Forgot about it! Always so early in the year, that I'm concentrating on other things.
I see it's too late to register.
They will have to miss my smiling face this year :Fill us in, please, with all the latest gardening news and new plant intro's. (Those that attend).
Rb

Someday I might like to attend one of these Symposiums, but this year my schedule is booked for spring classes!
I'm going to Georgia Organics conference to hear Michael Pollan and also Mr. Dervaes of Path to freedom.com speak! This is my dream "line up" of speakers.
Then I signed up for three classes at Oakhurst Gardens in Decatur. Walter Reeves chicken class, an introduction to Bee Keeping and Lostman's (sometimes he visits this board)fruit tree grafting class.
WOO HOO!
Maybe since we can't all attend everything, we can report here on Gardenweb all the juicy stuff we learned or saw!

GGG

I didn't even know about it 'til I just saw this post. :( Oh well. Does anyone here attend the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta? Hubby and I have been busy that week for the last couple of years, so we've not had a chance to check it out. We thought we would REALLY make an effort to go this year...has it been a fun / useful event in the past?

I have been to the SEFS in the past (not in the last 3 years though). The demonstration gardens can be inspirational. I didn't care about the competition for individual flower stems .... Of course there are plenty of vendors and you can buy some neat stuff. And there are scheduled talks that may be of interest.

And don't forget the native plant symposium coming up on Valentine's Day (bring your sweetie). Speakers, lunch, vendors ....

Here is a link that might be useful: GNPS Symposium 2/14/09

The SE Flower Show has moved...AGAIN!
New location is Cobb Galleria Centre. More convenient for those of you in the north and NW Metro area, but much further distance for me to travel. Probably will pass this year. I haven't regularly attended, since they moved to the GA World Congress Center. Always felt uneasy in that location. with the lack of security.

Here is a link that might be useful: SE Flower Show

I used to go to the SE Flower Show and have even displayed there. I had planned to display this year too, but I can not get to the Cobb center to display or even to visit the flower show. It's too far and MARTA does not go there for a visit. I used to go almost every day to hear speakers etc. It is really sad for me that they moved it out of the city.

According to rumormongers, the SEFS has been teetering on the brink of extinction for the past several years, since the ABG pulled out. It may go the way of the Mass. Horticultural Society's 137 year-old New England Flower Show, held each year in Boston. It's doubtful that they will have one this year due to financial difficulties. The 2008 show did not produce enough revenue to pay all of the bills.
All horticultural related endeavors are facing tough times, due to the waning interest of gardeners. Many Garden Clubs and Plant Societies have dwindling memberships. Nurseries keep raising prices, to cover costs and turn a profit, in the face of declining sales. A practice that is self-defeating, IMO.
Drought conditions in our area are partially to blame, but is not an excuse nationwide!

Rb

please post events and classes no matter how small. I am always looking for learning opportunities and have a tough time finding them. Oakhurst Gardens looks like they host a lot of fun things, I wish it was closer! Please tell us how the beekeeping goes, it's something I am interested in.

laylaa, gardeners come from all over to take classes at Oakhurst. I also teach there. Regularly I have gardeners come from Tennessee, Alabama and far flug parts of Georgia.

RB, I am not sure if there is a lesser interest in gardening, or a lesser interest in ornamental gardening. At work we are seeing a hugely rising interest in food gardening and I've noticed that events centered around food and gardening are growing quickly. I've been to several in the past few months and they had far more attendees than expect.

FL

Re: the rise in food gardening, I saw something on TV recently (wish I could remember where/when) regarding the rise of something called a "Garden Coach." Have any of you heard of this? Apparently, it's someone who is sort of with you on a consulting basis...not like a landscape architect, but more like guidance on how to build your veggie garden and how to prepare compost and etc. I thought it was an interesting concept. And, supposedly, this is on the rise because the interest in food gardening is on the rise too.

Yes. I have been a garden coach for about 4 years now. I combine that with some basic garden design (nothing big) and other things (I do similar jobs for schools linking the garden to classroom curricular for teachers).

It is quite amazing that there are people who are really AFRAID to plant a seed, or to mix in amendments etc. I offer to teach basic skills and give them loads of confidence and off they go and do amazing things!

P.S. I am not selling my skills here. Just tell you all what I do as one of my part-time jobs.

GGG - YOU are a garden coach? How cool is THAT? :) That is an awesome gig and it must be fun! Yeah, I've had that amendment fear before actually, so I can relate to that. I'm not afraid to plant a seed, and I'm in the early stages (have had a pile for one year now...) of learning to compost. But, fertilizer and etc is completely foreign to me. I never know if I'm doing the right thing or not. Last year, I had a garden center employee talk me into buying fish emulsion for my annuals. I liked that it was easy to use, but I have to say I don't think I got more blooms...bigger plants yes, but not more blooms.

