Keynote: “American Beauty: “Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers, from the Field to your Vase”
Debra Prinzing will address the renaissance of domestic flower farming and the emerging eco-floral design movement. Her “state of American-grown flowers” presentation highlights the who/what/where and why details and introduces individual flower farmers, wholesalers, retailers and florists who are actively transforming the floral marketplace. As many cut flowers for market are laden with chemicals and imported thousands of miles, Debra will share her ideas about healthier alternatives for you, your home, and the planet. She will discuss ways to use flowers that oftentimes grow right in your own backyard. Debra’s presentation will feature her beautiful season-by-season bouquets and she will offer many useful tips for DIY floral designers. Debra’s visually elegant presentation explores the “slow flowers” concepts featured in her 2012 book, The 50 Mile Bouquet and her 2013 book Slow Flowers.
Debra Prinzing is a Seattle-based writer, speaker and leading advocate for American Grown Flowers. Through her many Slow Flowers-branded projects, she has convened a national conversation that stimulates consumers and professionals alike to make conscious choices about their floral purchases. Debra is the 2018 recipient of the American Horticultural Society’s Great American Gardeners Frances Jones Poetker Award, which recognizes significant contributions to floral design in publications, on the platform, and to the public. She is a 2016 inductee to the Garden Writers Association Hall of Fame and the author of 10 books, including “Slow Flowers” and “The 50 Mile
Bouquet”.
“Planning, Planting and Protecting a Winter Kitchen Garden”
Drawing on her twenty-five years of experience growing a winter kitchen garden on Lopez Island, Debby Hatch will share strategies she’s developed for planning, planting and protecting a winter kitchen garden. She’ll illustrate her workshop with photos from her winter kitchen garden.
For the past twenty-five years, Debby Hatch has grown a four-season kitchen garden on Lopez Island. She has given workshops and presentations on vegetable gardening for the WSU Master Gardeners, the San Juan County Fair Ag Tent, the Lopez Garden Club and the Orcas Island Garden Club. From 2006-2011, she wrote the monthly Green Living column for the Islands’ Weekly. She currently writes the blog Lopez Island Kitchen Gardens http:// lopezislandkitchengardens.wordpress.com/
"Yes You Can! Basic Gardening Skills You Can Use to Successfully Take Care of Your Landscape"
Diana Wisen will highlight how to evaluate your soil, assess your garden site for right plant placement, properly transplant and plant, do basic ornamental shrub pruning, and manage pests responsibly.
Diana Wisen has lived in the Puget Sound area all her life. She became a WSU Master Gardener in 1991 and has been a Master Gardener trainer, Speakers Bureau Chairman and educational outreach instructor much of that time. She lives and gardens in Skagit County and also manages her family farm on Shaw Island.
“Be a Garden Insect Sleuth: The Good, Bad, Beautiful and Ugly Insects in Your Garden”
Learn to identify the different types of insects that visit your garden to encourage those that are beneficial and discourage those that may not be. General insect morphology, types of insects, how to distinguish between them and specific beneficials and pests will be presented.
Kate Yturri is a SJC Master Gardener who aspires to improve her skills as an amateur entomologist. She has lived in Washington for 30 years and retired to Orcas Island 7 years ago. She loves gardening in her edible and ornamental gardens, but especially enjoys identifying and observing the insects that live in them.
“Caneberries: Annual Care & Pruning”
Raspberries, blackberries, and other cane fruit are an abundant addition to any landscape large or small! This informative, engaging class is taught by Monica Maggio, Master Gardener instructor, fruit growing expert, and owner of Core Home Fruit. She covers the top “dos and don’ts” for growing your own berries at home, along with basic annual care for a huge harvest.
For the past 20 years, Monica’s mission has been to cultivate her inner plant nerd in ways that benefit the greater Pacific Northwest community.
Monica’s experience ranges from work as a Master Gardener graduate and instructor, former Arboretum Manager for the Home Orchard Society, and local fruit growing expert. She is the owner of Core Home Fruit, a local business based in Portland. She has seen firsthand how people take better care of plants once they know they can eat them. Her teaching and coaching combines Permaculture principles, university research, and 15+ years of practical on-the- job experience to help people successfully grow their own fruit!
