Seminar Speakers
Glen Andresen, Metro
Since 1994, Glen Andresen has been Metro's natural gardening educator. Metro offers information on how to have healthy yards and gardens without the use of pesticides. He has been a Master Gardener since 1991 and has tended a three-quarter acre organic garden at a retreat center near Eagle Creek, Ore. He is the host of the half-hour edible gardening show, "The Dirt Bag," heard the second Monday of each month on Portland's community radio station KBOO 90.7 FM. He also writes "Ground View" a monthly gardening column for The Portland Alliance newspaper. Glen is also an avid hobbyist beekeeper. One colony led to three, which led to the 35 he has today ?Äì give or take a swarm or bear attack. He has degrees in economics and music, but still would rather play in the dirt.
Barbara Blossom Ashmun, Creative Garden Design
Garden writer and designer Barbara Blossom Ashmun is the author of six books, including Married to My Garden and Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary. She writes "Garden Muse," a weekly garden column for the Portland Tribune, and has written for many garden magazines, including Fine Gardening and Better Homes & Gardens. Ashmun lectures for garden shows, garden clubs, botanic gardens, libraries, and garden societies. She gardens on two-thirds of an acre in Southwest Portland and enjoys opening her garden to the public.
Jack Bigej, Al's Garden Center
Al Bigej, Jack's father and the founder of what was once Al's Fruit Stand, instilled the spirit of entrepreneurship in his son by having him work in the family business as soon as he could count out a dozen ears of corn consistently. However, it was Jack's passion and love of plants that evolved what was once a fruit stand into Al's Garden Center and Greenhouses. Al's currently consists of a six-acre garden center in Woodburn, a retail store in Gresham, and a 10-acre state of the art garden center in Sherwood with five growing facilities supplying the retail stores with over 90 percent of the company's plant material. In 2006, Al's Garden Centers were awarded the Garden Center of Year by the Garden Centers of America.
Mark Bigej, Al's Garden Center
Mark Bigej is part of the third generation that has helped grow Al's Garden Center from what used to be a fruit stand, into the multi-million dollar business it is today. Mark grew up in Canby in the heart of Oregon's nursery and agriculture area. At the early age of seven, Mark and his three sisters started their own nursery, called The Little Big E. They grew and supplied what was then called Al's Fruit and Shrub with containers of trees, shrubs and perennials. Mark has always been involved in the business, working beside his dad, Jack Bigej, the owner of Al's Garden Center. In 1992, Mark graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelors of Science in Horticulture. In 1994, Mark began working at Al's full time. He helped bring together his dad's vision of what Al's is today and is now general manager. Throughout this time, Mark Bigej has stayed active in the public and plant community. He has appeared as a regular guest on television and radio was recognized by the Oregon Association of Nurseries as Young Nurseryman of the Year.
Susan Benner
Susan Benner, MA, is a health educator and integrative personal trainer, dance and yoga teacher at Wellspring Medical Center in Woodburn, Oregon. A recent transplant from Tucson, Ariz., she directed the fitness program at the University of Arizona from 1994 - 1999 before owning her own successful wellness-based personal training, yoga and private training business. Susan has taught yoga for 7 years, and believes that it is beneficial for people of all walks of life and ability. Her classes are down to earth and non-intimidating, integrating both western exercise technique and eastern knowledge in a respectful, motivating and often humorous way.
Linda Beutler, author
Linda Beutler is a fearless gardener who grows a wide variety of plants in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood. A professional florist for 20 years, her first love in her own garden was growing flowers and foliage for cutting. That focus started changing 15 years ago when she purchased her first clematis as a misnamed plant. Beutler's personal collection now numbers over 300 separate species and cultivars. Linda is a member of numerous gardening organizations, including being a founding member of the Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection and is the instructor of cut flower growing at Clackamas Community College. She has also co-authored the chapter on growing clematis in North America for Dr. Mary Toomey's book The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Clematis and has now written her own book, Gardening with Clematis, which debuted in 2004, as well as Garden to Vase, which came out in spring 2007.
