SECCHIA GARDEN LECTURE VIRTUAL SERIES

Gardens have a unique restorative power in helping us to find peace during uncertain times. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought this important function of garden spaces into renewed focus. Gardens also play a critical ecological role in supporting local wildlife by promoting biodiversity, and providing opportunities for growing delicious and nutritious food. If you choose to get your hands dirty, garden design can provide a rich opportunity for creative expression. By building and nurturing thoughtful home garden spaces, you can experience the joy of a thriving garden throughout the changing seasons. Join us from the comfort of your own home this spring through Zoom for our first ever Secchia Garden Lecture Virtual Series, featuring Susan Morrison and Bill Cullina as they highlight ways to breathe new life into your home gardens this year.

“I’ve had so many clients tell me their gardens have been their refuge during this crazy year, and that is certainly true for me. Now that many of us have discovered how much peace and tranquility our own gardens can bring us, my hope going forward is that we won’t lose that connection, even as our lives return to normal.”—Susan Morrison

FEE: The Secchia Garden Lecture Virtual Series is free—donations are welcome and appreciated. Registration is required for each lecture at MeijerGardens.org/calendar. Log-in information for Zoom Webinar will be sent via email following registration. Please direct any registration questions to Eve Choi at echoi@meijergardens.org or call 616-975-3145. Captioning service will be provided for the lecture.

Join us from the comfort of your own home with Susan Morrison and Bill Cullina as they highlight ways to breathe new life into your home gardens this year. Read on to learn more about this year's Secchia Garden Lecture Virtual Series speakers.

SUSAN MORRISON

Susan Morrison is a highly sought-after public speaker, author and owner of Creative Exteriors Landscape Design. Based in the Bay Area of Northern California. Her goal is to help create unique and sustainable gardens that reflect your lifestyle. Susan’s work as a landscape designer has been featured in San Francisco Chronicle, Contra Costa Times, Fine Gardening and Cottages and Bungalows.

As she kicks off the Virtual Secchia Garden Lecture series on March 2nd with The Less is More Garden: Big Ideas for Designing your Small Yard, Susan will draw from her experience in innovative landscape design to highlight how anyone can create more beauty with less space in the garden. She will teach you a new technique for determining how to make the most impact with any budget, share strategies for making a small space stand out, and highlight what high-performing and problem-solving plants are best for small garden areas. Her book, The Less is More Garden, will be for sale in the DeVos-Keeler Gift Shop.

Be sure to tune in two weeks later on March 16th as Susan presents Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces. During this lecture, Susan will go beyond living walls and share vertical gardening techniques with the power to transform ordinary fences into focal points, beautifully camouflage eyesores and grow vegetables in unique spaces. She’ll dig deeper into how you can add “living art” to any garden design. You don’t want to miss out on Susan’s expert advice for gardeners with projects of every size and budget.

When I walk into a new garden, I feel as if I am on a treasure hunt. Perhaps because I’m a landscape designer, I find myself drawn to the details, whether that’s an unusual plant combination or the accent tiles in a garden wall. Once I’ve fully explored, I like to find a quiet spot to sit and let the mood of the garden wash over me.—Susan Morrison

BILL CULLINA

New Englander Bill Cullina is the current F. Otto Haas Executive Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum and has had a long history in leadership in botanic gardens. Previously, he served as the Head Propagator at the New England Wildflower Society/Native Plant Trust, and he earned a national reputation as the former CEO of the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden through trailblazing new programming initiatives for the institution and expanded facilities with state-of-the art LEED-certified educational spaces. His experience has fueled many publications and his rich horticultural background has made him an in-demand public speaker throughout the country.

On March 30th, Bill will challenge us to rethink the concept of a mixed border in What do you Mean I’m Not a Perennial!!?!—Native Shrubs and Small Trees for Perennial Companionship. He will take the familiar—yet often challenging—concept of integrating perennials, annuals, shrubs and evergreens and translate this into how anyone can practically accomplish thisin the home garden. With an emphasis on native shrubs and small trees that blend beautifully with herbaceous perennials and annuals, Bill will highlight his favorite fifty “natural mixers” that can help anyone bring form, texture, color and wildlife to perennial gardens.

As he brings the lecture series to a close with From Emerald Carpet to Amber Wave: Serene and Sensuous Plants for the Garden, Bill will showcase what he describes as the canvas on which nature paints its portraits—his favorite texturally rich and visually striking native ferns, grasses and sedges. He’ll illustrate the ways in which the forms and textures of these plants can impart rich, complex and enduring elements to the garden. The Virtual Secchia Garden Lecture Series is a must-see for garden enthusiasts of any level who want to make their home gardens sing this spring!

From the perspective of mental and spiritual health...it’s clear when you look at the research that walking through nature is a way to reduce stress and anxiety...—Bill Cullina from PennToday