News & Press

Deadlines Approaching for NCYGS Early Bird Registration and Scholarships

Join us at the National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, July 12-15 in Knoxville, Tennessee, for an invigorating and educational experience where you will connect with gardening educators from around the country and learn new ways to bring the joys of gardening into your classrooms and communities. The 31st Annual Symposium, hosted by the University of Tennessee and UT Gardens – Knoxville, will feature 30 engaging sessions, eight field experiences, and limitless bonding amongst like-minded peers.  

We are thrilled to be able to offer scholarships to defray the cost to attend, thanks to the generosity of Ball Horticultural Company and the University of Tennessee. There are three scholarship categories based on demonstrated financial need, commitment to children’s and youth gardening initiatives, and work with underserved and/or Title I populations.  

 

Photo Credit: Jonah Brown

  • Ball Horticultural Scholarship Fund – open to those who self-identify as Black, Indigenous and/or as a Person of Color 
  • University of Tennessee Scholarships – open to Tennessee residents and UT students 
  • National Children & Youth Garden Symposium Scholarships – open to all
    symposium attendees. 

Important Dates:
May 12 – Deadline for Early Bird Registration.
May 27 – Deadline for Scholarships.
June 10 – Deadline for Hotel Group Discount Online Reservations.
June 28 – Deadline for Online Registration.

We hope you join us for the 2023 NCYGS, one of the country’s longest-running, most prestigious gardening conferences for youth educators.  Leveraging a proven train-the-trainer model, the Symposium has cultivated thousands of educators across the country who return to their communities inspired, invigorated, and motivated to educate a new generation about the importance of gardening. 

News & Press

New Directions in The American Landscape Virtual Education Series

AHS is once again proudly sponsoring the New Directions in The American Landscape (NDAL) Virtual Education Series this spring, March through April. Registration will be open and recordings will be viewable for three months after each live session date. CEU’s available (APLD, LA CES, NOFA). Registration is now available.  

News & Press

2023 Junior Master Gardener National Leader Training Conference

Join Junior Master Gardener for their Virtual 2023 National Leader Training, February 21-22.  This is a great opportunity for teachers, administrators, and program leaders to learn how to implement best practices, how to involve parents and students into programming, and how to build sustainability.  

Keynote speakers: 

  • Chris Field, founder and CEO of Mercy Project, non-profit that rescues children from human trafficking in Ghana 
  • Kjell N. Lindgren, M.D., NASA astronaut, Texas Master Naturalist 

To learn more about the JMG National Leader Training, visit www.jmgkids.us 

JGM partners with AHS on the “Growing Good Kids – Excellence in Children’s Literature” award that honors best new children’s books about gardening and nature. Winners are announced at the AHS National Children & Youth Symposium. Learn more about the Growing Good Kids Book Awards.   

News & Press

Perennially Yours Webinar Series

Join Kerry Mendez for the Perennially Yours Webinar Series. The series, co-sponsored by AHS, Avant Gardens, Bluestone Perennials, Espoma, Great Garden Plants, and Plantskydd Animal Repellents, focuses on the art of high-impact, low maintenance, sustainable flower gardening and landscaping. Each webinar, held on a Saturday at 11 a.m. ET, includes detailed lecture notes and a CEU form for Master Gardeners and Green Industry Professionals. Individual webinars are $13.95. Bundle prices also available. Register today.  

  • January 21 – The Perennial Plant Collector’sTreasure Chest. This talk is for plantaholics seeking unusual, fun and striking perennials that will have heads turning and onlookers mumbling “What is that?” As an avid collector, I’ve walked many miles in my muck boots to find some unique plants that transform ho-hum gardens into eye-popping, extraordinary ones. The presentation includes sources for these plants. 
  • February 25 – Remarkable Natives forBeautiful, Planet-Friendly Gardens. There seems to be a misconception that natives are not as showy as non-native plants in the flower garden. Not true!  This lecture will open your eyes to dazzling specimens that attract accolades as well as pollinators. The presentation includes mail-order sources for natives (in addition to your local garden center!) 
  • March 18 – Clever Design Tips for Everblooming,Low-Maintenance Gardens. This inspiring lecture will surprise you with creative, easy-to-implement strategies for extending the blooms of popular plants for weeks!  Also showcased are time-saving design tips including distinctive plant combinations that provide unstoppable color spring through fall, as well as groundcover tapestries that smother weeds and delight pollinators.  You will also learn valuable lessons from before and after design projects to avoid costly landscape mistakes. 
  • April 1 – Time-saving,Sustainable Maintenance Strategies for Lush Flower Gardens.  This info-packed lecture covers seasonal maintenance tasks, including jump-starting gardens in spring and putting them to bed in the fall, as well as routine tasks such as watering and weeding. Topics include pruning; fertilizers; mulch; plant divisions; planet-friendly pest and disease practices; critter management and more. Most appropriate for gardeners in Hardiness Zones 3 – 7. 