Charles Brun, Washington State University
Charles Brun has been the horticultural crops advisor for Washington State University for the past 24 years in which he covers both residential and commercial horticulture. He has a background in production, marketing and pest management of tree fruits, small fruits and medicinal herbs. He holds annual seminars called the Business of Horticulture, is the lead editor for Pacific Northwest Sustainable Agriculture News and oversees the Master Gardener Program.
Mike Darcy
Mike Darcy is one of the most respected home and garden professionals in the northwest. For more than two decades he has been helping home gardeners ensure the beauty and health of their gardens through his weekly radio show 'In the Garden with Mike Darcy' on 750 KXL. He has also done a gardening television show on Portland's KPTV and KATU networks. He shares the same passion for home gardening as his audience. Darcy earned a degree in horticulture and spent years in the home and garden profession before beginning his broadcast career. He has received the Garden Communicator's Award from the American Association of Nurserymen, the Distinguished Member of the Horticultural Allied Trades Industry Award from the Oregon Association of Nurserymen, and a Lifetime Beautification Award from the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce. He is very active in the Portland gardening community. He was the past board member of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon and has been a member of the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce Village Basket Committee since 1993. In addition to his broadcasting he writes a bi-monthly column for the Oregon Association of Nurseries trade publication, Digger, called 'What I?Äôm Hearing'. Mike and his wife Linda live and garden in Lake Oswego, Oregon and often open their garden to various organizations.
JJ De Sousa
JJ De Sousa is a garden/interior designer and enthusiast and proprietor of Digs Inside & Out on NE Alberta Street in Portland. At Digs, JJ directs a threefold business that combines a full service interior studio, a garden design studio and a specialty retail shop. She writes a regular column for NW Renovation Magazine and has appeared in Better Homes & Gardens, Home + Garden Northwest, The Oregonian's Home & Garden section and various other publications with her personal home and garden as well as client projects. Armed with her design sense and sense of humor, JJ offers a plethora of unique and creative ideas for inside and outside spaces which are sure to inspire you to entertain in your own space.
Bob Denman, Red Pig Garden Tools
Bob Denman is a tool designer and blacksmith that specializes in garden hand tools as well as an inventor, writer and purveyor of fine implements. Denman and his wife are the proprietors of Red Pig Garden Tools which produces hand-forged implements for home gardeners, nursery professionals, landscapers and farmers. Inventions by Denman include forged, solid socket trench clean out shovels with flat bottoms and turned-up sides, a combination diamond file, screw driver and multi wrench for tool maintenance, an improved ball weeder and a line of hand tools with screw-on handles. Several of his inventions have been awarded U.S. patents. A former journalist and copywriter, Denman is a regular contributor to Fine Gardening and Garden Compass magazines. His articles have also appeared in Small Farm Today and Gardener's Companion. He provided the text basis for the tools section of the most recent edition of the Sunset Western Garden Book.
Janice Dysinger, an OSU Master Gardener and owner of LifeRoses.com, a web based mail-order company featuring hardy rose plants and rose gardening supplies. As a garden writer she has published several organic rose gardening articles on the web site and has been an organic grower since 1996. Trained by Dr. Elaine Ingham of the Soil Foodweb, Inc., she is a certified soil foodweb advisor and is working with Dr. Steven George of Texas A & M in a three year "National EarthKind Rose Trial" in Gresham, Ore. that includes 30 different roses.
Jim Gilbert, One Green World
With a degree in Russian language from Portland State University, Jim Gilbert seemed destined to specialize in plants from the former Soviet Union and other unique varieties. In 1979 he founded wholesale nursery Northwoods Nursery and in 1994 went on to begin One Green World, a retail and mail-order nursery offering exotic and unique plants to gardeners in the Northwest and other regions of the United States. Jim has traveled extensively in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union as well as in Asia and Eastern Europe. He has introduced many new plants to Northwest gardeners, including Sea Berry, Honeyberry, Magnolia Vine, and Cornelian Cherry. Jim is a member of the Oregon Association of Nurseries, the Oregon Farm Bureau and the Molalla Chamber of Commerce. He serves as Chair of the Molalla Citizen Planning Organization and has taken a leading role in protecting the Molalla River as a source of clean irrigation and drinking water and as an economic resource for the Molalla region.
