Event Details
All attendees are invited to continue the conversation at a cocktail reception following the formal presentation.
Tickets - $30 in advance
All proceeds from this year’s series will be directed towards our Prairie Strip Project.
The White Hart is located at 15 Undermountain Road. Salisbury, CT. We thank them for welcoming this series.
In Pursuit of the Good: Grass, Perennial, and Woody Plant Selection Strategies for Designing Effective Dynamic Landscapes with Patrick Cullina
February 5th - 5:30 pm @ The White Hart, reception to follow
Proceeds & Awareness to benefit the Bad Grass Prairie Strip Project
In a landscape marketplace beset by novelty, cultivar confusion, and shifting definitions of ‘native,’ effective tools are required for navigating both the myriad available options and inventory fluctuations that challenge the development of successful, diverse, aspirational landscapes. This presentation aspires to distinguish the plant’s signal from the plant’s noise while exploring strategies for the implementation of designs that provide significant, durable, ecological services that benefit pollinators, and other wildlife as well as soil, water, and air quality — without sacrificing aesthetics in the process.
Patrick Cullina is an award-winning horticulturist, landscape designer, photographer, lecturer, and planning consultant with nearly thirty years of experience in the landscape and green infrastructure fields. He previously served as founding V.P. of Horticulture and Operations for New York City’s High Line, as Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s V.P. of Horticulture, Operations & Science Research and as Associate Director of the Rutgers University Gardens. His current practice is dedicated to the creation, development, establishment and maintenance of transformational living landscapes through the innovative integration of plants and management strategies, often in collaboration with some of the world’s leading architects, landscape architects, and planners.
The Apple in the Wild: A Pomological Journey with Matt Kaminsky
February 19th - 5:30 pm @ The White Hart, reception to follow
Proceeds to benefit the Bad Grass Prairie Strip Project
Everyone has experience with apples, but surprisingly, few people know exactly what they're looking at when they eat or cook them. An unthinkably complex world is within every apple seed. Matt Kaminsky will take you way beyond the fruit and dive into the fascinating details about apple trees: their peculiarities, histories, and lessons in his Bad Grass, Good Food talk. Incorporating imagery from his Annual Wild and Seedling Pomological Exhibition, he will cover everything you never knew about apples, including: What is a wild apple? How did apple trees get here? And how does discourse on native plants relate to apples? Of course, he will also answer all of your questions about caring for your apple trees, wild or not.
Matt Kaminsky is an orchardist and farmer from Western Massachusetts whose specialties include wild apples, old orchard restoration, grafting and topworking, & orchard silvopasture (integration of sheep into orchards). He is known by the moniker "Gnarly Pippins", a nod to the wild apples that inspire his passion and his website where he maintains a blog and webshop. He farms full time in Western Massachusetts with his partner Rachel Haas, and together they own and operate Meadowfed Lamb Silvopasture. He created the Annual Wild and Seedling Pomological Exhibition, an annual public showcase of novel apples and pears. Its literary byproduct, POMOLOGICAL SERIES: Wild Apple Exhibition, a photographic pomology book series, which recently published its Fifth Volume, describes and documents the hundreds of fruit submissions to the Exhibition over the years. His work has yielded many promising new apple varieties and a platform for others to share their discoveries with the wider community
Perfection Reimagined: Embracing the New Gardening Ethos with Leslie Needham
March 5th - 5:30 pm @ The White Hart, reception to follow
Proceeds to benefit the Bad Grass Prairie Strip Project
What makes a garden beautiful? This eternal question is evoking new answers as gardeners everywhere deal with shifting realities: extreme weather, declining pollinators and birds, and changing horticultural zones. It can be overwhelming. Yet, embracing these challenges can allow us all to be active agents of positive change.
Leslie Needham will share stories, garden practices, and her design principles; lessons in learning that “less can be more”, with photos of her garden–River Hills–along with other gardens that she has worked on.
Leslie is a gardener, landscape designer, writer, and lecturer who has taught at the New York Botanical Garden. She loves nothing more than discovering the magic and historic beauty of land, and has a strong focus on sustainable design. Her work has been featured in media outlets including Martha Stewart Living, The New York Times, and Gardenista, and she has been a guest on Margaret Roach’s podcast, A Way to Garden. Most recently, her home landscape, River Hills, was selected into the Smithsonian Institution’s Archive of American Gardens.
Why “Bad Grass”
The turf grass lawn is uniquely American. It covers the majority of our properties, consuming water, chemicals, time, and money but providing little in terms of support for insects and animals. With the right inspiration, each of us can replace a little of that “bad grass” with something better.
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