We’re skipping a year.
There will be NO native plants conference in 2013.
Why? you ask???
First and foremost, The University of Delaware planned (without knowing our conference existed) a one- time event for the same weekend: “Earth Perfect? Nature, Utopia, and the Garden” will be held June 6–9, 2013 at various venues.
This decision was not taken lightly. This was not about time or money. The Steering Committee was unanimous in believing it would be hard for both venues to attract maximum attendees, and who wants to spend an entire year planning a conference only to have minimal attendees register? No one!
We realize many of our regular attendees will be disappointed. We also realize that we’ve been talking about the future and how to attract a varied, younger, more diverse audience for a few years now, yet we have failed miserably. We all felt it was nearly impossible to plan for a 2013 conference and re-tool and re-think at the same time. The University of Delaware conference has afforded us time to re-do what we do best to continue to spread the good word about native plants.
FM Mooberry, our conference founder, wanted the conference to form a community each year. She dreamed of a community of like-minded, energetic people who wanted to learn and teach about native plants in the landscape and their benefit to all. We would like to continue those teachings, and to be able to include a younger, more diverse crowd with whom we can share what we know, and perhaps a retooled message and even a different conference layout, that will be relevant for younger native plant gardeners and educators, as well as our regular attendees. It’s all about teaching to future generations, isn’t it?
Our friends at Longwood Gardens, Mt Cuba, Chanticleer, Winterthur, and the Delaware Center for Horticulture are also involved as sponsors for the University of Delaware conference. Please check out the website and see if it is of any interest to you or someone you know or work with.
http://www.udel.edu/ihrc/conference/earthperfect/index.html
The UDel conference is billed as a four day conference, showcasing the garden as an emblem of ideal human relation. The symposium is designed for academics, garden professionals and a general public interested in the importance and meaning of gardens. The program and speaker line-up sounds amazingly interesting and we do think many of our attendees will want to attend. We will have a booth in the trade show area, showcasing our conference as well.
We will also be sponsoring two speakers on native plant gardening and offering two fully paid scholarships for their conference. If it is attractive for our plant vendors we can invite them and find space in the trade show area.
Check out our Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/Millersvillenativeplants) and our website (www.millersvillenativeplants.org) for continuing information and updates.
In the meantime, we’ll be taking a hard look at what we do right and what we need to change to make the 2014 (and beyond…) Native Plants in the Landscape Conference @ Millersville the best it can be. If you would like to participate in this process and be on the Steering Committee, let us know! Email Angela Palmer at npilc@yahoo.com. We need new energy and fresh ideas.
We also expect people to be sad, frustrated and angry about the 2013 cancellation, so if you would like to voice your thoughts, feel free to email those as well.
Save the dates for the 2014 conference:
June 5–7 2014.
We will be back at Millersville bigger and better. Thanks so much for your continued support. We will miss our native plants family this year. We look forward to 2014 when we all meet again!
The Steering Committee
Download the 2012 Conference Brochure here!
Last Year’s Program was So great! check out the 2012 line- up here. Look forward to more great speakers during the new Native Plants in the Landscape Conference – 2014 style!Full Audience Speakers Include:C. Colston Burrell – The Sustainable Garden: Magic, Myth, or Reality? Workshops and Field Trips include:A trip to the Milton Hershey School Meadow – with Tim Hoover Concurrent Session Highlights Include:Fred Spicer – Good Things from South of the Mason-Dixon Line: Why Southern Plants are the Basis for Many Northern Gardens
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Other Topics from 2012 Included: Triliums, Cool bugs, Social Media workshop, Photography Optional 1/2 Day Excursions and Workshops
What would you like to see in 2014? email us |
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.
Native Plants in the landscape conference Native Plants in the landscape conference Registration brochures will be mailed in early March.
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Contact info: 717-871-2189, or email us at nativeplantsatMU@gmail.com