Carl Grimm, Metro
Carl Grimm serves a natural gardening and toxics reduction specialist at Metro. He manages natural gardening programs and other initiatives aimed at reducing the home use and disposal of toxic materials. He grew up in the gardens of northwest Portland and later Berkeley where he received a B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies. Grimm served 15 years at the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners as education director and habitat conservation director where he developed and led the city and county's Home Composting Program. He also served for five years as the public director of Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory?Äîa two-acres-under-glass Victorian era public living plant museum greenhouse. There he developed and led the Chicago Home Composting Program and worked with myriad of partners on planning and implementing aspects of Chicago's "green revolution," Advocates for Urban Agriculture, Chicago Organic Mayoral task force, Chicago's and Illinois' food policy councils and more.
Mallory Gwynn, Simply Gardening, Al's Garden Center
Mallory Gwynn has always had his roots in the soil. At three days old he was in the middle of strawberry harvest on his parents' farm. His childhood experiences on the farm would eventually work their way into his current career in the horticulture industry. His passion for plants is evidenced by his enthusiasm for his work at Al's Garden Center where he has worked for the past six years, most recently in the operations perennial growing operation. In October of 2002, Mallory made his debut on Good Day Lifestyles on Fox 12. After three years running, the show went off air, but he went on to host "Simply Gardening" a radio show on 860 KPAM as well as a television show on CNW14 on Saturday mornings. Mallory?Äôs energy is contagious and his love for people and plants is obvious.
Lucy Hardiman, Perennial Partners
A longtime Northwest treasure, Lucy Hardiman is a nationally known garden designer, writer and lecturer. The owner and principal designer of Perennial Partners, a local garden design firm, Hardiman specializes in mixed borders, containers, year-round interest, color, small spaces and big, bold plantings. She is a regional contributing editor for Horticulture Magazine and also writes for other national and regional publications including NW Garden News, Fine Gardening and Pacific Horticulture. She serves on the perennial committee for the Great Plant Picks Program, is vice-president of the Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection and is a past president of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. Intent on sharing her passion Hardiman teaches and lectures all over the country. Her own garden has been featured in many publications and books.
Sean Hogan, Cistus Design
Owner of Cistus Design, which specializes in the creation and organization of private and public gardens, Sean Hogan began his career in threatened and endangered plant work for the U.S. Forest Service and then became curator of the University of California's Botanical Garden before returning home to Portland. Open since 1995, Cistus Design has expanded to include a nursery carrying between 1,000 and 5,000 species at any given time, many of which are native, Mediterranean selections, hardy tropicals and perennials. View Cistus' work by visiting Portland's Classical Chinese Garden, where Hogan planned and obtained the plants for the garden.
Maurice Horn, Joy Creek Nursery
Maurice Horn is co-owner of Joy Creek Nursery, a specialty nursery in Scappoose, Ore. that features a wide variety of ornamental plants including clematis and hydrangeas. He has served on the council for the International Clematis Society, co-founded and served as vice president of the Pacific Northwest Clematis Society (now Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection), and has been a long-time participant in the Great Plant Picks program at the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle, Wash. He has lectured widely throughout the United States on a variety of garden related topics. His written contributions can be found in such publications as Horticulture, Pacific Horticulture, The International Clematis Society Journal, The British Clematis Society Journal and An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Clematis.
