To protect our urban forests, which are threatened by pests and pathogens, a greater variety of tree species is necessary.

For our seventh annual conference we will continue to explore the relationships between landscape design, horticultural practices and the use of a greater variety of tree species.

Between them, our speakers this year boast an extravagant depth of experience ranging from worldwide plant exploration to landscape and garden design, promotion of new plant materials, administration of some of our country's most noted horticultural conferences and institutions and hands-on experience with plant testing and data collection.

Public $80, includes all programming and lunch

$70 Promo, includes all programming and lunch

*Promotional price available to all Members of Colorado Tree Coalition and American Society of Landscape Architects

Symposium will be held at Denver Botanic Gardens in Mitchell Hall.

Speaker Lineup

Peter Zale, Associate Director of Conservation, Plant Breeding & Collections, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA

Stephen Foltz, Director of Horticulture, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Cincinnati, OH

Keith Warren, Director of Product Development (retired), J. Frank Schmidt & Son, Co., Boring, OR

Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator and Director of Outreach, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO

Alan Rollinger, Landscape Architect & Designer, Denver, CO

Are you a blank slate when it comes to starting your very own garden? Worried about ending the growing season with a pile of dead plants and sad vegetables? Join us at Denver Botanic Gardens for a full day event, packed with answers to all those looming and mysterious gardening questions. Get started on the right foot this year with all of our best beginner’s classes, carefully designed to equip you with all the tools you’ll need to master that garden once and for all!

Classes include:

Garden Planning 101… where do I start?

This beginner’s class will take you step by step through the process of laying out a plan of attack for your garden! Whether you are starting with a blank slate garden or working with an old outdated garden this class will give you the basics on where to start. It will discuss needs and planning tools for raised beds, container gardens and in-ground vegetable gardens. We will discuss the basics of garden locations, sun requirements, water needs, starting from seed, transplanting and the basics of planning the organization of perennials and annuals, trees and shrubs. This class is the perfect fit for anyone needing to understand how the garden works together as a whole.

Soils 101

Soils will always be the first place to start when building a beautiful garden. This class will cover the best management practices for building your soil for in-ground beds, containers and raised beds. It will discuss the basics of composting as well as demonstrate the value of soil testing.

Beginning Vegetable Gardening

If you have never planted edible plants or had little success at growing your own vegetables, our instructor will walk you through the ABCs from planning, soil preparation, crop selection, watering, fertilizing, pest protection, and harvesting your first vegetable garden. We will cover tips on the most popular vegetables to grow, including leafy salad greens, tomatoes, squash, peppers, and more. You'll leave with a comprehensive understanding of how to successfully do each gardening task, and take home a planting guide that will help you through the entire growing season.

Annuals and Perennials for Color in the Garden

Plants provide the backbone of the garden with vibrant colors, textures, and forms that weave together to create your own personal oasis. Learn the basics of perennials, annuals and biennials, how to make the best selections for your garden and how to best maintain your plants throughout the season. From the traditional to the unusual we will explore the limitless varieties of plants and send you into the growing season prepared.

These classes combined usually cost more than $200, but with New Gardener Boot Camp, the event will be $60 members, $80 non-members. Register early as space is limited.

Lunch included with registration

Rocky Mountain Gardening Elective

The Japanese beetle – found in many Front Range areas - is moving to new communities. This unwelcome beetle is concerning home owners with serious damage to plants. Instructor Betty Cahill takes the class through the management options for the Japanese beetle during its adult and larval stages. She provides tips on how to protect your favorite plants, including a plant list that Japanese beetles prefer and mostly avoid.

Instructor: Betty Cahill

Price: $31, $26 member

Rocky Mountain Gardening Elective

This course is designed for the Front Range gardener beginner. The basics of what is needed to adjust gardening skills from other climates to the Front Range’s finicky climate are covered. If you have never gardened here before or are looking for more success, this is the class for you! Learn the skills necessary to become an enthusiastic gardener. Annuals, perennials and vegetables are discussed, along with trees and shrubs that thrive in our climate, elevation and varying soils. Plant selection, planting and troubleshooting is discussed.

Subsequent weeks focus on the elements, water needs, fertilizers and organic gardening.

Instructor: Patti O'Neal

Price: $90, $80 members

Special Instruction: Please bring a glass jar of soil to class. (Must be see through glass jar to study layers of your own backyard native soil)

Café Botanique is a part of the Botanical Art and Illustration Certificate Program and is open to Botanical Art and Illustration students, Gardens' members, the general public, academia and artists. The 30-40 minute talk starts at 6:30 p.m. and is followed by a discussion. This lecture offers one elective credit hour in the BI-program. Fee: $5.

