1:30-3pm. Imagine traveling, searching the world for the most exquisite gardens. Scott Scarfone, Landscape Designer and author, was given this opportunity. He traveled to England, Italy, Japan, Thailand and California. Experience his amazing horticultural adventure and get ideas for your next garden vacation! His book, Professional Planting Design - an Architectural and Horticultural Approach for Creating Mixed Bed Plantings, will be available for sale. $10

In September, 2006, the U.S. Botanic Garden opened its new National Garden located on a three-acre piece of land between their Conservatory and the Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall. Hundreds of plants for this garden were hand picked from nurseries throughout the mid-Atlantic and southeastern U.S. Many of them are not commonly in cultivation. In this program, Holly Shimizu, Executive Director of the U.S. Botanic Garden, will take a look at what survived and what could not cut the heat, drought and humidity of Washington, D. C.

Sylvan Kaufman, curator at the Adkins Arboretum, shares a wealth of information on invasive plant identification and control based on her recently published field guide, Invasive Plants: Guide to Identification and the Impacts and Control of Common North American Species. A book sale and signing follows the lecture.

No one ever fertilizes the Redwood Forests. How did these trees live over 500 years and grow to 380 feet without Miracle-Gro or other chemicals? Jeff Lowenfels will show you how to successfully use the very same natural principles in your gardens. No more chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other nasty chemicals and a lot less work as Jeff shows you how to team with microbes. Jeff Lowenfels’ book Teaming With Microbes: A Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web will be available for sale and signing after the lecture.

1:30-3pm. School gardens are most likely to be found at preschool and elementary schools, sometimes at middle schools but infrequently at high schools. What a shame. High school students are still kids in many ways and gardens are great teaching tools. Ann English, Landscape Architect and Children's Garden developer presents ideas on school gardens, K-12. Explore "children's gardens" as learning settings throughout the educational process and learn how to initiate and sustain a schoolyard garden. $10

1:30-3pm. Joseph Murray, Director of Blue Ridge Community College Arboretum explores the impact of pruning on basic tree biology. Being able to predict how the tree responds to pruning helps satisfy the objectives of both the pruner and the prunee. $10

1:30-3pm. Dr. William Mathis, author of The Gardener's Guide to Growing Hardy Perennial Orchids, presents an insight into the cultural requirements for successfully growing hardy terrestrial orchids. A book sale and signing follows the lecture. $10

1:30-3pm. Sandy Flowers, horticulturalist and landscape designer shows us how studying Japanese gardens can reveal techniques to improve our own gardens - regardless of garden style. $10

1:30-3pm. Richard Hawke, Plant Evaluation Manager at the Chicago Botanic Garden, discusses the Plant Evaluation Program which evaluates perennials, vines, shrubs, and small trees to identify outstanding plants. Using the results of the past years, Richard presents a variety of proven perennials, including new selections and old favorites. $10

1:30-3pm. Chris Strand, Winterthur's Director, Garden and Estate and former Green Spring Gardens Director, returns to talk about Winterthur. Winterthur is a wild garden. First described by William Robinson in 1870, a wild garden is a naturalistic arrangement of native and exotic plants that takes inspiration from its pastoral surroundings. He'll describe the wild garden at Winterthur and relate how the re-discovery of the wild garden concept is guiding restoration and management of the 60 acre historic garden. $10