MGAA: Spring Symposium (On-Line)
February 28, 9:00 am to 3:30 pm
This is a zoom presentation.
General Public $45. — MGAA Members $35. — MGAA Students $25.
For Tickets: eTransfer to: treasurer@mgaab.org
Please include your email address to receive the zoom link. Thank you
Speakers:
Wilbert Ronald of Jeffries nurseries: Columnar Trees
Columnar trees are extremely popular accent and screening trees in the flat Canadian prairies. In recent years the Columnar Swedish aspen cultivar was among the most popular of columnar trees but it has lost its position due to disease and introduction of other new trees. A number of newer columnar trees including columnar flowering crabapples, columnar Parkland Pillar birch and other trees are coming to the forefront.
John Acorn, Naturalist: Butterflies in the Garden and Beyond
There are more than 170 species of butterflies in Alberta, and many of these are familiar garden insects. Gardening for butterflies involves the use of both nectar-source flowers to attract the adults, and caterpillar food plants to sustain the larvae. Naturally, most types of pesticides should be avoided. Monarchs are of course the most popular of the Alberta species, but in truth they are almost entirely limited to the southern centres such as Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. And if the garden butterflies are an inspiration to you, you might also enjoy pursuing butterflies farther afield, in environments that are difficult to replicate in a managed garden.
Tony Spencer: Wildscaping
In the post-wild countryside of Mono, Ontario, Tony Spencer is conducting a series of open experiments to combine naturalistic planting design with Blue-Green Infrastructure into a fluid ecological art form.
Working on the local level, he cultivates his universal concept of Wildscaping. This is about using plant-driven landscape design to create and sustain dynamic garden spaces, filled with beauty and wildlife, to rekindle our relationship to the natural world.
The focus of this talk is how to link home to landscape in a symbiotic loop to build new nature and adapt to the inevitable extremes of the new climate.
