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 Whether you are starting with a blank slate garden or working with an old outdated garden this class will give you the basics on where to start.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

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 two evenings 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 classes, carefully designed to equip you with all the tools you will need to master that garden once and for all!

This series occurs on two evenings, two boot camp classes will be covered each evening.

Classes include:

Garden Planning 101 - Where do I Start?

This beginner 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 then $200 but with New Gardener Boot Camp event will be $60 members, $80 non-members. Register Early as space is limited.

This unique musical experience is for children up to age 12 and their parents or caregivers. Children are invited to dress as a favorite pollinator such as a bee, butterfly or bird and dance and sing along with the musical guests.

Each family-friendly indoor concert features original and traditional songs by a different musical performer. Performers are listed below.

February: Rocky Mountain Aardvarks

March: Animal Farm

April: TBD

Join us for the Spring 2020 session of Literature of the Land, a book club series hosted by the Helen Fowler Library. We will read three books over three months, focusing on a specific topic of interest.

This spring we will be reading the words of land stewards - those that have directly felt the changes brought on by colonization and industrialization. The conversation is a global one, but these local and native activists share, through the knowledge of their people’s ties to the land, what it means to be a true environmentalist in a culture that demands for us to be anything but.

Dates:

April 15: Unbowed: My Autobiography by Wangari Maathai

May 13: The Right to Be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier

June 17:  As Long as the Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker

Registration is mandatory, as attendance will be limited in number to allow for interactive discussion in a friendly group setting. The cost is $5 per session, $15 for all three sessions.

Each session has individual registration - please select all three date options with separate registrations if you would like to attend the entire series.

Price: $5 per session

Join us for a Tibetan singing bowls experience with Denver yoga instructor and sound healer Chris Anne Coviello of the Healing Space Wellness Center in Denver. Chris Anne has been performing Tibetan bowls concerts and teaching weekly kundalini yoga classes at Denver Botanic Gardens since 2009. The concert will begin with a symphonic gong and a Venus gong that are played gently with the intention to relax the nervous system.

The singing bowls are tuned to musical notes that correspond to the different chakras of the body and are played to balance energy in the body. Because we are made up of mostly water, the vibrational effect will be a full body cellular massage.

Tibetan singing bowls have been used for thousands of years as instruments of healing. So come relax, close your eyes and drift into an altered state which facilitates the body to heal. Wear comfy clothes and bring a yoga mat or blanket so that you may lie down and let the bells carry away with them all that no longer serves you. As the chakras re-align, breathe in peace and enter a profound state of physical, mental and emotional well-being. Feel as if you are 10 pounds lighter as stress, anxiety and fear melt from your system.

Special Instructions: No children under 12 years of age are permitted in this program. Talking, cell phones and other distractions are not permitted.

Price: $18, $15 members

Instructor: Chris Anne Coviello

Yoga with a twist. Enjoy vinyasa yoga, live violin music and a picnic! Relax in nature as Blake Burger, certified instructor and Gardens’ horticulturist, leads an hour-long class in the Gardens. Conclude the evening with a bring your own picnic and music performance. BYOB wine and beer is permitted.

Instructor: DBG's own horticulturalist and yoga instructor Blake Burger

Musician: Brittany Erickson is a classical violinist living in Denver, Colorado. She has performed chamber music and orchestral works across the country including with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, The Curtis Institute, and the Harvard University Orchestra. By day, Brittany is an educator who supports school districts to design innovative new schools, and in her spare time, she can be found enjoying the Colorado mountains or tending her vegetable garden with her partner, John.

Price: $18 general public

Special Instructions: Please bring your own yoga mat, water, picnic and a beverage or adult beverage of your choosing. Please be sure to bring valid ID if consuming alcohol.

This is a rain or shine event, both the yoga class and picnic will be held under the clear tent and lights of the amphitheater. Class will begin promptly at 6:30pm, so please arrive early enough to get settled in.