Eamonn Hughes, Hughes Water Gardens
A native of Ireland, Eamonn Hughes has been designing and constructing water features in Europe and the United States for 35 years. Since moving to Oregon in 1987, he has built hundreds of naturally beautiful water gardens in the Pacific Northwest. In addition, Eamonn has developed Hughes Water Gardens, a 10-acre retail and wholesale nursery near Wilsonville, Ore. where he grows pond plants and sells a full line of pond construction and maintenance supplies. Eamonn received "The Retailer of the Year 2001" award by the Oregon Association of Nurseries for his development of this garden center. He is co-author of the book "Waterfalls, Fountains, Pools & Streams" by Sterling Publishing and contributing author of "Rock Garden Design and Construction" by Timber Press. He has also produced a video titled "Creating your own Water Garden" which guides you step-by-step through the construction of a waterfall and pond.
Ed Hume, "Gardening in America"
Ed Hume, one of the nation's leading gardening authorities, is the host of the regional television show "Gardening in America" and an honoree of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Silver Circle. Hume has authored several articles that have appeared in local, regional and national publications, as well as many books, including the Keep It Simple gardening book series and a special children's book titled How to Plant a Bunch of Stuff. His latest book is Gardening with Ed Hume: Northwest Gardening Made Easy. As a certified nurseryman and master gardener, Hume is very involved in his community and industry. He has served as a governor's appointee to the Washington State Board of Landscape Architects as well as the National Board of Directors of the Garden Communicators of America and has recently been inducted into the Garden Writers Association "Hall of Fame". Through his accomplishments and energetic activities, Hume has made major contributions to the field of horticulture.
Charlotte Klee, Portland Classical Chinese Garden
In her role as Public Relations maven for the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, Charlotte Klee gives many presentations and tours a year to garden clubs and horticultural organizations. Klee is passionate about plants, gardens and people and bringing all three together. Additionally she owns and cultivates her private, "Healing Garden" which has been features in Sunset Magazine and on TV.
Debbie Knitz
Debbie Knitz's path to green was indirect. After several decades of globetrotting disguised as a fashion accessory corporate road warrior Debbie's true passion and creativity could no longer be contained. Horticulture had captured her heart and imagination. With feet planted firmly in her garden, Debbie cast off her city clothes and has carved a distinguished and successful path through the both the retail and wholesale horticulture communities. She has worked for such well-known companies as Sunny Border Nurseries and Valleybrook Gardens in a sales capacity and was brought to Oregon by Terra Nova Nurseries as their sales manager. At present Debbie is pursuing the American dream of running her own company, Blingking Lizard Design, a marketing and merchandising consulting company. In the gardening/design community she is best known for award winning mixed containers. A unique blend of color, texture and form elevate her work to new levels of excitement. Giving back to the industry, Knitz is the current chair of the Oregon Association of Nurseries Marketing Committee, a member of the YGP com, a committee chair for the YGP, and is on the 2008 Garden Writers convention committee to be held here in Portland this September.
Steve Lorton, Author
Most recently the northwest bureau chief of Sunset Magazine, a West Coast lifestyle magazine that offers fresh ideas for garden and home, Steve Lorton contributed extensively to all four areas the magazine: travel, gardening, home and lifestyle, and food. Lorton retired from Sunset Magazine in 2005 and is now pursuing his own interests, including gardening and travel, public speaking, writing and consulting.
Jeff Lowenfels, author
Jeff Lowenfels is the Cal Ripkin of Garden columnists. His weekly column has run in the Anchorage Daily News for more than 30 years without missing a week - even for vacations. An extremely popular national garden writer, Lowenfels is a former president of the Garden Writers of America (GWA), became a GWA Fellow in 1999 and was inducted into the GWA Hall of Fame, garden writing's highest honor, in 2004. His articles have appeared in numerous national gardening magazines ranging from Organic Gardening to Growing Edge. Lately he has been called the "Al Gore of Gardening" though Republicans prefer the "Ronnie Reagan of horticulture." Either way, there is no better or funnier garden speaker. Lowenfels' new book, "Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web" is already in its second printing and has been reviewed as the most important gardening book of the past 25 years. It explains the soil food web and how to make it work in yards and gardens. Lowenfels is also the founder "Plant A Row for The Hungry" which has resulted in gardeners growing and donating enough food to provide 20 million meals to feed the hungry every growing season.