“Color in the Winter Garden"
“Color in the Winter Garden” is a picture book of winter color available in the Pacific Northwest. Winter here can be dark, wet, gray and dreary, but because of our climate, we can also choose from a large number of plants that provide rich color, and eye-catching foliage and bark.
Marsha Goller directed her love of playing in the dirt and weeding to becoming a Skagit County Master Gardener in 2012. She currently coordinates the Four Seasons Garden at the Master Garden Discovery Garden in Mt. Vernon.
“Managing Deer & Other Mammals in the Garden”
Gardening with deer and other mammal pests is a challenge. There are several mammal species that can damage crops and ornamentals in the San Juan Islands. Learn more about deer and other mammal pest biology, behavior, how they feed, why they eat what they eat and various management options (fences, repellents, resistant plants and hunting).
Dave Pehling, retired WSU Extension Snohomish County zoologist/IT tech, joined WSU Extension in Snohomish County for a 6 month position in 1978 and remained until retirement 40+ years later. He has a B.Sc. in zoology from the University of Washington and formerly taught about vertebrate pest management for the WSU Master Gardener and Livestock Advisor programs, as well as providing citizens with information about vertebrates, insects, native plants, plant diseases and pesticides. Special interests include mammalogy, insect pest management, parasitic arthropods and pollinators. Dave continues instructing WSU Master Gardeners occasionally and teaches the Washington State Beekeepers Beginning Beekeeper classes for WSU Extension Snohomish County twice each year.
“Grapes & Kiwi Vines: Annual Care & Pruning”
Did you know you can grow your own grapes and kiwi here in the Pacific Northwest?! Both are abundant, vigorous vines that can either take over your yard, or, if well cared for, yield hundreds of pounds of fruit per vine every year! Join Monica Maggio, Master Gardener instructor, fruit growing expert, and owner of Core Home Fruit, as she outlines practical, year-round care for growing healthy, beautiful, abundant grapes and kiwi at home.
For the past 20 years, Monica’s mission has been to cultivate her inner plant nerd in ways that benefit the greater Pacific Northwest community.
Monica’s experience ranges from work as a Master Gardener graduate and instructor, former Arboretum Manager for the Home Orchard Society, and local fruit growing expert. She is the owner of Core Home Fruit, a local business based in Portland. She has seen firsthand how people take better care of plants once they know they can eat them! Her teaching and coaching combines Permaculture principles, university research, and 15+ years of practical on-the- job experience to help people successfully grow their own fruit!
“Explorations in New and Old British Gardens”
Join horticulturist, plant nerd and planting designer Jenny Harris for a audio- visual garden tour of nostalgia, connection, expansion, examination, reflection and creative fire; a North American’s education of how much we have yet to learn.
Jenny grew up in an old garden in the foothills of the coast range of California where she ran wild with overgrown wisteria and old roses. She studied horticulture and gardening in the late 80’s through a long defunct program at UCSC that was on the forefront of appropriate horticulture at the time. The Mediterranean climate is deep in her bones and she can’t help but plant accordingly. Since 1994 she has been planting and gardening here on the land within the Salish Sea. Her favorite work is to help gardeners garden and learn more about plants and approaches that support all life forms.
Forest and Tree Health in the San Juan Islands
Dead and dying trees have proliferated throughout the San Juan Islands, especially western red cedars, causing concern for many property owners. Learn why so many trees are dying right now and what property owners can do. Learn what makes forests healthy or unhealthy and how to recognize when there’s a problem on your property. Topics include insects, diseases, and drought, including their environmental roles and the important interactions between them. Learn about what property owners should do (and not do) to increase tree resilience and mitigate impacts.
Kevin Zobrist is a professor with Washington State University. He coordinates the Extension Forestry program in the Puget Sound area, working with people who own forested property. Kevin has two forestry degrees from the University of Washington. His research interests include forestry education and outreach methodology, using technology in forestry education, forest ecology, and native trees. He is based in Everett and is the author of the book Native Trees of Western Washington.
