FRIDAY, SEPT. 19
11:00 a.m. Conference Registration Opens
Name badge holders sponsored by Osmocote Plant Food
Water bottles sponsored by Encore Azalea
Bags sponsored by Oregon Association of Nurseries
Refreshments sponsored by Mailorder Gardening Association
1:00 p.m. Regional Meetings
Join your regional and national directors and other regional members to discuss current GWA events and to find out what is happening in your region!
2:30 p.m. First-Timer & Mentor Reception (1st Time Meeting Attendees Only)
The GWA Annual Symposium is an extremely busy event and having a mentor can be very helpful if this is your first time attending. Come meet some long-time GWA symposia attendees who can give you pointers to having a successful symposium!
Sponsored by Anthony Tesselaar International
3:30 p.m. Garden Products Information Exhibit Opens
With 80 sensational booths, this year’s Garden Products Information Exhibition will be one of the most exciting places for any garden communication expert to expand their knowledge of current garden trends, products, and information. Also, stop by the Garden Writers Association Foundation booth to learn more about the spectacular prize drawing for an Apple Intel Core 2 Duo Computer, iPod, or a Digital SLR camera!
Computer sponsored by Fafard, Inc.
Camera sponsored by Bradfield Organics
iPod sponsored by BittersweetGardens.com
6:00 p.m. Reception in Exhibit Hall
The exhibit reception will offer hors d’oeuvres and a ticketed wine and beer bar. Visit the Garden Writers Association Foundation booth to enter the drawing!
7:30 p.m. Welcome Reception
Join Timber Press and Storey Publishing editors and authors at this special reception. Taste fine Oregon wine, Oregon beers, and, what promises to be, an amazing palette of Oregon hors d’oeuvres. This evening will be in honor of the Garden Writers Association. Garden communication specialists, garden writers, other media representatives and editors will have the opportunity to mingle and socialize.
Sponsored by Timber Press and Storey Publishing
SATURDAY, SEPT. 20
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
Sponsored by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Keynote Presentation
“How Does Our Garden Grow: Flourishing As Writers & Editors in a New Media Environment” — Join us for our fabulous keynote speaker, Jack Hart. Jack Hart is an author, writing coach and former managing editor at The Oregonian, the Pacific Northwest’s largest daily newspaper. At The Oregonian, he also worked as a reporter, arts and leisure editor, Sunday magazine editor, training editor and editor at large. He has additional reporting experience at two other newspapers, holds a University of Wisconsin doctorate in Mass Communications and has taught at five universities.
9:00 a.m. Coffee Break
Sponsored by Fafard, Inc.
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
The Business of Garden Coaching
What is a garden coach? How does it turn into a business? In this DIY society, busy homeowners are looking for ways
to have beautiful gardens but can’t always hire a landscape designer and installers to do it. Coaches help “do-it-yourselfers” garden with confidence. This presentation will share tips and ideas for doing business as a garden coach...the experiences, the ups and downs, and the rewards. Presenter: Sue Goetz, Creative Gardener.
No More Clowning Around About Organics!
The ever-increasing trend towards organic gardening is clear and overwhelming. The number of health and environmental
reasons in support of organics is growing and are constant topics in the news. Organic gardening books dominate in sales and even the largest chemical companies are “getting into organics.” A paradigm shift in how we live and how we garden is occurring. No more clowning around about it: every garden writer needs to rethink the use of chemicals and gain an understanding of the fascinating science behind organic gardening, how to apply it and, most important, how to explain it to others. With typical Lowenfels humor, get the facts you need to understand and explain organic gardening. Presenter: Jeff Lowenfels, Close to Infinity.
