Perennial School is April 11 – See who’s speaking!

Dr. Gary Gao – “Herbaceous Perennials – The Inspiration for it All” 

Dr. Gary Gao started his horticulture extension career with OSU Extension in Clermont County as a horticulture extension agent/educator in August 14, 1993.  Back then, perennials were relatively new to the general public.  Most gardeners were more interested in trees, shrubs and annual flowers.  However, gardening experts and advanced gardeners were quite hungry for information on herbaceous perennials.  Gary thought it would be good to stat a program on perennials.  He was hoping for 30-50 people for the first Perennial School.  Little did he know, the program drew more 95 registrations!  He had to turn away more than 20 due to the fire code for the classroom.  Several years later, the program grew a lot and drew a record attendance of 280, which was again limited by the fire code of that meeting facility.  Gary transferred to OSU Extension in Delaware County in 2006, and then OSU South Centers in Piketon in 2011 as an associate professor and extension specialist for berry crops.  Please join Gary for an informative session on how Southwest Ohio Perennial Flower got started and what his favorite perennials are.

Dr. Gao started the Southwest Ohio Perennial School in 1994


Cory Christopher – “Lest Our Children Forget: Invasive plants, Native Habitat, and our Shifting Baseline”

Cory Christopher serves as the Director and Suzanne E. & Phillip O. Geier Chair of the Center for Conservation at the Cincinnati Nature Center. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Ecology from the University of Georgia and a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Cincinnati, where he studied the impacts of invasive plants on native systems. His post-doctoral work at Washington University in St. Louis focused on the restoration of longleaf pine savannas in the SE United States. His professional interests lie at the intersection of education and conservation, with a particular focus on helping people embrace the native biodiversity in their back yards.

Steve Ferris – “GARDEN ROSES….The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!”

B.S. Landscape Horticulture, OSU, 1970; 25 years as a Wholesale Sales Rep for large Garden Rose Growers: Armstrong Roses, Weeks Roses, Certified Roses, and Jackson and Perkins Roses
Currently serves on the panel of Judges at The Biltmore International Rose Trials, Ashville, NC
(Rose Gardening experience in his own “Garden of Death and Destruction!”)

Jim McCormac – “Ohio Birds and Biodiversity”

I am a lifelong Ohioan who has made a study of natural history since the age of eight or so – longer than I can remember! A fascination with birds has grown into an amazement with all of nature, and an insatiable curiosity to learn more. One of my major ambitions is to get more people interested in nature. The more of us who care, the more likely that our natural world will survive.

Chris Daeger  “You are a gardener, therefore you are an artist”

Horticulturally active since 1963, professionally since 1980, Chris Daeger has had experiences in greenhouse work, floral arranging, “bone orchard” grounds maintenance, landscape designing and installation, and growing all sorts of weird and unusual trees and shrubs.  He is the retired manager – director of the Stanley M. Rowe Arboretum (where he began in 1983), and the owner of B.C. Nursery (established in 1980).  And does anyone really care about all the educational experiences and the memberships of all the horticultural organizations?  Naw, I doubt it.

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