Garden Center Association
of Greater Kansas City

G a r d e n   S y m p o s i u m   2 0 0 8

M a k i n g   Y o u r   G a r d e n   a   W o r k   o f   A r t

Presented by:
 The Garden Center Association of Greater Kansas City
 and Powell Gardens

Richard Reames, Jennifer Bartley, Daniel Benarcik and Rosemary Alexander posing in front of Kansas City's own, Jardine's after the Garden Symposium.

 

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kauffman Foundation
Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center

Kansas City, Missouri

February 22 - 23, 2008

Make Your Garden a Work of Art Poster (421k download)

Workshop: "Arborsculpture: How to Grow a Chair with Richard Reames."

Friday, February 22nd, Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center.

Richard Reames, an artist, author and nursery owner from Oregon will show you how to use live saplings and bend, graft, and prune them into a living chair. Using saplings and simple framing, you will watch and help make a truly unique piece of garden furniture that will continue to grow. Richard's book. "Arborsculpture Solutions for a Small Planet", is included in the registration fee for the workshop. The workshop begins at 9:00 am at the Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center, 4750 Troost, Kansas City, Missouri 64112.

An afternoon workshop has been added for 1 pm. The morning workshop has sold out!

Dinner: "Gardens, Gardeners and the Artistic Influence with Rosemary Alexander."

Friday, February 22nd, Kauffman Foundation.

Enjoy an evening of a delicious dinner and chat with other gardeners and then listen to Rosemary Alexander present to you about "Gardens, Gardeners and Their Artistic Influence". She will discuss and show slides of garden personalities and their work plus add some amusing incidents about them. The evening begins at 6:30 pm with cocktails followed by the dinner at 7:00 pm at the Kauffman Foundation, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64110.

Symposium: Making Your Garden a Work of Art

Saturday, February 23rd, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

The all day Symposium will be held at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art auditorium where four speakers from around the world will be presenting insights into several topics to make your garden a work of art during six sessions. The symposium registration begins at 8:00 am with the programs beginning at 8:30 am at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64112.

Rosemary Alexander, presenting "Using and Artists' Approach to Choosing Plant Combinations."

You don't need to be an artist to use the color wheel to select 'hot' or 'cool' plant combinations for harmonies, contrasts and focal effects. This session will provide how-to examples looking at plants with long lasting impact and contrast of foliage, shape and texture. Then combining color through an artistic eye you can give your garden the look of a painting.

Rosemary Alexander founded the English Garden School in 1983, where she continues as principal of the school. Classes take place at Chelsea Physic Garden, one of Europe’s oldest botanic gardens, in central London . Her book The Essential Garden Design Workbook (Timber Press 2004) was awarded one of eight Silver Awards by the Garden Writers Association of America and also their Bronze Award for achievement. It has also been translated into seven foreign languages. In 2005, two further books by Rosemary were published – A handbook for Garden Designers (Cassells/Octopus) and The Garden Makers Manual (Conran Octopus). Her latest book is The Essential Garden Maintenance Workbook (Timber Press) which was shortlisted as Practical Book of the Year by the Garden Writers Guild. She was the first woman to be elected a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers.

www.rosemaryalexander.co.uk

For information on her book, visit: Timber Press 

Jennifer Bartley, presenting "Designing the Artful Kitchen Garden" and "Garden Design: a Painting to Look at, a Sculpture to Walk Through."

In "Designing the Artful Kitchen Garden" we will learn how to create the beautiful kitchen garden the French call a potager? How can we integrate this into our residential landscapes so that when we walk out our kitchen door to gather edible flowers, basil for the pasta and heirloom greens for the salad we want to linger because the garden is artfully designed? All successful design projects begin with the inspiration of great gardens. The most famous vegetable gardens in the world are in France and we will look at five and glean their design principles. Three American potager gardens and a few chefs' gardens will also be presented in the delightful talk that will have you ordering your own heirloom vegetables, herbs and flowers. 

When creating our own garden sit is helpful to have an historical perspective on design. History teaches us that gardens have been designed as flat painting on the ground like French parterres, outdoor rooms like the medieval walled gardens and as staged scenery with contrived views like the English landscape garden. Modern designers also use these painterly and spatial ideas in creating gardens. a great design may borrow aspects from all of them: a painting we look at a , a sculpture we walk through.

Jennifer Bartley is author of Designing the New Kitchen Garden. She has a master's degree in landscape architecture from Ohio State University, where she has been an adjunct professor and critic in the design studios. She is now in private practice as a landscape designer, artist, and photographer. She has traveled extensively throughout France to study traditional potagers (kitchen gardens) and has created her own versions of these gardens for American chefs and gardeners devoted to using fresh, seasonal, and local food. Bartley seeks to create beautiful and vibrant gardens that embrace a simpler life more connected to the landscape, the seasons and the food we eat.

www.americanpotager.com

For more information on her book visit: Timber Press 

Daniel Benarcik, presenting "Foliage First" and "Tough as Nails."

Daniel will discuss in "Foliage First", how often seasonal or cultural challenges overwhelm our flowering divas and our floral display is lacking. He will demonstrate how having a well thought out foliar display gives you the insurance for a garden worth showing off all season. Tropical, half-hardy and temperate plants will be discussed in this segment. The most innovative and interesting gardens often have the proper mix of these plants. See what offerings might pique your interest, and how they can be integrated into your garden.

In "Tough as Nails", he will cover how we have all encountered  a garden situation that is hostile to our horticultural intentions. He will focus on plants that can help us overcome these tough conditions. These plants are survivors, they offer the best chance or establishment and serve as the beginnings of a successful garden. This is not a beauty pageant. many of the plants will simply live and often thrive in these difficult environments.

Daniel Benarcik is a horticulturist at Chanticleer, an innovative garden in Wayne, Pa. Benarcik has written articles published in Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Martha Stewart Living and Rodale gardening books. He also designs and constructs garden furniture, and teaches and lectures nationally.

www.chanticleergarden.org 

Richard Reames, presenting "What is Arborsculpture?"

Richard will explain the art of arborsculpture, the shaping of tree trunks into useful and artistic forms. He will show and describe in his photo collection of 15 years, explaining the history of arborsculpture along with techniques and the worldwide state of the art today.

Richard Reames owns Arborsmith Studios a hybrid tree nursery/art studio located in southern Oregon. Arborsculpture is the art of shaping tree trunks to create art and functional items through bending, grafting, pruning and multiple planting. He is author of the books “Arborsculpture: Solutions for a Small Planet” and “How to Grow a Chair.” In the past 16 years he has made more than 100 sculptures out of living trees: chairs, pieces of furniture, tool handles, mailboxes and fences.  One large project, planted in 2000 involving several hundred trees for a park in Japan, was an award winner and led to an assignment to help create a exhibit called “The Growing Village Pavilion” at the World Expo 2005 Aichi Japan.

 www.arborsmith.com 

How to Register for this Grand Line Up of Garden Events.

This event was a great success for 2008. Look for Garden Syposium 2010.

The afternoon workshop is $39.00. The dinner is $44.00. The all day Symposium is $89.00. Lunch will be available for $13.00 or you may choose to go out to lunch. Hurry events are selling out fast!

The most recent Garden Symposium tickets sold out in early January so order early.

Garden books for the speakers will be available outside of the auditorium the day of the symposium.