   Arizona Highlands Garden Conference - September 15, 2004 Jeff Schalau, County Director, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County Each year, the Master Gardeners of Gila, Coconino, and Yavapai Counties organize and present the Arizona Highlands Garden Conference (AHGC). The AHGC location rotates between the three counties and this year it will be held at the Cliff Castle Conference Center in Camp Verde on October 18 and 19. This is the fifth year of this wonderful conference and we will have three nationally recognized speaker/authors and several regional experts. These dedicated Master Gardener volunteers have assembled a first-rate conference. The conference will open on Monday October 18 with a keynote presentation on Plant Driven Design by Lauren Springer and Scott Ogden. Lauren Springer is a horticulturist and landscape designer of the new Water-Smart Garden at the Denver Botanic Gardens and author of two award winning books: Undaunted Garden and Passionate Gardening. Scott Ogden grew up in Dallas, Texas and studied geology before pursuing a career in horticulture and garden design. He is also a well-published author with Gardening Success with Difficult Soils: Limestone, Alkaline Clay, and Caliche, Garden Bulbs of the Southwest, and The Moonlit Garden to his credit. The keynote speaker on Tuesday October 19 is by ornamental grass expert John Greenlee. The title of his talk is: Creative, Fragrant, Romantic Meadows and Natural Lawns. His book, The Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses, was published in 1992. Since then, John Greenlee has appeared on several television gardening shows and has designed public and private gardens throughout the United States including the Getty Museum, the Norton Simon Museum, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and the savannahs at Walt Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida. He has also won several prestigious landscaping awards and owns a wholesale nursery with three locations in southern California. Several other well-known regional speakers will also be presenting at the AHGC. Some of them include: Lindsay Schram, Organic Grower/Yavapai County Master Gardener; Barry Golden, Owner of Golden’s Iris Garden in Diamond Valley; Jack Kelly, Pima County Horticulture Agent; Dennis Swartzle, Mountain States Wholesale Nursery; Terry Mikel, Maricopa County Horticulture Agent; Dr. Curtis Smith, New Mexico State University Horticulturist and maker of the PBS Series Southwest Yard and Garden; and many others (including yours truly). The cost of the conference is $90 per person for both days if you register by September 27. Lunches are included with registration. Each attendee will receive a conference notebook filled with information and tote bag filled with seeds, catalogs, magazines, and other treasures. Several sponsors have made generous contributions of financial support and door prizes. Vendors and non-profit organizations will also have displays and items for sale. You may also be interested in attending the pre-conference garden tour in the Village of Oak Creek on October 17 (for conference attendees only). Rooms are also available at a special conference rate. The agenda, sponsors, vendors, and registration materials are available on our web site (cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/) or can be mailed by request (928.445.6590 ext. 248). I hope you can join us. Yavapai County Master Gardeners are the foundation of Cooperative Extension’s horticulture education program. Before closing, I’d like to recognize an outstanding Master Gardener. Orville Gilmore has been answering client questions and providing science-based gardening information to the public from our Cottonwood office for nine years contributing over 1,000 hours of service. He has also mentored many other Master Gardeners on our Cottonwood Master Gardener hotline. Orville recently decided that he would retire to enjoy other pursuits. We had a luncheon recognizing Orville’s outstanding service and bestowed upon him a new title: Orville Gilmore, Master Gardener Emeritus. Many thanks to you Orville and best of luck! The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has publications and information on gardening and pest management. If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 ext. 14 or E-mail us at mgardener@verdeonline.com and be sure to include your address and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns or submit column ideas at the Backyard Gardener web site: http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. |