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EcoSavvy Gardening Symposium Explores “Xtreme Gardening”

From Snowmageddon and “The Winter That Wasn’t” to record-breaking drought and derechos, area gardeners are facing extreme conditions. At the ninth annual EcoSavvy Gardening Symposium at Green Spring Gardens, participants will learn how climate change is altering the environment and how to adapt their gardening practices to these changes. The symposium will be held Saturday, February 23, 2013 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $65 for Fairfax County residents.

Following registration and coffee, Adria Bordas, extension educator at the Virginia Cooperative Extension, will welcome attendees. The first speaker, Frank J. Reilly, Jr., will present “Gardening Strategies in the Face of a Changing Climate” from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m. Landowners and gardeners are faced with some unusual changes due to climate change. In this presentation, Reilly will explore how climate change affects gardeners in their own backyards. Learn what can be done to mitigate climate change and how to adapt.

After a short break Michael Raupp will present “How a Changing Climate and Exotic Species Threaten the Sustainability of Our Landscapes and Gardens” from 10:45 a.m. to noon. Dr. Raupp will explore how elements of global change are dramatically altering the sustainability of landscapes and gardens.

The group will break for a one-hour lunch at noon. C. Colston Burrell begins the afternoon with his presentation of “Great Natives for Tough Places” from 1 to 2:15 p.m. This presentation helps gardeners choose the best native plants for tough site conditions, from wet or compacted soil to hot dry sites and dense shade.

Phil Sheridan will present “Pitchers for the Public! Growing Bog Plants in the Mid-Atlantic” from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. Learn how to grow fascinating and unusual bog plants in a container garden, greenhouse, terrarium, rain garden, pond edge, or constructed wetlands.

Lunch is included in the admission fee. For a vegetarian option, call 703-642-5173. Registration is available at Parktakes Online or by calling 703-222-4664. Registration is due by February 15.

Green Spring Gardens is located at 4603 Green Spring Road in Alexandria, Va.