Speakers

Known for her leadership with the suburban foodscape movement and her work with public schools, Ms. Arthur is a bestselling author and speaker. A recipient of an American Horticultural Society Award, she studied landscape design and horticulture at Purdue University. With experience as a propagator and grower for leading nurseries, she is currently President of the International Propagators Society, Southern Region. Her passions center on sustainable land management and promoting the value of gardening across America

Currently Executive Director of The Woodlands National Historic Landmark District in Philadelphia, Ms. Baumert grew to love historic cemeteries while obtaining a degree in Historic Preservation from theSavannah College of Art and Design. She spent a decade caring for the historic structures  in Philadelphia’s Fairmont Park. In 2011 her love of gardening and public spaces led her to The  Woodlands where she has created programs like the renowned Grave Gardeners and is cultivating a renewed sense of community within this horticultural oasis.

For the past three years Mr. Brechter has been developing the newest department of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts as Head of Gardens and Landscape.  The Department emphasizes the beautification of the museum's landscape.  Prior to this, he served for 16 years as Curator of Gardens at Bayou Bend, the decorative arts museum in the former home of Miss Ima Hogg, noted philanthropist.  Previously, he was Curator of Azaleas at Callaway Gardens in Georgia.

As Director of the Cherokee Garden Library of Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center, Ms. Catron oversees its materials in the fields of gardening, landscape design, garden history, horticulture, and floral design, among others.  She curates exhibitions, lectures regularly regarding rare garden books and historic landscapes, and is published in newsletters, journals, and books.  A lifetime member of Garden Club of Georgia, Catron is a past president of Southern Garden History Society, and is a member of the Society of Georgia Archivists and Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries.  In 2014, she was named an Honorary Member of The Garden Club of America.

Dr. Jim DelPrince is a Horticulture Specialist with the MSU Coastal Research and Extension Center, Biloxi.  He has written numerous publications  including Interior Plantscaping: Principles and Practices(2012) and co-authored with Pat Scace, Missouri Botanical Garden, Principles of Floral Design(2015) the most popular floral design textbook in the nation. With a team of 12 floral designers, he co-authored the AIFD Guide to Floral Design  (2008),  the country’s first reference manual in floristry.  His authorship extends to trade press (Flowers &,Flora) and scholarly journals(HortIM, Journal of NACAA, and Journal of Horticulture Research).  He has written book chapters in A Centennial History of the American Florist(1997) and Tennessee Williams and Europe: Intercultural Encounters, Transatlantic Exchanges(2014).  An expert on 19th century floral design, he has presented his work at numerous museums (New Orleans Museum of Art, George Walter Vincent Smith, Springfield, Massachusetts) and historic homes. Jim is a Laureate Member of the American Institute of Floral Designers and was granted the AIFD Service to the Floral Industry award in 2016.  In tandem with his faculty appointment with Mississippi State University since 1996, DelPrince has taught floral design to over 6,000 students, professional florists and floral enthusiasts and served on two industry design teams (FloraCraft,  Smithers-Oasis). Dr. DelPrince delves into both the scientific and artistic world of flowers.  Research grants have enabled him to study and collect data on 19th century horticulture at Winterthur, Wilmington, Delaware and the Smithsonian Institution.  As an artist, he was the solo floral designer in seven performances of “Concerto for Florist” (Mark Applebaum, Stanford, University, composer) with performances in Mississippi, California and Oregon.  He has researched the flowers of Tennessee Williams' plays and presented those findings at symposia in the United States and France.

A licensed landscape horticulturist, Ms. Moran is the former owner of a wholesale bedding plant nursery and greenhouse.Having retired after 29 years in the business, she now owns a consulting firm, Colorwise.  A journalism graduate from LSU, she has lived and gardened in Baton Rouge since the 1960's.  Currently she is President of the Baton Rouge Garden Club and the Louisiana Branch of the American Begonia Society, member of the Baton Rouge Landscape Association, and past recipient of the "Grower of the Year" award from the Louisiana Landscape Association of Nurserymen.

Being a Louisiana native helps Evan visualize the dramatic ecosystem that is right outside his back door. From the heavy wooded pine forests to the haunting marshlands where bald cypress reign as old kings. A lot of Evan’s influences lay in the folklore and folk art of Southern Louisiana. Being able to immerse himself in the local culture and favor as well practicing the art of bonsai has further enriched his life as a whole.Evan has a history in art and has been involved with bonsai for 10 years now. Underhill Bonsai is the perfect environment to further his skills and knowledge of his beloved craft. He loves teaching and working alongside others to help guide their hand to further express themselves through the art. Evan likes to bring key principles to the table when talking about bonsai such as the golden mean, horizon lines, and prospective.

Since 1983, when Heidi turned her love of plants into a commercial venture, she has dedicated her business life to propagating out-of-the-ordinary plants.  She owns Treesearch Farms, Inc., a wholesale grower specializing in plants for the upper Gulf Coast. Its unique and unusual offerings include types of natives, perennials, trees, shrubs, citrus, fruit trees, and habitat plants for birds and bees.  She is committed to education and works extensively with numerous organizations including Master Gardener Associations and schools.  She is a self-described “plant nut” who also loves her critters - cats, dogs and chickens!

Born in England, Nicholas received his credentials in Agricultural Science from Otley Agricultural College. He spent nearly three decades working at Monrovia Nursery, where he led their New Plant program for fifteen years. Currently he serves as a consultant to two major wholesale nurseries in the southern United States. He is proud to be professionally affiliated with the Royal Horticulture Society, the California Association of Nurserymen, and American Hort (American Landscape and Nursery Association).

A native of London, England, Chris Woods has lived in America since 1981. In the gardening world he has worked as gardener, director and designer for 45 years. Best known for his time at Chanticleer, a Pennsylvania pleasure garden, he has also served as Vice President for Horticulture at the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden, as well as Director of the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, Canada. He has served as a consultant to various gardens, and has received awards from the American Public Garden Association in 2003 and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in 2007. He has published four books, among them The Gardener’s Garden.

After completing a feature documentary on New York's High Line, award-winning filmmaker Thomas Piper met the inspirational designer and plantsman, Piet Oudolf, and the idea for a new project was born.  Five Seasons:  The Gardens of Piet Oudolf immerses viewers in Oudolf's work and  takes us inside his creative process, from his beautifully abstract sketches, to theories on beauty, to the ecological implications of his ideas.  Intimate discussions take place through all four seasons in Piet's own gardens at Hummelo, and on visits to his signature public works in New York, Chicago, and the Netherlands, as well as to the far-flung locations that inspire his genius including desert wildflowers in West Texas and post-industrial forests in Pennsylvania.    As a narrative thread, the film also follows Oudolf as he designs and installs a major new garden at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, a gallery and arts center in Southwest England, a garden he considers his best work yet. 
 
Piet Oudolf has radically redefined what gardens can be.  As Rick Darke, the famous botanist, says to Piet in the film, "your work teaches us to see what we have been unable to see." Through poetic cinematography and unique access, Five Seasons reveals all that Piet sees, and celebrates all that we as viewers have been unable to see.