Re-Visioning: practicing the art of self-editing
Mary-Kate introduces 12 tips to help you re-see and polish your writing. Learn editing strategies that make your piece start well, flow well and end well. Both beginning and veteran writers can benefit from this focused method of fine-tuning and strengthening articles, columns, essays and book chapters. Bring a completed piece of your work to use during Mary-Kate's hands-on exercises. These methods are based on a GWA workshop led in 2005 by Seattle editor and writing coach Barbara Boardman. Presenter: Mary-Kate Mackey, Freelance
10:30 a.m. Coffee Break
Sponsored by Goldsmith Seeds
11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
Organizing Your Writing Business
Often the creativity it requires to be a great writer is at odds with the organizational skills needed to run a great writing business. Professional organizer and longtime GWA member Janine Adams will discuss the organizing principles that form the backbone of any organizing system and give ideas for ways to organize the various aspects of a writing business (queries, research, manuscripts, contact, finances) as well as guidelines for time management and record retention. Presenter: Janine Adams, Peace of Mind Organizing LLC.
Phytoremediation: A Strategy That Puts Plants to Work
You will learn about the scientific area of phytoremediation — using plants to contain, sequester, remove, modify, or degrade inorganic and organic contaminants in soils, sediments, surface waters, and ground water. You will learn about various processes that allow plants to ”clean up” the environment when used in rain gardens, detention ponds, buffers, commercial/residential constructed wetlands, and swales. You will also learn about a variety of plants that provide aesthetic and environmental benefits to sustainable landscapes. Presenter: Robert Polomski, Clemson University.
Know and Grow Your Audience!
Being a successful communicator hinges on knowing your audience. By becoming familiar with a few basic research tools — Web analysis, focus groups, surveys, demographic and psychographic information — you can better understand and expand your audience. Know and Grow Your Audience! Presenter: Kim Taylor, University of Florida and Emily Eubanks, University of Florida.
11:45 a.m. Lunch at the Hotel
12:45 p.m. Story Tours - Northeast Portland Gardens
Visit six urban gardens — each offering a different style and personality — and a specialty garden center focused on sustainable organic gardening practices located in the heart of a densely populated residential neighborhood. (They’ll serve cookies and refreshments just for you!)
Experience:
- Urban agriculture
- Exuberant street-side plants
- Complementing a home’s architecture: garden style, plant palettes and garden structures
- Whimsical gardens
- Intimate garden spaces
- Designs for year round color
- Minimizing the lawn…maximizing the garden
- Engaging the neighborhood
- Foliage vs. flowers for garden interest
- Lush and verdant containers
4:00 p.m. Final Exhibition Period
6:00 p.m. Reception in Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by Corona Clipper
8:00 p.m. Exhibit Closes
Explore Portland on your own!
SUNDAY, SEPT. 21
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:00 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
Garden Blogging Success Stories
As a follow-up to last year’s panel on garden blogging, three popular garden bloggers will share their success stories from 2008. Hear case studies as we continue the conversation about the blogging phenomenon, focusing on the myriad of ways GWA bloggers define success, whether to create community, develop a platform, or enhance their business. Panelists: Dee Nash (www.reddirtramblings.com), Susan Harris (www.sustainablegardeningblog.com) Amy Stewart (www.amystewart.com) and Doug Green (blog.douggreensgarden.com). Moderator: Debra Prinzing.
Go With The Flow: How To Better Understand And Write About Water Gardening
Come see how bland landscapes can be transformed into dynamic stress relieving oases. Learn how water can be used to solve difficult design issues in small gardens. Eamonn has been designing and building water gardens throughout the world for more than 30 years and he will share with you the basic mechanics of water features. You will learn how to construct everything from a small tabletop water bowl display to a large majestic waterfall. Travel through the new world of the aquatic plant palette from dainty miniature water lilies to the giants of the Amazon. Presenter: Eamonn Hughes, Owner of Hughes Water Gardens in Oregon.
Finding the Right/Write Word
Communicators of all levels and experience will be motivated and inspired to reconsider their word choices with a fresh, new approach. Lucy’s hands-on activities will infuse new energy into the way you work with words and help you develop a richer language as a garden communicator. Come prepared to brainstorm, do free association and break out of the “safe” world of same-old, same-old. You’ll leave with a vastly expanded vocabulary of essential words, as well as exercises you can return to time again to jolt you out of a rut as a writer. Presenter: Lucy Hardiman, Freelance.