Debra Prinzing will address the renaissance of domestic flower farming and the emerging eco-floral design movement. Her “state of American-grown flowers” presentation highlights the who/what/where and why details and introduces individual flower farmers, wholesalers, retailers and florists who are actively transforming the floral marketplace. As many cut flowers for market are laden with chemicals and imported thousands of miles, Debra will share her ideas about healthier alternatives for you, your home, and the planet. She will discuss ways to use flowers that oftentimes grow right in your own backyard. Debra’s presentation will feature her beautiful season-by-season bouquets and she will offer many useful tips for DIY floral designers. Debra’s visually elegant presentation explores the “slow flowers” concepts featured in her 2012 book, The 50 Mile Bouquet and her 2013 book Slow Flowers.
Debra Prinzing is a Seattle-based writer, speaker and leading advocate for American Grown Flowers. Through her many Slow Flowers-branded projects, she has convened a national conversation that stimulates consumers and professionals alike to make conscious choices about their floral purchases. Debra is the 2018 recipient of the American Horticultural Society’s Great American Gardeners Frances Jones Poetker Award, which recognizes significant contributions to floral design in publications, on the platform, and to the public. She is a 2016 inductee to the Garden Writers Association Hall of Fame and the author of 10 books, including “Slow Flowers” and “The 50 Mile
Bouquet”.
“Planning, Planting and Protecting a Winter Kitchen Garden”
Drawing on her twenty-five years of experience growing a winter kitchen garden on Lopez Island, Debby Hatch will share strategies she’s developed for planning, planting and protecting a winter kitchen garden. She’ll illustrate her workshop with photos from her winter kitchen garden.
For the past twenty-five years, Debby Hatch has grown a four-season kitchen garden on Lopez Island. She has given workshops and presentations on vegetable gardening for the WSU Master Gardeners, the San Juan County Fair Ag Tent, the Lopez Garden Club and the Orcas Island Garden Club. From 2006-2011, she wrote the monthly Green Living column for the Islands’ Weekly. She currently writes the blog Lopez Island Kitchen Gardens http:// lopezislandkitchengardens.wordpress.com/
"Yes You Can! Basic Gardening Skills You Can Use to Successfully Take Care of Your Landscape"
Diana Wisen will highlight how to evaluate your soil, assess your garden site for right plant placement, properly transplant and plant, do basic ornamental shrub pruning, and manage pests responsibly.
Diana Wisen has lived in the Puget Sound area all her life. She became a WSU Master Gardener in 1991 and has been a Master Gardener trainer, Speakers Bureau Chairman and educational outreach instructor much of that time. She lives and gardens in Skagit County and also manages her family farm on Shaw Island.
“Be a Garden Insect Sleuth: The Good, Bad, Beautiful and Ugly Insects in Your Garden”
Learn to identify the different types of insects that visit your garden to encourage those that are beneficial and discourage those that may not be. General insect morphology, types of insects, how to distinguish between them and specific beneficials and pests will be presented.
Kate Yturri is a SJC Master Gardener who aspires to improve her skills as an amateur entomologist. She has lived in Washington for 30 years and retired to Orcas Island 7 years ago. She loves gardening in her edible and ornamental gardens, but especially enjoys identifying and observing the insects that live in them.
“Caneberries: Annual Care & Pruning”
Raspberries, blackberries, and other cane fruit are an abundant addition to any landscape large or small! This informative, engaging class is taught by Monica Maggio, Master Gardener instructor, fruit growing expert, and owner of Core Home Fruit. She covers the top “dos and don’ts” for growing your own berries at home, along with basic annual care for a huge harvest.
For the past 20 years, Monica’s mission has been to cultivate her inner plant nerd in ways that benefit the greater Pacific Northwest community.
Monica’s experience ranges from work as a Master Gardener graduate and instructor, former Arboretum Manager for the Home Orchard Society, and local fruit growing expert. She is the owner of Core Home Fruit, a local business based in Portland. She has seen firsthand how people take better care of plants once they know they can eat them. Her teaching and coaching combines Permaculture principles, university research, and 15+ years of practical on-the- job experience to help people successfully grow their own fruit!
