Winter Dreams Summer Gardens 2022 — Saving the Best for Last

 

 

This is the last Garden Beet article showcasing our Winter Dreams/Summer Gardens presenters. Have I saved the best for last? Well, who knows what will be the best presentation? They all sound exciting to me!

Join us on October 28-29 and November 4-5 for Winter Dreams/Summer Gardens. Sixteen one and one-half hour lectures with Q&A on timely and relevant gardening topics will be presented.

Be sure to register at https://jacksoncountymga.org/winter-dreams-summer-gardens-symposium/ Registration cost is only $30.00 for all 16 lectures, less than $2.00 for each. Now, that’s a bargain you can’t turn down. The Zoom link will be sent to you the day before and will be the same link for each class that day.

Speakers

Brian Hendrix       

• Title: Fire Adapted Landscaping: Best Practices and Understanding Defensible Space

• Description of presentation: Designed to help gardeners improve your understanding of what “being Firewise” really means for gardens and landscaping around the home. Learn how various wildfire risk reduction activities can improve the survivability of a home in a wildfire event. We will introduce terms and activities relating to wildfire mitigation, learn basics about effective plant spacing and maintenance for improved defensible space and differences between a “Firewise” or “Flammable” plant. We’ll offer examples from local homes and help prioritize actions related to vegetation maintenance for wildfire preparedness.

 

• Bio: Brian Hendrix is the Fire Adapted Communities Coordinator for Ashland Fire & Rescue. He has served since 2017 and is a Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist and Fire Inspector II. Brian was the Weed Abatement Coordinator and a Wildfire Mitigation Assistant for AF&R’s Wildfire Division.

 

 

     Neil Bell

• Title: Groundcovers of Every Size for Unirrigated Landscapes
• Description: The term “groundcover” is usually interpreted to mean a diminutive plant which spreads horizontally in the landscape and does not exceed a few inches in height. In most landscape situations, groundcovers are utilized in a supporting role as filler between shrubs or trees that are the real focus of the landscape and serve principally to suppress weeds. Weed management is a worthy goal of groundcover plants, but their effectiveness is directly related to the height of the plant and the density of the canopy. This presentation will look at an array of groundcovers which vary in size for use in un-irrigated situations not as filler, but as a mainstay of the landscape itself.

 

• Bio: Neil Bell was Community Horticulturist for OSU Extension Service from 2000 to 2021 and coordinated the OSU Master Gardener programs in Marion and Polk Counties during that time. He oversees landscape plant evaluations on drought-tolerant shrubs and is currently conducting a 3-year evaluation of shrubs for groundcover in unirrigated landscapes at the OSU North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, OR.

 

 

Ray Seidler         

• Title: Why Regenerative Agriculture?

• Description: The global food system currently generates approximately one-third of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions. What we eat and the kinds of agricultural practices used to produce our food contribute significantly to these emissions. Seidler will provide an operational definition of regenerative agricultural practices that lead to numerous agronomic benefits including lower fossil fuel inputs as well as sequestering or removing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Thus, he says, there is a clear nexus between regenerative agriculture practices and climate change mitigation. Dr. Seidler will also explain how all of us, regardless of our gardening skills, can help mitigate climate change and reward American farmers who are already participating in carbon sequestering regenerative agricultural programs.

 

• Bio: Dr. Seidler has studied, taught and conducted research at 5 major American Universities. He received a B.S. degree from California State University, Northridge and a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from the University of California at Davis.  He was a tenured professor of Microbiology at Oregon State University and later a senior research scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In retirement, he and his wife grow lavender commercially using regenerative and organic practices at Pompadour Lavender Farm, Ashland.

 

 

 Sherry Sheng

• Title: Fruit Tree Pruning

• Description: This class will discuss how to use different types of pruning cuts and when and where to apply them. Attendees will learn whether fruits are produced on spurs or shoots so that pruning stimulates an abundance of fruiting wood to support good production. Join us and learn how to shape a young tree and steps for pruning pome fruits (apple and pear), stone fruits (plum, cherry, apricot, peach and nectarine), persimmon and fig.

 

• Bio: Sherry Sheng is an Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener who leads and teaches for the award-winning 10-Minute University™ Program. She began teaching gardening classes in 2006 and has many instructional videos to her credit. Sherry gardens at home, at a community garden, and co-manages a pollinator garden at a public park.

 

 

Susie Savoie   

• Title: Creating the Troon Vineyard Native Plant and Pollinator Botanical Garden

• Description: In December 2020, Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds installed a ½-acre Native Plant and Pollinator Botanical Garden at Troon Vineyard in the Applegate Valley that includes nearly 100 species of native plants. Primarily established through direct seeding, with some use of potted native nursery plants, the garden provides an opportunity to learn about native plants in a scenic, organic, and biodynamic vineyard setting that is open to the public. This presentation will focus on how the space went from bare ground to a botanical garden with paths, a small meadow, and blocks of species highlighted with plant signs within two years. Lessons learned and specific species information will be provided.
• Bio: Suzie Savoie is co-owner of Siskiyou Ecological Services and Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds. She was co-author of Native Pollinator Plants for Southern Oregon and an editor of The Siskiyou Crest: Hikes, History & Ecology. Suzie provides native seed collection services, online native seed sales, native nursery plants and native plant consultation. For nearly 20 years, she has been using native plants for gardens and habitat restoration on her property in the Applegate Valley, and she enjoys helping others do the same.