Oh well, this is all off-topic though...

I won't be going to the symposium, but would like to attend the Oakhurst sessions on starting seeds (Feb 24)and making a box for lettuce (Feb 28).

No more blooms with regular fish emulsion. You need to get Morbloom from Alaska brand for annuals - it is high in the last two numbers. Clear and unscented and works very well.

This year Jobes has come out with organic fertilizer "sticks" and that is awesome. I'm ordering them and can't wait to try them. Trees/shrubs and annuals/houseplants. Yipee. They will make life so easy for your container gardens!

Fertilizing is really not all that hard until you hit a snag and have a soil issue. Add your own home grown compost and keep the soil alive. Add a "soft" nitrogen product a few times a year to perennials such as fish emulsion (I make my own concoctions to dig into the soil). Keeping the soil alive and active is the most important thing you can do.
Sewingmom3, I'm just ordering all the delicious and unique seeds for the class on the 24th! Come and join us. We have a blast and you get to try loads of new things but also tried and true favorites. Everything chosen is chosen because it is non-GMO and does well in the South!!

GGG - Unscented sounds good! Fish emulsion isn't pleasant! :) I will look for the Morbloom.

Some friends that are attending said that I probably could have registered late, since registration was down by one-third this year and there were a lot of vacant seats.
Oh well, have plenty of projects lined up for this weekend. Finishing my winter seed sowing, potting of houseplants, bulbs and rooted cuttings.
Also working on a bathroom project that never seems to reach completion.
Propably will be too cold for me to do any outside work this weekend. Very few leaves left to rake, the gale last week blew them onto someone else's property. I have plenty for mulch & compost already. They are in numerous garbage cans, barrels, bags & boxes, awaiting the shredder!

My friends were purchasing some plants from Ernest Koone (Lazy K) and in convesation, he said that he had been notified by the GNPS that there would be no plant sale this year. What happened! That has been a fixture during the many years that I have been a member and when able, lent a helping hand. Could find no further info on the website (plant sale link doesn't work) or in the latest issue of the newsletter. It probably was discussed at a meeting that i missed.
esh_ could you enlighten us, please!
Rb

Yes, GNPS has decided to not have the plant sale again this year (we didn't have it in 2008 either). The primary reason is the drought: a) are we likely to have customers, and b) one source of our plant sale material comes from nursery donations and many of those nurseries are struggling. We are also lacking a plant sale committee chairman (looking for a volunteer). In the past, the sale has been a big effort; we are considering have two or more smaller sales per year instead going forward (especially if that would make it less daunting to a new chairman).

We are planning to sell plants at the Symposium (and Lazy K will be involved) and as I said may pull together a smaller sale for the fall if we can. We hope that our project at Stone Mountain can be a source of plant sale material in the future and perhaps even a location for a sale (on a small scale).

We very much hope to be back to selling plants in 2010 (if not fall 2009) as it is a large source of income for us. Under the "about us" tab on the website you can read some of the past Board minutes which might give you some more information (especially October).

On the plus side, several Atlanta organizations have been having native plant sales (Fernbank, Dunwoody Nature Center are two that come to mind). I know the variety is not as big and doesn't include the very cool rescued plants donated by our members. We hope to get back to it soon!

Here is a link that might be useful: More info about our Stone Mountain Propagation Project

Back home to the daily chores and cold temperatures!
All said, it was worth the time and expense. Some great speakers there this year. A familiar name to many, Lyndy Broder, had a very interesting presentation about Clematis. I may try more of those in the garden. Bodie Pennisi, from the UGA Experiment facility at Griffin, covered the GA Gold Medal Plants from the UGA trials. The selections for 2009 are some of the best in years, in my opinion!
At least, 2 are native species!

2009 Georgia Gold Medal Winners:

Vine - Armand clematis - Clematis armandii
Shrub - Fragrant Tea Olive - Osmanthus fragrans
Tree - Weeping redbud - Cercis canadensis 'Covey'
Annual - Summer snapdragon - Angelonia angustifolia
Perennial - Arkansas bluestar - Amsonia hubrichtii

Didn't bring home many plants this year. Have to consider the water requirements for newly planted shrubs and perennials.
2 - Camellia japonica, "Laura Walker' & 'Donna Michelle'(New)
2 - Vaccinium darrowii 'Rosa's Blush' Couldn't resist,love the rosy winter color!
5 - Native Azaleas, including the newly named and proposed species, R. colemanii (Red Hills Azalea), from SW GA & S AL.
and a few HUGE Amaryllis bulbs from an auction, that I practically stole, because there were few bidders!

The severe cold temperatures, that turned my Camellia blooms brown, wasn't selective, it also affected the blooms at Callaway and there was no show this year.
Looking forward to returning next year! Hope to see some of you there.