Toby Mancini
Toby Mancini is production manager at Old Valley Farm in Boise, Idaho, a small 10-acre nursery growing hardy perennials and shrubs that have proven to thrive in the treasure valley and surrounding area. Before moving to Boise with his wife and children to be closer to family, Toby was a specialty plants grower at Monrovia's 1,000-acre Visalia, Calif. nursery. He coached more than 125 craftsmen and was responsible for the production of Hydrangeas, Roses, Camellias, Citrus, Perennials, Trees, and Vines. Toby worked closely with the New Plants team, determining the viability of potential new plant varieties. He has more than 16 years in the nursery business, both on the retail side of the business at large garden centers, and on the wholesale as a grower and technical support manager. Toby earned his Bachelor's degree in Ornamental Horticulture at Cal Poly Pomona, and is accredited as a CCNP (California Certified Nursery Professional) and APCA (Agricultural Pest Control Advisor).
Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Nichols Garden Nursery
Rose Marie Nichols McGee is the president of Nichols Garden Nursery, a family owned mail order seed company and nursery currently run by two generations. She became interested in container gardening because of her mother's desire to continue growing a garden in spite of severe arthritis. This has evolved into a search for techniques and varieties best suited to successful small space gardening. McGee is co-author of the Bountiful Container, the "bible for small- space gardeners who want to grow what they eat" and author of Basic Herb Cookery. She is also a fellow of the Garden Writers Association. An enthusiastic supporter of organic gardening and farmers markets she was a "locavore" before the word was invented.
Ron Monnier, Monnier's Country Gardens
Ron Monnier and his wife Debbie have owned and operated Monnier's Country Gardens in Woodburn, Ore. since 1993. The nursery and gardens they have developed showcase an assortment of almost 1,300 different varieties of fuchsias and has an active fuchsia hybridizing program which will soon be releasing varieties to the area. Monnier's expertise comes from experiences in the nursery business, his many years as a gardener as well as the 20 years spent as a nursery and agricultural consultant with Woodburn Fertilizer. Ron makes regular presentations to garden clubs and groups throughout the Northwest and is seen regularly on TV promoting fuchsias.
Vanessa Nagel, Milieux Design Studio
Vanessa is an award-winning designer and the principal of MILIEUX DESIGN STUDIO, a garden design firm in Vancouver, Wash. She is certified by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), a current board member of Oregon's chapter of APLD, member of the Association of Northwest Landscape Designers and spent four years as a director for the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. During her 28 years as an interior designer, she was certified by the National Council of Interior Design Qualification, served as an Oregon Chapter president of the International Interior Design Association and occasionally served as an adjunct faculty member for Marylhurst University. Vanessa serves her community as a member of the City of Vancouver's Design Review Committee and is a published design writer.
Kym Pokorny, The Oregonian
Kym Pokorny grew up on her dad's wholesale nursery in Northern California. She studied journalism and environmental science in college and graduated with a degree in journalism. She's been a journalist for 23 years, the last 10 as garden writer for The Oregonian in Portland. Kym has served as a regional director for the Garden Writers Association and as chairman of the GWA Foundation Board. She's won a Quill & Trowel Award, two Garden Globes and the Herald Award from the American Nursery & Landscape Association. She lives happily with her dog, Sadie, in Portland where her garden threatens to engulf her 1922 house.
Ron Putz is the Commercial Oregon Hardscapes Sales and Promotions Representative for Mutual Materials Company's southern region. Mutual Materials Company is the largest manufacturer and distributor of concrete and clay hardscaping products in the Pacific Northwest. Most of his 21 years with the company he's been working with hardscaping products. Ron has training and experience in segmental paver and retaining wall design and construction. He works with engineers, architects, landscape architects, landscape designers, municipalities and various groups of contractors throughout the region.