“Color in the Winter Garden"
“Color in the Winter Garden” is a picture book of winter color available in the Pacific Northwest. Winter here can be dark, wet, gray and dreary, but because of our climate, we can also choose from a large number of plants that provide rich color, and eye-catching foliage and bark.
Marsha Goller directed her love of playing in the dirt and weeding to becoming a Skagit County Master Gardener in 2012. She currently coordinates the Four Seasons Garden at the Master Garden Discovery Garden in Mt. Vernon.
“Managing Deer & Other Mammals in the Garden”
Gardening with deer and other mammal pests is a challenge. There are several mammal species that can damage crops and ornamentals in the San Juan Islands. Learn more about deer and other mammal pest biology, behavior, how they feed, why they eat what they eat and various management options (fences, repellents, resistant plants and hunting).
Dave Pehling, retired WSU Extension Snohomish County zoologist/IT tech, joined WSU Extension in Snohomish County for a 6 month position in 1978 and remained until retirement 40+ years later. He has a B.Sc. in zoology from the University of Washington and formerly taught about vertebrate pest management for the WSU Master Gardener and Livestock Advisor programs, as well as providing citizens with information about vertebrates, insects, native plants, plant diseases and pesticides. Special interests include mammalogy, insect pest management, parasitic arthropods and pollinators. Dave continues instructing WSU Master Gardeners occasionally and teaches the Washington State Beekeepers Beginning Beekeeper classes for WSU Extension Snohomish County twice each year.
“Grapes & Kiwi Vines: Annual Care & Pruning”
Did you know you can grow your own grapes and kiwi here in the Pacific Northwest?! Both are abundant, vigorous vines that can either take over your yard, or, if well cared for, yield hundreds of pounds of fruit per vine every year! Join Monica Maggio, Master Gardener instructor, fruit growing expert, and owner of Core Home Fruit, as she outlines practical, year-round care for growing healthy, beautiful, abundant grapes and kiwi at home.
For the past 20 years, Monica’s mission has been to cultivate her inner plant nerd in ways that benefit the greater Pacific Northwest community.
Monica’s experience ranges from work as a Master Gardener graduate and instructor, former Arboretum Manager for the Home Orchard Society, and local fruit growing expert. She is the owner of Core Home Fruit, a local business based in Portland. She has seen firsthand how people take better care of plants once they know they can eat them! Her teaching and coaching combines Permaculture principles, university research, and 15+ years of practical on-the- job experience to help people successfully grow their own fruit!
“Explorations in New and Old British Gardens”
Join horticulturist, plant nerd and planting designer Jenny Harris for a audio- visual garden tour of nostalgia, connection, expansion, examination, reflection and creative fire; a North American’s education of how much we have yet to learn.
Jenny grew up in an old garden in the foothills of the coast range of California where she ran wild with overgrown wisteria and old roses. She studied horticulture and gardening in the late 80’s through a long defunct program at UCSC that was on the forefront of appropriate horticulture at the time. The Mediterranean climate is deep in her bones and she can’t help but plant accordingly. Since 1994 she has been planting and gardening here on the land within the Salish Sea. Her favorite work is to help gardeners garden and learn more about plants and approaches that support all life forms.
Forest and Tree Health in the San Juan Islands
Dead and dying trees have proliferated throughout the San Juan Islands, especially western red cedars, causing concern for many property owners. Learn why so many trees are dying right now and what property owners can do. Learn what makes forests healthy or unhealthy and how to recognize when there’s a problem on your property. Topics include insects, diseases, and drought, including their environmental roles and the important interactions between them. Learn about what property owners should do (and not do) to increase tree resilience and mitigate impacts.
Kevin Zobrist is a professor with Washington State University. He coordinates the Extension Forestry program in the Puget Sound area, working with people who own forested property. Kevin has two forestry degrees from the University of Washington. His research interests include forestry education and outreach methodology, using technology in forestry education, forest ecology, and native trees. He is based in Everett and is the author of the book Native Trees of Western Washington.