8:45 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Coffee Break
9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
The Everywhere Approach to Building a Brand or Changing an Image
Developing a strategy to get hundreds of articles published on a single subject requires a detailed plan, budget and buy-in from clients themselves. Accomplishing a goal of this magnitude depends on a full force strike that incorporates every department of the organization and asks them all to play with the same game plan/message and have all corporate goals aligned. Presenter: Marilynn Mendell, WinSpin CIC, Inc.
Capturing Light with Ornamental Grasses
This presentation will include tips on many aspects of ornamental grasses including great grasses to try, eye-catching combinations, and making the most of dramatic light. Theresa will also show you how to capture these images to illustrate your writing, create interest in four seasons, and use beautiful images to illustrate each point. Presenter: Theresa Forte, Freelance.
Great Garden Ideas Fit Into Three Simple Grafs: writing the perfect pitch letter
Short, interesting query letters grab an editor's attention--and gets you hired. A snappy query also allows you to hone and sharpen your proposals, and opens the door for dialog between you and your editor. This session will focus on the three-paragraph proposal format for newspapers or magazines. Bring one or two story ideas for hands-on practice that will make this simple structure work for you. Presenter: Mary-Kate Mackey, Freelance.
10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Coffee Break
10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
Making Magical Photos with the Point-and-Shoot You’ve Got
The notion that one needs a really expensive camera and lenses in order to make powerful, publishable photos is simply not true. Many pocket-sized digital cameras are quite capable of producing very good images for the Web, presentations, or newspapers. Veteran photographers David Perry and Mark Turner will provide compelling imagery, photo tips and visual how-to’s to help writers and others with mere point-and-shoot cameras make photos that capture professional images. They will also cover the basic technical aspects of typical digital cameras. Presenters: David Perry, Photographer and Mark Turner, Turner Photographics.
Garden Confidential: 6 Secrets for Better Yards with Trees & Shrubs.
Many homeowners see trees and shrubs as costly to buy and daunting to use in their yards. In this talk, we’ll look at how you can change their perceptions by creating sustainable solutions to landscape problems with both time-tested and newer varieties of trees and shrubs. We’ll address familiar concepts like windbreaks and less common ones such as “instant” landscaping and home insulation with well-chosen and well-placed plants. Presenter: Penelope O’Sullivan, Author.
Anatomy of a Book: how two friends collaborated without killing one another
The journey to produce a beautifully illustrated garden architecture-interiors book can be long and arduous, but also professionally gratifying. Learn how they transformed a good story idea worthy of a few magazine articles into a solid book proposal; identified and signed with a literary agent to represent the project; targeted a top publisher and landed a significant advance. Hear the highs and lows of this creative process and Bill and Debra’s honest advice for how to successfully collaborate, create, sell and promote a book in today’s challenging garden book environment. Presenters: Debra Prinzing, Author and William Wright, Photographer.
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Break
12:00 p.m. Story Tours (lunch on bus)
Oregon is renowned for its nursery industry, which ships 75 percent of the stock grown in the state to cities across the U.S. and Canada. Today, you will visit two world-class wholesale nurseries, both of which display their plants on site in extraordinary gardens. Plants don’t just happen. These nurseries invest time, care and attention to detail to deliver exceptional plants to local garden centers across the country. Photo opportunities at the nurseries will give your readers great ideas for their own gardens.
Iseli Nursery is nestled in the foothills of Mt. Hood with breathtaking views of the mountain. The nursery is a pioneer in the production of dwarf and slow-growing conifers and Japanese maples and has introduced numerous cultivars of its own. Grown with exceptional care and craftsmanship, the compact conifers, trees and shrubs provide landscapes with distinctive structure, color and texture year round, as you’ll see in their demonstration gardens that showcase more than 1,500 plants.