Rocky Mountain Gardening Required Course Group I

This class details all the specifics necessary to grow plants successfully in the Rocky Mountain region. Soil preparation, plant choice and location, planting techniques and year-round maintenance specific to Colorado will be covered. We'll review plant growth, fertilizers, microclimates and more.

Price: $161, $135 members

Instructor: Thaddeus Gourd attended New Mexico State University where he graduated with a B.S. degree in Pest Management and Horticulture. He earned a Master’s Degree with thesis study in Entomology at New Mexico State University and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology with emphasis on plant parasitic nematodes at North Carolina State University. Thaddeus has worked over 19 years in the private sector of the plant science business and since 2000, has worked at Colorado State University Extension as an Agriculture Agent and Director for Adams County. He has extensive experience of gardening and greenhouse management and has been involved in the practice of Integrated Pest Management for over 30 years.

Special Instructions: All students are requested to bring graph paper and pencils to the first class

Photo courtesy of: Soil Science (flickr)

Rocky Mountain Gardening Required Course Group I

Rocky Mountain Horticulture II is an introduction to general information on plant management. Each of these four classes will present an overview by an expert from the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Service. Topics include the identification and control of lawn and garden weeds, diseases and insects, and integrated pest management.

Instructor: Thaddeus Gourd attended New Mexico State University where he graduated with a B.S. degree in Pest Management and Horticulture. He earned a Master's Degree with thesis study in Entomology at New Mexico State University and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology with emphasis on plant parasitic nematodes at North Carolina State University. Thaddeus has worked over 19 years in the private sector of the plant science business and since 2000, has worked at Colorado State University Extension as an Agriculture Agent and Director for Adams County. He has extensive experience of gardening and greenhouse management and has been involved in the practice of Integrated Pest Management for over 30 years.

Price: $161, $135 members

Special instructions: Instructor will provide material and specimens for the participants to examine during this 4 session course.  The class is also encouraged to bring in specimens that can be used for class diagnostics. 

Rocky Mountain Gardening Required Course Group I

Gardening remains high and dry in the Rocky Mountain region! Water-Smart Gardening is an environmentally friendly way to create a beautiful home landscape that will thrive under low water conditions. Join this class to learn the principles of Water-Smart Gardening and some of the many plants that you can incorporate into your yard.

Instructor: David Winger

Price: $62, $55 members

Rocky Mountain Gardening Elective

Few things excite a gardener more than buying new plants for their gardens, especially if the plants are exotics, unusual or heirlooms. Second-only to the creation of new plants is the financial benefit of growing your own plants, whether flowers, herbs or vegetables.

This class will demystify the seed-starting process primarily focused to the novice gardener, but a good review of the best success tips if a more advanced gardener needs a refresher. Learn simple seed botany and the process of best practices for successful seed germination, successful transplanting, and seed collection and storage and cover some of the reasons seeds and seedlings fail.

After discussion, participants will get a hands-on demonstration and students will leave with seed trays and seeds to return home and practice what you have learned in class. This class will help you up your game to produce all the transplants you could possibly need and set you up for upcoming classes on spring and summer vegetable gardening and succession planting.

Instructor: Patti O'Neal

Price: $37, $32 members, includes $5 for materials.

Special Instructions: Each participant will get a seed tray for seed starting, with all necessary materials to get your garden going this year!

Image Courtesy of: photofarmer (flickr)

Rocky Mountain Gardening Required Course Group II

In our dry region, sustainable gardening means using little or no irrigation water. By choosing the best waterwise plants we make our gardens in tune with the climate and conditions, conserve an ever-scarcer resource, and last but not least, nurture our aesthetic spirit and the web of life around us. Lauren will explore a rich palette of lovely flowering plants that need little if any water, soil amendment or fertilizers, that attract pollinators and beneficial wildlife, and require little effort to keep happy and beautiful.

Price: $34, $29 member

Instructor Bio: Long-time DBG instructor Lauren Springer Ois a designer, author, and plantswoman. She designed several gardens at DBG including the popular WaterSmart Garden and the native Visitors’ Center gardens at Chatfield Farm. She is on staff at the Gardens on Spring Creek in her hometown of Fort Collins, creating and tending the new ½ acre waterwise Undaunted Garden. Her work has appeared in books, magazines, and on television, and her plant introductions are available at regional nurseries.

Rocky Mountain Gardening Required Course Group I

Soil is the bottom line in starting your garden successfully, and the properties of Front Range soils present unique challenges. By learning some simple physical and chemical properties of soil, including parent material and its formation, you can gain a better understanding of how plants grow in it and what to consider in plant selection and landscape design.

Instructor: Jean Reeder

Price: $92, $85 members