March into Spring XXIV: 

8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Saturday, March 14, 2020
Delaware County Community College, Media PA

Click here to see the brochure with the schedule and pricing.

This event is canceled due to COVID-19. 

Click here to volunteer for the event.

Scents & Sensibilities for Gardeners

This year our theme gives a wink to Jane Austen, an icon of 18th century literature, because our symposium is featuring four renowned contemporary authors who are launching their new books. Expect a wide-ranging and informative day covering the latest news on plants, design, and science. You’ll be engaged and energized by intriguing new ideas from our speakers, fine plants offered for sale by local growers, irresistible goodies at an enticing silent auction, and new friends you’ll make among the kindred spirits attending from the tri-state area. Plus, you’ll find delicious lunch options from our new caterer: Seasons. There’s just no better place to be on March 14th as we ‘March into Spring’!

The day begins with Ken Druse and a focus on scent in our gardens, while we savor his exquisite garden photos and plant scans by Ellen Hoverkamp. That idyll will be followed by Tom Christopher sharing the inspiration behind a wonderful public garden, Wave Hill, on the Hudson. In the afternoon, Kim Eierman will encourage us further with planting ideas to nurture pollinators from early spring through late fall. Doug Tallamy will share his latest research into the complex web woven among plants, insects and other fauna and ourselves.

Speakers

Ken Druse is an award-winning writer and photographer who has authored 20 garden books. The New York Times called him “the guru of natural gardening”. There is a “Ken Druse Collection of Garden Photography” at the Smithsonian Institute. Three hundred episodes of his radio program and podcasts are available on his website. He is currently a monthly guest on Margret Roach’s radio show and podcast, AWaytoGarden.com. Ken’s new book is The Scentual Garden: Exploring the World of Botanical Fragrance. He lives and gardens in the northwest corner of New Jersey. www.kendruse.com

Thomas Christopher is a graduate of the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture, and has been designing and maintaining gardens for over four decades. A former contributing editor to Martha Stewart Living magazine, he is the author of more than a dozen books about gardening, most recently Nature into Art: The Gardens of Wave Hill. He writes a weekly gardening column that appears in more than  25 publications. Tom gardens in central Connecticut and the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. www.thomaschristophergardens.

Kim Eierman is the founder of EcoBeneficial and is an environmental horticulturist specializing in ecological landscapes and native plants. Based in Westchester County, New York, Kim teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College, Rutgers Home Gardeners School, and several other institutions. Kim’s new  book is The Pollinator Victory Garden. www.ecobeneficial.com 

Doug Tallamy is chair of the department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. He has authored 88 research publications and has taught Insect Taxonomy, Behavioral Ecology, Humans and Nature, and Insect Ecology. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home was published in 2007, and awarded a Silver Medal by the Garden Writers’ Association. The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014. His new book, Nature’s Best Hope, expands our knowledge of his latest research and how we can effect change in our own gardens. www.BringingNatureHome.net

Enroll and Experience It!

Shopping

Shop 'til you drop with our wonderful PLANT AND GARDEN VENDORS: Gettysburg Gardens, Cairnsgrove Gardens & Apiary, Cymron Cottage Nursery, Gardens at Mille Fleurs/Tiffany Perennials and Triple Oaks Nursery & Herb Garden. Also, back again will be our AWESOME SILENT AUCTION, our carefully curated selection of THE BEST NEW GARDEN BOOKS AT DISCOUNT PRICES (including those by our speakers), Atlas Gloves and eco-friendly HPS water bottles. NOTE: HPS will accept cash, checks and credit cards for the Silent Auction and book sales. Some vendors accept cash/checks only.

Silent Auction

The Silent Auction Committee are busy assembling some awesome items for this year's Silent Auction. Items that have come in already are:

• Big Bloomers - $25 Gift Card; perfect for HPS 2020 Domestic Trip
• Cairnsgrove Gardens + Apiary - honey, soap, hand cream, and lotion bar Retail Value $36
• Chanticleer Gardens - 2 person season pass and book "Chanticleer Now & Then" Retail Value $85
• Charles Cresson - 18+ plants from Charles
• David Culp - Private Garden Experience of Brandywine Cottage with David
• Jenny Rose Carey - Private Garden Tour of Northview with Jenny Rose
• Longwood Gardens - 4 passes Retail Value $100
• Octoraro Native Plant Nursery - $75 Gift Card
• PHS - Two - 2021 flower show tickets and gift package Retail Value $84
• Plants Delights - Gift Card; perfect for HPS 2020 Domestic Trip
• Pleasant Run Nursery - 4 Carex ($9 each) and 4 Epimediums ($10 each)
• Point Philip Perennials - Hypertufa Leaf Retail Value $25, Decorative Hypertufa Pothead Retail Value $40, Set of 3 Hypertufa Spheres (12, 10, 6 inch) Retail Value $75, Greenman Hanging Hypertufa Mask Retail Value $40
• Putnam Hill Nursery - $25 Gift Card
• RareFind Nursery - $50 Gift Card
• Rick Ray - Private Garden Tour with Rick
• Rick Ray - one-hour consultation with Rick at your garden Retail Value $100
• Rob Cardillo Photography - Framed Photograph
• Rose Kramer Sheep's in the Meadow - Silk Habotai Eco-Printed Scarf Retail Value $58
• Scott Arboretum - Sponsoring Level Membership Coupon for Workshop Registration, and a Garden Hat Retail Value $220
• Stoneleigh - Private Garden and House Tour
• Winterthur - 2 passes Retail Value $40