Al Toops, The Scotts Company
Al Toops has 24 years of experience in the horticulture industry, most recently as the Pacific Northwest Territory Manager for The Scotts Professional Business Group. Other past experience includes fertilizer and professional potting media sales. He has a bachelor's degree in agronomy and soil science from Oklahoma State University and a MBA from the University of Phoenix. Based in Marysville, Ohio, The Scotts Company LLC is the world's leading producer and marketer of professional horticulture products.
Kristin Van Hoose, Hydrangeas Plus
Kristin Van Hoose and her husband, David, own Hydrangeas Plus and Amethyst Hill Nursery in Aurora, Ore. The couple purchased the nursery operation in 1999 and specialize in hydrangeas, azaleas and other ornamental shrubs. The Van Hooses grow more than 250 different varieties and cultivars and are renowned for its vast collection of rare and unusual varieties. Van Hoose grew up in Richland, Wash., and graduated from Washington State University. In her rare spare time, she likes to spend quality time with her two daughters. She currently serves as Treasurer for the Oregon Association of Nurseries.
Steve Varga, Prograss Horticultural Specialist
Steve Varga holds a degree in Horticulture from Colorado State University and has worked in botanic gardens in Georgia and wholesale nurseries in California and Oregon. As the sales manager for ProGrass, he also develops new products and services, most notably the environmentally-based Natural Care program. Varga shares his horticultural expertise and experience through public gardening seminars. Due to his outstanding reputation in the landscaping industry, he is often sought out by the media to comment on gardening and horticultural issues. In his spare time he enjoys camping, photography, off-road driving and the culture of desert plants in his greenhouse.
Bill Warner, Sturdi-built Greenhouse Manufacturing
Owner and operator of one of the first manufacturers of residential greenhouses in the Pacific Northwest, Sturdi-built Greenhouse Manufacturing Company, Bill Warner has made a commitment to producing high quality greenhouses. In fact, he is so dedicated that despite "retirement" he's made a habit of making two-to-three trips visiting Sturdi-built customers across the United States each year. During these visits he has seen a wide variety of uses for greenhouses, ranging from the most exquisite orchid houses to the very basic seed and plant growing space. Through customer input, he has also seen what does and does not work for the everyday gardener. Once again, Warner will share what he's learned about designing and equipping the home greenhouse with the northwest gardening public.
Michael Weishan, Michael Weishan & Associations (former host of The Victory Garden)
After founding his own design/build firm Michael Weishan & Associates in 1986 - a practice he still actively heads ?Äì Michael began to share his gardening expertise through writing. He first wrote his own quarterly newsletter, Traditional Gardening, and then for Old House Journal. From there, Michael went on to publish his first book, "The New Traditional Garden," which has been widely credited with introducing the joys of old-house gardening to North America. A contributor to numerous national magazines and periodicals over the last decade, Michael is the former Gardening Editor of both Country Living and New Old House magazines. He has authored two other books: From a Victorian Garden and the Victory Garden Companion. He is also a veteran of National Public Radio where he hosted his own program, The Cultivated Gardener for several years before he debuted as the host of The Victory Garden on PBS in 2001. There he shared his design tips, expert advice and trademark sense of humor with gardeners of all levels for six years. Michael has appeared frequently on various other national programs as well, including spots on the CBS Early Show and NBC's Today Show.
Marty Wingate, author
Marty Wingate is writer and speaker about gardens and travel. Her features appear every Saturday in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and in national magazines, including Fine Gardening and Country Gardener. She is the author of three books, "Big Ideas for Northwest Gardens," "The Big Book of Perennials" and "The Bellevue Botanical Garden: Celebrating 15 Years." She regularly leads garden tours to the U.K. and to Ireland. She is a member of the Arboretum Foundation and serves on the editorial board of the Arboretum Bulletin. She is also a member of Northwest Horticultural Society, Northwest Perennial Alliance, The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, the Royal Horticultural Society and Garden Writers of America. She has been a Master Gardener for 13 years and has a master's degree in urban horticulture from the University of Washington.