Terra Nova Nurseries is a world leader in breeding and genetics. More than 500 perennials and annuals have been propagated through tissue culture, which allows for large-scale introductions of new varieties. You’ll get a glimpse into the process of tissue culture and see the results of the nurseries’ efforts in the well-designed display gardens.
Lunch sponsored in-part by Iseli Nursery.
5:30 p.m. “Plant Nerd Night”, Entertainment, & Dinner
There are so many specialty nurseries in Oregon that visiting them all is just impossible, regardless of their expertise, interest, or beauty. So the local committee wanted to bring some of the best to you – along with a bit of entertainment. A sample of our best nurseries will bring their specialties to show and sell. Each will have a few minutes to let us know about new introductions, plant history, breeding programs, or just funny stories. These are quality growers, yes, but they are also chosen for their speaking and entertaining abilities. All will offer door prizes for more fun (and acquisition). The local Chorus of the Goddess Flora will serenade us with original lyrics in praise of plants and gardeners, including some composed specifically for the Symposium and the GWA.
Sponsored by All-America Rose Selections
MONDAY, SEPT. 22
7:00 a.m. Breakfast & GWA Annual Business Meeting
Hear the annual report from the board of directors while you
eat your breakfast.
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
What The Web Wants
The Web is a unique new form of communication that we are all trying to understand. How can you best use it to share your knowledge and passion for gardening? What are the main risks and rewards? In this session, four GWA members, representing a range of specialties from TV to garden center retailing, give uncensored reports on the realities of smart “Net-working”. Panelists: Amy Sitze (gardeningclub.com), Joe Lamp’l (joegardener.com), and Lynn Rapp (PrimexGardenCenter.com). Moderator: Barbara Pleasant (BarbaraPleasant.com; compostGardening.com).
Display Techniques of the Pros That Can Apply to Home Gardens
This talk will focus on container combinations, styles and techniques, as well as in ground display. Public gardens and arboreta must maintain the display every day and long into the season. Learn some techniques that we use to make our displays read better, look splashier, and last longer through the hard times of the display season, keying in on a plant list of workhorse items that many different zones can utilize for seasonal display. Presenter: Dan Benarcik, Chanticleer Foundation.
The Way Ahead: Challenges for Garden Books in a Digital Age
Analysis of changes in garden book publishing and impressions of shifting needs/wants of garden readers. Presenter: Neal Maillet, Timber Press.
9:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Coffee Break
9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
Digital Garden Photography — Building and Sharing Your Portfolio
This session will include many tips that will help you to improve your garden photos. You will learn about and discuss the use of P&S & SLR digital cameras and how to store and share photos via e-mail, PowerPoint®, color prints, and the web. Presenter: Ian Adams, Ian Adams Photography.
Garden Worthy Native Plants and How to Make the Most of Them
The topic of native plants is hot all over the country and becoming hotter with the increasing interest in “green gardening.” Join Natalia Hamill and Dr. Allan Armitage for a spirited presentation on garden-worthy native plants and ways to use them. The focus will be on herbaceous plants and the movement to cultivars to provide diversity and choice for American gardeners and landscapers. This will not be a talk on native gardening but rather a talk on incorporating natives into your garden. Their approach to native plants is using them effectively, whether you are combining them with non-natives or converting to an all-native landscape. Presenters: Dr. Allan Armitage, University of Georgia and Natalia Hamill, Syngenta Flowers.
Meet the Magazine Editors Panel
The moment last year’s magazine editors panel was finished, participants began asking the moderator which editors would be asked to participate in 2008. For 2008, we are featuring a whole new set of editors including Justin Hancock from Meredith, Therese Ciesinski from Organic Gardening, Jenny Andrews of Garden Design, and Amy Sitze from Gardening How-To! Once again, editors will have the opportunity to share their editorial needs, contributor guidelines and answer questions from the audience. Panelists: Justin Hancock (Meredith), Therese Ciesinski (Organic Gardening), Amy Sitze (Gardening How-To), and Jenny Andrews (Garden Design). Moderator: Nan Sterman.
