2022 Woody Plant Conference Schedule

7:30 am - 9:00 am

7:45 am - 8:45 am

Explore the grounds of Scott Arboretum

9:00 am - 9:15 am

Welcome from Director of the Scott Arboretum Claire Sawyers

9:00 am - 9:05 am

Webinar opens for those joining us virtually.

9:15 am - 10:15 am

Join Mae Lin Plummer on her journey into horticulture, leadership, and advocacy for public gardens, from a childhood growing up around the world “without roots” to becoming a Chinese American Southerner who fell in love with the south through gardening and plants of the region, along with generous helpings of BBQ, fried okra, cornbread, and other “fixins.” In continuing the journey of becoming herself and connecting with others in the garden world, Mae Lin’s plant love has led her into leadership and advocating for all plant people and plant places that want to help change the world for the better. In this inspiring talk, her message is powerful – “the planet and the world needs you, all of YOU.”

10:15 am - 10:40 am

10:40 am - 11:30 am

With a 150-year history as a private estate, Stoneleigh: a natural garden became one of the newest public gardens in the Philadelphia region in 2018. Informed by the growing understanding of the connectedness of all living things, a vision emerged during the transition: to reimagine a historical landscape as an ecologically vibrant wonderland of native plants. Join Ethan as he highlights Stoneleigh’s journey told through its native woody plant collection, which has grown by more than 700 different varieties in the last five years.

11:30 am - 12:20 pm

Professional forager and wild food purveyor Tama Matsuoka Wong will demonstrate how appreciation for the diverse flavors of wild, uncultivated plants at the nation’s premiere restaurants could transform how we conceive of and approach edible landscapes. She will discuss ethical foraging, “wild farming,” delicious management of invasive woody exotics, and the untapped flavors of our native woody flora.

12:20 pm - 1:20 pm

Book and Raffle Ticket Sales

1:20 pm - 2:10 pm

2:10 pm - 3:00 pm

Gardeners can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on landscape trees and shrubs and they are justifiably annoyed when their woody plants die within a few years of installation. Linda’s presentation will explain why trees and shrubs often fail and how gardeners can avoid these problems with future plantings.

3:00 pm - 3:25 pm

3:25 pm - 3:30 pm

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Chris will explore how climate change impacts landscapes and gardens of many scales—from increased frequency and intensity of storms, to urban heat island effect, coastal inundation, drought, and biodiversity loss. How can inventive planting strategies embrace the change and dynamics suggested by complex adaptive systems ecology? And how can they recognize the full range of creatures—both human and non-human—that have inhabited and will continue to inhabit these landscapes?

4:30 pm - 4:35 pm

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

In-person participants are elidable to join reception mix and mingle for additional $20.

7:30 am - 9:00 am

7:45 am - 8:45 am

Explore the grounds of Scott Arboretum

9:00 am - 9:15 am

Welcome from Director of the Scott Arboretum Claire Sawyers

9:00 am - 9:05 am

Webinar opens for those joining us virtually.

9:15 am - 10:15 am

Join Mae Lin Plummer on her journey into horticulture, leadership, and advocacy for public gardens, from a childhood growing up around the world “without roots” to becoming a Chinese American Southerner who fell in love with the south through gardening and plants of the region, along with generous helpings of BBQ, fried okra, cornbread, and other “fixins.” In continuing the journey of becoming herself and connecting with others in the garden world, Mae Lin’s plant love has led her into leadership and advocating for all plant people and plant places that want to help change the world for the better. In this inspiring talk, her message is powerful – “the planet and the world needs you, all of YOU.”

10:15 am - 10:40 am

3:00 pm - 3:25 pm

10:40 am - 11:30 am

With a 150-year history as a private estate, Stoneleigh: a natural garden became one of the newest public gardens in the Philadelphia region in 2018. Informed by the growing understanding of the connectedness of all living things, a vision emerged during the transition: to reimagine a historical landscape as an ecologically vibrant wonderland of native plants. Join Ethan as he highlights Stoneleigh’s journey told through its native woody plant collection, which has grown by more than 700 different varieties in the last five years.

11:30 am - 12:20 pm

Professional forager and wild food purveyor Tama Matsuoka Wong will demonstrate how appreciation for the diverse flavors of wild, uncultivated plants at the nation’s premiere restaurants could transform how we conceive of and approach edible landscapes. She will discuss ethical foraging, “wild farming,” delicious management of invasive woody exotics, and the untapped flavors of our native woody flora.

12:20 pm - 1:20 pm

Book and Raffle Ticket Sales

1:20 pm - 2:10 pm

2:10 pm - 3:00 pm

Gardeners can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on landscape trees and shrubs and they are justifiably annoyed when their woody plants die within a few years of installation. Linda’s presentation will explain why trees and shrubs often fail and how gardeners can avoid these problems with future plantings.

3:25 pm - 3:30 pm

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Chris will explore how climate change impacts landscapes and gardens of many scales—from increased frequency and intensity of storms, to urban heat island effect, coastal inundation, drought, and biodiversity loss. How can inventive planting strategies embrace the change and dynamics suggested by complex adaptive systems ecology? And how can they recognize the full range of creatures—both human and non-human—that have inhabited and will continue to inhabit these landscapes?

4:30 pm - 4:35 pm

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

In-person participants are elidable to join reception mix and mingle for additional $20.