March Into Spring XXV - A Virtual Symposium for GardenersThe 2022 March into Spring Symposium will be a virtual event; our goal is to keep everyone safe. Going virtual will not, however, compromise our commitment to providing you with an excellent program. We will miss the chance to make new friends and shop in person for enticing plants, but we are happy to say that shopping will be available at our Online Silent Auction. Members and non-members welcome. The Online Auction will go live on the day of March into Spring. The auction is open to all HPS/MAG members and MIS Registrants. The auction details are in work. The day begins with Rebecca McMackin presenting "Brooklyn Bridge Park: A Work in Progress in Built Ecology". This talk will detail many of the strategies employed to design an ecological park, as well as the management techniques used to cultivate biodiverse parkland. Brooklyn Bridge Park, an 85-acre, organic park in the middle of New York City, was created with ecology in mind. The Park’s award winning piers host top notch recreation, from opera to outdoor films, all of it beautifully designed. But the piers also contain native woodlands, freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, and numerous meadows. These areas closely mimic native ecosystems and are managed with an emphasis on wildlife habitat. Rebecca will be followed by Kelly Norris presenting "New Naturalism: Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden", his popular new lecture that applies his passion for plants and planting to home gardens with practical, accessible and inspiring ideas for landscapes on the wild side. In this era of purposeful and thoughtful gardening, planting is a powerful verb. Planting gardens inspired by nature promotes authentic connections with land, environment and humanity. Why not make a garden that works and looks good doing it? Landscapes at home and in the public realm can be beautiful and ecologically functional if we deepen our understanding of plants and place. In this lecture especially tailored to garden enthusiasts with examples from around the world, plantsman and author Kelly Norris challenges audiences to plant the world a more beautiful, functional place. About Brooklyn Bridge ParkBrooklyn Bridge Park, one of the largest and most significant public projects to be built in New York City in a generation, has transformed a once dilapidated industrial waterfront into a vibrant and thriving 85-acre civic landscape. Brooklyn Bridge Park stretches 1.3 miles from Atlantic Avenue in the south to Jay Street north of the Manhattan Bridge, spanning the neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO along the East River. The self-sustaining park was designed by the award-winning firm of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. and features expansive lawns, rolling hills, waterfront promenades, innovative playgrounds, a greenway, sports facilities, and the popular Jane’s Carousel. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation (BBP) develops, capitally improves, maintains, and fully operates the Park as a 501 (c) not-for-profit, controlled by the City of New York. BBP is responsible for the day to day operations of the Park, including horticulture, maintenance, capital planning and construction, event permitting, and concession oversight. Registration is open. Click here to register. Registration closes at midnight on March 16th. Online payment only.Conference Fee Schedule:10:00 Welcome from HPS/MAG President, Nora Sirbaugh The Online Auction will open during March Into Spring. Contact Stephen Rifici at [email protected] with questions. About Our Speakers
Rebecca McMackin is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden designer. By day, she is the Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park, where she manages 85 acres of diverse parkland organically and with an eye towards habitat creation for birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms. In her imaginary free time, Rebecca writes about landscape management and pollination ecology, as well as designs the occasional garden. Her writing has been published by the New York Times, the Ecological Landscape Alliance, and the Landscape Institute.
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Kelly D. Norris is one of the leading horticulturists of his generation. An award- winning author and plantsman, Kelly’s work in gardens has been featured in