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Coffee Break
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
With a Little Help From My Friends: Grass Roots Promotion & Campaign Delivery
A new book needs all the help it can get to be successful. Recent experience by the author to market a landscape design book was gutsy and rewarding, from the Christmas “Buy a Bookplate” campaign to self-promoting and negotiating lectures, delivering humor, e-mail capture for future markets, selling books for profit and royalty statement dilemmas. Ultimately, Timeless Landscape Design was reprinted four times in the 2007-2008 season. Presenter: Mary Palmer Dargan, Dargan Landscape Architects.
How Bio-stimulants Help Plants Help Themselves
Plants are tremendously adaptive with numerous physiological responses to stress and a variety of other conditions. Gardeners can use a variety of plant bio-stimulants to prevent or speed plant response. To use them properly, gardeners should understand how they work and under what conditions. Hear our expert review the basics of plant bio-stimulants and what gardeners need to know about them. Presenter: Harley Smith, Superior Growers Supply, Inc.
It’s Not Necessarily on Google – Use a Librarian to Get What You Need
Botanical and horticultural libraries and the professional librarians who manage them offer garden writers a cornucopia of resources. For example, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, has no fewer than 15,000 catalogued books, 200 magazine subscriptions, an e-mail newsletter and 230 other botanical and horticultural libraries available at their fingertips. Susan will help you navigate the labyrinth of botanical and horticultural information in a way that garden writers don’t necessarily think of first. Presenter: Susan Eubank, horticultural librarian at LA County Arboretum.
12:30 p.m. Story Tours (lunch on Bus)
Portland’s Japanese Garden and International Rose Test Garden offer tranquility and panoramic views of downtown Portland and the Cascade Mountains. Careful use of plants, stones, and water create areas of serene, quiet beauty and spots for meditation and contemplation in the Portland Japanese Garden. Just down the hill, the rose garden is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the U.S. Almost 8,000 varieties are on view and in bloom. Created to nurture and inspire, the Portland Classical Chinese Garden — the garden of awakening orchids — is an authentic Suzhou urban garden, a style that dates to the 13th century Ming dynasty. Built completely from Suzhou materials by Suzhou artisans, it is one of the largest such gardens built outside China and encompasses a full city block.
A short bus ride from downtown, two more gardens await your discovery. Elk Rock Gardens of the Bishop’s Close was originally a 13-acre private estate garden (6 acres are in cultivation) that was donated to the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon with the agreement that the gardens would be open to the public. The gardens are English in style and designed by New York’s Olmsted and Sons.
Respectful renovation is being undertaken at the 1.75 acre Bates Garden, just down the road from the Bishop’s Close. The garden, developed over 60 years by Lady Anne Kerr McDonald and Sir James McDonald, began from 1940 plans by Lord and Schryver for the front and back terraces. You will explore parkland, paths, a natural native garden, and a Chilean garden. The afternoon tour will go directly to the Awards Banquet.
6:00 p.m. GWA Awards Banquet at the Oregon Zoo
The Portland Zoo is known for its environmentalism, wonderful habitats, and exquisite plants. Join us for this
special look at the zoo, including special consideration for the zoo’s horticultural mission – plants grown in and around exhibits to approximate the native habitats of resident animals and along cliffs and overhangs to screen and focus the views of visitors. The staff will also tell you about plants that are grown to feed endangered animals in zoo conservation projects. After the tour, we will have a wonderful dinner at the zoo followed by the Garden Media Awards presentation. NOTE: Persons purchasing tickets to attend ONLY the Awards Dinner will need to arrange their own transportation. The tour WILL NOT stop at the Doubletree before proceeding to the zoo.
Banquet wine sponsored by Spring Meadow Nursery.
9:00 p.m. Karaoke Party at Hotel
TUESDAY, SEPT. 23
60th Annual Meeting