February, 2012

MAEOE Environmental Education Conference

Fulfilling Environmental Education’s Promise: Authentic Learning and Real World Impact

Join Kevin Staso and Claudia West of North Creek Nurseries on Saturday, February 11, for their two presentations entitled Applying Principals of Plant Communities to Create Storm Water Management Solutions and The Landscape’s Color Spectrum: Applying Natural Color Theories to Designs.

Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve - Land Ethics Symposium

Stay ahead of the curve with innovative ideas & successful solutions from experienced landscape practitioners.

The Land Ethics Symposium focuses on ways to create low-maintenance, economical and ecologically balanced landscapes with native plants and restoration techniques.

This daylong Symposium is geared toward professionals, including landscape architects, designers, contractors and the green industry, environmental consultants, land planners, managers and developers, and state/municipal officials.

The Symposium features presentations by regional and national experts. Continuing Education Credits are available. A selection of topical books are for sale throughout the event.

Creative Approaches for Ecological Landscaping

12th Annual Symposium:

Thursday, February 16, 2012
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Sheraton Bucks County Hotel
Langhorne, Pennsylvania

March, 2012

The Ecological Landscaping Association 18th Annual Conference & Eco-Marketplace

Complete your ecological education circle at ELA’s 18^th Annual Conference & Eco-Marketplace, Coming Full Circle: Origins and Destinations.  North Creek's Kevin Staso will be speaking on March 7:

Native Plant Communities Suited to Urban Sites
Designing with the proper plant communities in mind leads to a more visually harmonious and balanced landscape while also enhancing the ecological value and biodiversity of the site. Creating a successful urban landscape requires understanding the diverse and sometimes harsh conditions that exist on the site, and overcoming these conditions with proper plant selection. Choosing a plant community that is well adapted to similar conditions is key. Kevin Staso will review a variety of herbaceous native plant communities that thrive in difficult conditions and that will enrich the urban landscape.

Scott Arboretum - The Landscape's Color Spectrum

Friday, March 23, 1:30 to 3:30 pm
Gillespie Room, Wister Center

Join Claudia West and Carrie Wiles of North Creek Nurseries for this photographic presentation interpreting Bertolt Hering’s research of natural color ranges in modern European landscapes and how he applied these principles to the American landscape. Travel through regional native plant communities as the fascinating color ranges found within these ecosystems are explored. As humans have evolved, our perception of beauty and color has been shaped by textures and harmony of hues found within the natural landscape. Carrie and Claudia will discuss how the Swedish Natural Color System provides a tool for analyzing the color layers of Mid-Atlantic plant communities. Implementing the design principals revealed within these studies leads to more color-sensitive designs. Planning based on plant communities can lead to more harmonious and balanced landscapes. As a result, the existing landscape progresses in terms of ecological value and biodiversity. Six phytocenoses that to meet modern design challenges will be presented. Their ability to create color sensitive compositions and landscapes with high ecological value will be discussed. Limited to 35.

April, 2012

Chester County Parks & Recreation - What is a Rain Garden?

A great introduction to rain gardens, sponsored by Chester County Parks & Recreation and held at the Springton Manor Farm Carriage House:

Join North Creek Nurseries for this introduction to rain gardens. Have you ever heard of these gardens designed to improve water quality? Have you thought about how you would install one? Rain gardens are functional gardens that capture and filter storm water runoff, recharge groundwater and control erosion problems. Gather information on where to site a garden, basic design ideas, planting and simple construction techniques. Later this growing season, participants will receive an opportunity to tour the rain gardens at North Creek Nurseries in Landenberg.

Registration required.  Limit 25.  Go to http://dsf.chesco.org/ccparks for registration forms and instructions.  Call 610-469-1916 for directions.

Rutgers Gardens - Sexy Natives

More details to follow.

Hardy Plant Society

New Perennial Introductions: From the Breeder to Your Garden

More details to follow.

June, 2012

Native Plants in the Landscape

The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference Mission: To increase the knowledge, propagation, cultivation and use of native plants in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. To promote methods of land management and design that respect “sense of place” by preserving and restoring species and natural processes as well as to engender an appreciation of regionally appropriate, sustainable landscapes that are harmonious for people and nature. While the subject of the conference pertains to native plant communities, the spirit of the conference is to build human communities among a broad range of participants by designing a conference affordable to all, encouraging formal and informal exchanges of information and providing opportunities for social interaction. The conference is held on the campus of Millersville University in picturesque, historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.