Survey time!

Hi all.

Here is that evaluation survey for which you have been searching these past two weeks. Just click on this site and you can go directly to the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JCJW5FJ

There are some questions about each of the 2010 Midwest Gardening Symposium presentations as well as room for comments. Please let us know what you thought and what you would like to see presented in future symposiums. Be sure to include your name and phone number if you want to be in the drawing for a $25 Arboretum gift certificate. I look forward to hearing from you.

PS. Do not, I repeat, do not uncover those perennials and bulbs. It may be 62 today, but snow is on the way. Hang in there and leave your garden alone for another couple of weeks. Just make sure that you are ready to start any indoor seeds for late May planting.

Regards,

Karla

Planternal Instinct!

Thanks to Saturday’s keynote speaker, Mike Yanny, I now have a name for my “condition.”  It’s Planternal Instinct!!  Perhaps you have it too?  You know, it’s that part of you that has to touch and name every plant you see.  (That particular quirk drove my college friends crazy.)  In the fall you are mesmerized by fallen leaves, each a work of colorful, exquisite art; so you pick up as many as you can and take them home to press.  You get down on your knees in the spring to smell the soil, yum.  Your neighbors call the paramedics because you are lying on your back in the middle of your backyard only to discover that you were just admiring your trees from this point of view.  Your pockets are full of maple samaras, June berries, or acorns depending on the season. Join the club, you have Planternal Instinct.

Mike taught us about this and many other original and unpublished plant tidbits during his morning presentation.  He also read several of his poems, including “Leaf Fuzz,” “Squirrels,” and “Planternal Instinct.”  You can find his poems by using the link in his section under the SPEAKERS tab.  It won’t be the same as his live presentation, but if you missed it watch for him in future Arboretum programs.

Mike and the rest of the 2010 symposium speakers are listed in alphabetical order.

Spring is coming…

As the days gradually lengthen and warm I delight in observing the bloom sequence of the amazing assortment of woody plants that grow in the Chicago region.  Being the plant nut that I am, I keep a “Bloom Calendar” in my car.  It’s just a little spiral notebook in which I jot notes about what I see around my neighborhood and at the Arboretum.  My Bloom Calendar is very useful for designing color- coordinated plantings for each season.

First come the warm colors, witch hazels, and the greening twigs of willow. Then the Norway maple down the block, the forsythia on the corner, and the red maple in my parkway.  These are soon followed by the whites and pinks, flowering pears at the Arboretum’s main entrance and early magnolias in the Flowering Tree Collection on the West Side. Across the meadow from the magnolias and a few weeks later the crabapples bloom.  They are probably the best known of the spring-blooming trees, but they are just one group in a magical procession of energy.

How lucky I am to work with other horticulturists like Kris Bachtell and Kunso Kim, both getting ready to share their enthusiasm and understanding of woody plants at the symposium.  I can’t wait to hear from Kris about which plants he has under evaluation and in development. (I heard a rumor that our native Bearberry might be one of the new releases on his list…).  Hard at work managing the living collections, Kunso takes a special interest in the development of our Dwarf Conifer Collection.  I will be on the lookout for his recommendations to incorporate into a friend’s perennial border for a touch of structure and winter interest.

Three weeks to opening day, March 5, and it’s time for me to stop daydreaming and get back to work.

See you around the Arboretum,

Karla Lynch

PS.  The Oaks are one of the latest bloomers, shortly followed by lime green leaves.  Ah, spring. . . .

Some thoughts…

A bunch of fresh tulips beam at me from their vase on the coffee table where I am thumbing through my first garden catalog of the season. Planning for (and dreaming about) the spring garden is my sure-fire way to banish the post-holiday blues. I have attended almost all sixteen Midwest Gardening Symposiums and continue to feel excitement as this March’s event approaches.  Talking to Gordon Hayward (Friday keynote) on the telephone as we planned his workshop reminded me of how much I love the art of the garden.  Gardening as an artist, a cook and an earth steward engages all of my senses to the point of exploding!

Looking over Mike Yanny’s (Saturday keynote) latest plant introductions makes my heart yearn for their inclusion in my own garden where I am adding more showy natives each year.  Perusing a recent gift book, Gardens from the Air, I can’t wait to see the materials Rita Hassert and Laverne Bohlin (Saturday concurrent session) will gather together for Garden History and Style. . . A quick visit to the Yannell House Chicago website makes me eager to hear Jonathan Boyer’s (Saturday concurrent session) Sustainable with Style- Revisited, an update on the progress of this completely sustainable Chicago house and garden. (Did I mention that Jonathan received the highest rating of last year’s speakers?)   Can you ever get your fill of plants and gardens?  I think not.

Stay warm and tune in next time.

Karla

Waste-Free Event Update

Once again, this year, the Arboretum will host the Midwest Gardening Symposium as a “waste-free” event. To this end we will limit paper handouts, recycle and compost all our meal waste ans encourage participants to carpool and use public transportation where possible.

Metra trains routinely run between Chicago and Lisle as well as Chicago and Glen Ellyn (two separate lines). Come with a friend and share a taxi from the train station to the Arboretum.

You will be able to access event information and download materials prior to the symposium on this website.

Do you need people to have a garden?

My motto as manager of the horticulture education department is, “Great Gardens Begin with Trees.” However, my question to you is, “Do you need people to have a garden? “ I ask this provocative question of all my landscape design students and now in anticipation of a new gardening year, I ask it of you! Let me know your thoughts at the 2010 Midwest Gardening symposium, “People, Plants and the Art of the Garden,” hosted by The Morton Arboretum, March 5-7.

This event brings new ideas, great plants, focused vision and knowledgeable people together for three entertaining days of learning and networking. Midwestern gardeners, horticulturists and designers will not want to miss this unique opportunity to discover newly-released plants, join in discussions with Arboretum experts, meet with national and local presenters and explore the art of the garden.

Whether you are an eager beginner or a seasoned gardening veteran I invite you to review our schedule of events staged throughout the Arboretum and register to spend the weekend with us.

- Karla Lynch, Manager of Horticulture Education, The Morton Arboretum.

Midwest Gardening Symposium 2010

The 2010 theme is People, Plants and the Art of the Garden.

Be sure to stop back in early November for registration information.