11:30 pm
Grow It, Pick It, Eat It — Your Guide to Growing Veggies
Speaker: Patty Leander – Travis County Master Gardeners
 Patty Leander is a native Texan who is passionate about home-grown vegetables. Her mission is to encourage and inspire potential gardeners of all ages to grow-their-own, using sound horticultural principles that will lead to success in the vegetable garden. As an active member of the Travis County Master Gardener Association, she gives presentations on vegetable gardening to numerous groups and organizations and regularly conducts trials and taste tests in search of the best vegetable varieties to recommend for Central Texas gardeners. She also contributes monthly articles on vegetable gardening to the Travis County Master Gardener newsletter and to Texas Gardener magazine.
12:30 pm
Batty for Begonias
Speakers: Valerie Morris & Jim Estes, Austin Area Begonia Society
 Jim Estes is a member of the SW Regional Begonia Society. He retired to Texas 4 years ago, and moved a huge collection of begonias that he has been growing for 30 years. He built a new greenhouse and reused the PVC from the old one to construct the framework which now protects the Zilker begonia bed from frost. Jim is also a Master Naturalist and will join native Texan and fellow member of the National Begonia Society, Valerie Morris in demonstrating propagation of begonias; they will have cuttings to pass out. Valerie wanted to improve her skills with plants and decided to focus on begonias. Friends in Houston sent hundreds of begonias which she sold at the Zilker Garden Festival. Each interested customer was recruited to join a new club, and in 2003 she founded the Austin Area Begonia Society. Two years ago the club took over an old iris bed and planted it with beautiful begonias.
1:30 pm
Dazzling Daylilies
Speaker: Rich Rosen, Austin Daylily Society
 Rich Rosen is a former president of the Austin Daylily Society. He has also served as vice president of the American Daylily Society at both regional and national levels. He grows several hundred different hemerocallis cultivars in his home garden and will share his extensive knowledge of their soil requirements and specific planting needs. As a daylily Garden Judge and Exhibition Judge he is well qualified to discuss the diversity of colors and forms of these prolific and fragrant bloomers.
2:30 pm
The Best Flowering Bulbs for Central Texas
Speaker: Danny Fowler, Texas Flower Bulb Society
 Danny Fowler was born in Andrews,TX. His studies took him to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as the Universite de Paris - la Sorbonne. After more than 20 years as a designer in the floral arts, he now specializes in importing, growing and selling flowering bulbs. He is a founding member and the current treasurer of the Texas Flower Bulb Society. He teaches classes in floral design and flower arranging with tulips at the Lifetime Learning Institute and is active in providing horticultural opportunities for school age children through the EAGER program.
3:30 pm
Free Water from the Sky — Rainwater Harvesting
Speaker: Dick Peterson, Austin Energy Green Building
 Dick Peterson's interest in water conservation and rainwater harvesting goes back over 20 years. Working with Austin Energy Green Building, he regularly consults with customers about home construction, landscaping, irrigation and rainwater harvesting. Simple systems for irrigating your landscape that can be constructed from recycled barrels or economical poly tanks. Gravity is the only pump you need and the collection downspouts are the distributors. As the City of Austin Xeriscape Program Coordinator, he developed its rebate program for rainbarrels and cisterns. He will discuss a few examples of the more intricate drinking water systems as well. |
Sunday March 30, 2008
11:30 pm
Growing & Mounting Prehistoric Staghorns — Platyceriums
Speakers: Dr. Laura Joseph & Dr. Steven Reynolds, The Garden Club of Austin
 Laura Joseph graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelors in Education, then went on to receive a PhD in Education from Texas A&M University, one of the first ten women to do so. She has been growing ferns and staghorn ferns for over 30 years. Laura is a member of The Garden Club of Austin, the Zilker Garden Club, the Austin Area Begonia Society and President of the Austin Area Garden Council.
Steven Reynolds received a BS from Texas A&M University in Animal Science and then went on to obtain a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from TAMU. Steven is a member of The Garden Club of Austin, Travis County Master Gardeners, Austin Area Begonia Society, Bromeliad Society/Houston, and President of The Bromeliad Society of Austin. Both Laura and Steven have been instrumental in hosting two annual fern symposiums at Zilker Botanical Garden. They both have an avid interest in ferns to grow in Central Texas.
12:30 pm
Growing Herbs for Everyday Health
Speaker: Ellen Zimmermann, Austin Herb Society
 Ellen Zimmermann is a certified herbalist, a licensed professional counselor, a marriage and family therapist and an avid gardener. She has successfully blended these professions to fulfill her mission of educating others on how to best use the plants and herbs we can grow in our own environment. She studied with master herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, and now produces a full line of hand-made therapeutic herbal products. Learn more about calendula, the "herb of the year" and why it is in so many bodycare products.
1:30 pm
Pruning Your Yard, Bonsai Style
Speaker: Mike Hansen, Austin Bonsai Society
 Mike Hansen became fascinated with bonsai in 1972. His teachers in the US and Japan included Toshio Saburomaru, John Naka, Susumu Nakamura, Hiroyoshi Yamaji, and Kuniaki Hiramatsu. Among the lessons learned from his earliest instructors was keeping the tradition of all bonsai lovers: share new found knowledge freely with others. After 10 years of study Mike began teaching this ancient art of pruning and shaping trees into dwarfed plants. One of the highlights of his experience came in 1994 when he gave a lecture demonstration to the Shanghai Bonsai Club in Shanghai China. Mike teaches classes in Pflugerville, TX and gives seminars to clubs and groups all over the US.
2:30 pm
Rainbow Flags — Growing Irises in Central Texas
Speakers: Lee & Sandy Schroeder, Iris Society of Austin
 Lee & Sandy Schroeder began growing irises on their 98 acre Springen Horse Farm 20 years ago primarily because these beautiful stately flowers are deer resistant. They now have 600 varieties on their farm. Lee has given presentations on growing irises to the master gardeners. Sandy has been a National Flower Show Judge. She speaks on horticulture and design around Central Texas. Her speciality is incorporating garden art into landscape designs. Two years ago they installed a beautiful iris garden with 400 different varieties at the Visitor Center in San Marcos. Both their farm and the new garden will be on the tour for the American Iris Society hosted by Austin in April.
3:30 pm
Beauty — Extending Your Decorating into Your Yard
Speaker: Marlene Gillman, Texas Garden Clubs, Inc.
Marlene Gillman is from a long line of genuine gardeners. Her maternal Grandfather was the head gardener at the village manor house in England. Her mother, it is jokingly said, could drive a nail into the ground and it would sprout leaves. Marlene has become a determined gardener, a club president and a district director of Texas Garden Clubs. Her true passion is landscape design where her appreciation of color and knack for the best possible staging of plants intensifies her expertise. A member of Bell County Master Gardeners, she continues her education in horticulture and new gardening techniques, and enjoys the opportunity to specialize in fields of interest. |
