorers and Garden Influencers
Laura Viancour – Horticulturalist, Garden Historian and Lecturer
The bounty of new flora in the colonies contributed to Williamsburg being an active horticultural hub in colonial times. “Meet” some of the early garden enthusiasts and plant explorers who traveled to Virginia and learn about the plants they found in their own words from period notes and correspondence.
2:50 – 3:00 BREAK- refreshments available
3:00 – 4:10 Mixing it Up: Inspiring Perennial and Woody Plant Combinations
Bryce Lane- Undergrad Professor
This is an informative, and inspiring talk on identifying dynamic combinations of plants to use in all kinds of landscape garden beds. One can achieve an excellent color display by combining herbaceous perennials with select woody plants. We will talk about color dynamics, the color echo, and make recommendations of some great plant combinations that will catch the eye!
4:10 – 4:15 Closing Remarks- Springing forward from here
