2020 Garden Symposium

 Please join us for a day devoted to gardening on the grounds of Elsong Gardens. This is our 30th year of welcoming gardening experts to share their vast knowledge and expertise with garden lovers of the region. Set among the estate gardens of Joe Biedenharn, the first bottler of Coca-Cola, guests enjoy a day of gardening know-how, a catered lunch, and creative inspiration from floral design experts. Topics are regionally focused. Our plant sale, in its 8th year, offers a wide array of hard to find items and speaker recommendations sourced from Treesearch Farms, Louisiana Tech Greenhouses, Elsong Gardens, and others.  

Guest speakers for our morning sessions will be Dr. Bill Welch and Heidi Sheesley.  Dr. Welch author and plantsman extraordinaire will share his vast knowledge of landscaping with hardy perennials and roses for our region. Author of many regional gardening favorites, Dr. Welch will speak about one of his recent books featured in Southern Living, The Rose Rustlers. The book highlights efforts made to collect and reintroduce southern garden favorites to the modern plant palette – among them, one of our favorites, the Peggy Martin Rose.

Our other gardening expert, Heidi Sheesley, has an infectious enthusiasm for the plant world. You do not want to miss hearing her lecture. Heidi helped us start our plant sale and has supplied us for the last seven years with remarkable specimens that focus on pollinators, natives, and uncommon finds. 

Local floral designing favorite Allen Futch will seek to inspire us with his afternoon session on floral arranging. Allen style lends itself to a natural, free-flowing look that turns the common arrangement into the uncommon. 

Reserve your spot by calling the Biedenharn Museum and Gardens 318-387-5281 or visiting the ticketing link. Registration fee is $70 per person and includes the entire event.  

*MUST HAVE RESERVATION TO ATTEND

Schedule

9:00-9:45 Sign in, Gather, Coffee, Plant Sale

9:45-10:00 Welcome

10:00 – 11:00 Concurrent Morning Sessions

Bill Welch “Landscaping with Roses and Perennial” 

Heidi Sheesley “Reignite Your Plant Passion”

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:30 Concurrent Morning Session (attend the speaker you did not attend during the first session)

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 3:00 Floral Design Session

3:00 Adjourn