Presentation Archive

October 24, 2024
Presented to the Camden Garden Club
Camden, ME
Summary: Growing native plants from seed and spore (ferns) is a fun and enriching experience that will propel our horticultural skills to new heights! This presentation explains the dormancy breaking requirements of native plant seeds (cold stratification, scarification, light exposure, etc) and how these requirements correlate with species habitat and seed dispersal method. Encouragement and guidance is given on how to collect your own native plant seed in in the garden or in the wild. Let’s not forget about our other native plants like ferns and sedges, they deserve our attention and should be grown as well. The presentation concludes with different container and media choices to consider when growing from seed. Happy growing!

October 17, 2024
Presented to the Southern Maine Garden Club, at the Springvale Library
Springvale, ME
Summary: You’ve removed the invasive shrubs on your property or in your project area, now what do you do? “Nature abhors a vacuum” so its a good idea to plug that space before something else does. In this presentation we discuss our rich diversity of native shrubs that we can plant to fill those voids. What was once a ecological wasteland can be converted to wildlife sustaining bounty! Included is a quick reference chart of native shrubs and the conditions they thrive in.

October 12, 2024
Presented at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden
Boothbay, ME
Summary: This class at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden focused on the different ways we can propagate ecologically significant wetland trees and shrubs, through vegetative and seed propagation. Discussions on the pros and cons of vegetative or “clonally” reproducing species like the willows that are very easy to grow from cuttings, but arguably prohibitively difficult to grow from seed for various reasons. Seed germination requirements for wetland species are presented in a concise quick reference guide. Using multi-layered media set-ups with humidity domes and fluorescent lighting for growing small seeded ericads like Rhodora. The American elm; why we shouldn’t give up on this ecologically important species, and more! Dig in!

Sept 16, 2024
Presented by McArthur Library and Biddeford Community Gardens Program
Biddeford, ME
Summary; Native plants can be right at home in urban areas making significant improvements to the local ecology.
Learn how to integrate native plants into urban landscapes and why it is so important.

May 18, 2023
A joint presentation to Great Works Regional Land Trust and the South Berwick Conservation Commission
Presented on ZOOM

April 20th, 2023
A joint presentation to Great Works Regional Land Trust and the South Berwick Conservation Commission
Presented on ZOOM

April 12, 2019
Native Plant Conservation in the 21st Century Symposium
Co-sponsored by Maine Audubon and the Native Plant Trust (formerly New England Wildflower Society)
Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth, ME