Registration Open for the 2011 Native Plant Seminar & Sale

July 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Irvine Nature Center will host its 20th annual Native Plant Seminar & Sale on August 27, 2011. The day will include a plant sale at Irvine, three expert speakers in the morning and four workshops in the afternoon. The seminar will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Native Plant Seminar & Sale provides opportunities to learn more about environmental sustainability, how to improve gardens and landscapes, and the importance of our native vegetation to nursery and landscape professionals, garden club and native plant society members, environmental educators, land managers and homeowners.

The morning seminar features environmental experts Rick Darke, Dick Bir and Michael Raupp. Darke − a consultant in landscape ethics, context design and photography − will discuss the importance of bringing wild plants into your own backyard and how to create your own wild garden. He has been featured in the New York Times, Garden Design and on NPR. Bir − horticulturalist, conservationist and writer of hundreds of publications − will discuss the impact of shrubbery and small trees on natural landscapes and how to successfully introduce them into your gardens. Raupp is a professor and extension specialist at University of Maryland, College Park, and has been published more than 250 times and has spoken on Good Morning America and CNN. He will be speaking about the good and bad roles insects play in our gardens and landscapes.

Registration for the morning seminar is available online, and costs $70 for non-members.

Workshops held in the afternoon. include discovering about the relationships between insects and the environment, learning how to take a beautiful picture of a wildflower, finding out how to grow and harvest native plants, and knowing what attracts specific bird species to your gardens. Pre-registration is required for workshops, and each one costs $25.

“The Native Plant Seminar last year taught me a lot about our region’s habitat,” says long-time attendee Marion DeGroff. “I can’t wait to learn even more this year and buy some beautiful plants that will attract wildlife!”

The native plant sale will occur from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Nature Center and is free to the public. For those pre-registered, the sale will open at 7:30 a.m. More information, including registration details, can be found on Irvine’s website. Thank you to our sponsors Arrive Magazine, Biohabitats, Carroll Tree Service and Ecological Restoration & Management, Inc.

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Irvine is a free nature center just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. We have 116 acres of forests, meadows and wetlands, as well as an exhibit hall with animals and an Outdoor Classroom. We have one of the only Nature Preschools in the country.