News & Press

Ring in the New Year with More Member Discounts to Garden Shows!

Two more great reasons to be a member of AHS!

  1. Discounts to garden shows
  2. Educational opportunities on horticulture’s relationship with environmental wellness

AHS members will receive discounts to the following three flower and garden shows (in addition to shows produced by MarketPlace Events). These shows will be presenting the AHS Environmental Awards which recognize exhibits of horticultural excellence that best demonstrate the bond between horticulture and the environment. Exhibits will be judged by the criteria of design, aesthetics, plant material, and environmental stewardship.

We are pleased to be a part of the environmental movement and to share these benefits with our AHS members.

News & Press

AHS Members to Get Mega 2-for-1 Ticket Discount to Home & Garden Shows

We are pleased to offer our members a special 2-for-1 ticket discount to 21 upcoming Home and Garden Shows produced by Marketplace Events in 2023! You will take away lots of fresh and creative ideas, products, and tips for your garden this spring. AHS members can login to their account homepage for complementing discount codes. Not a member yet? Join today and take advantage of the return of this special member benefit!

News & Press

NDAL Presents Ecology-based Landscape Intensive Virtual Course

Join influential Landscape Designer Larry Weaner and native plant expert Ian Caton as they explore the integration of restoration ecology and fine garden design. Applicable Regions: Eastern and Midwestern U.S. (Florida excluded). Presented by New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), the virtual sessions are $105 each and include a 100+ page, login-protected course manual. The session will be recorded live and viewable to registrants for three months after each live session date. Register today.

December 1, 1-4:30 PM EST
The Canopied Landscape: Woodlands, Edges, and Hedgerows
An ecology-based approach to woodland design is more like guiding a vegetative process than implementing a static planting plan. Guided succession can foster the orderly transformation from an open field to a multi-tiered forest through planting, managed natural recruitment, or a combination of the two. Under existing canopy, where few herbaceous species can be established through direct seeding, we will discuss the planting of small “seed source colonies,” and management strategies to encourage their proliferation into the larger landscape. Management techniques that are unique to woodlands including selective height cutting, sunlight manipulation, and assisted seed dispersal, will also be described in detail.

December 2, 1-4:30 PM EST
The Artistic Overlay: Making “Wild” Legible
Ecological design need not be a bitter aesthetic pill that our clients must swallow to do the right thing. The order inherent in our wild native landscapes is widely considered beautiful. By translating that ecology-based order into the aesthetically based language of fine garden design, the results can be much more universally embraced by our clients. In addition, Larry will illustrate how highly gardenesque – and even formal – elements can gracefully interact and intermingle with wilder woodland, shrubland and meadow compositions. This approach can result in landscapes that are both ecologically productive and visually pleasing to clients with a variety of aesthetic preferences.

December 15, 1-4:30 PM EST
Plants of the Open Landscape: Meadows, Old Fields, and Shrublands
In this session, native plant authority Ian Caton will examine plants of the open landscape that exemplify the ecological characteristics described by Larry Weaner in previous sessions. His presentation will span the successional period from herbaceous meadow, to mixed woody/herbaceous old field, to the ecologically important but often neglected clonal shrub thicket. He will also present a group of “workhorse” native species for the sunlit landscape that combine reliability and weed suppression with attractive aesthetic character.

December 16, 1-4:30 PM EST
Plants of the Canopied Landscape: Woodlands, Edges, and Hedgerows
In this session, native plant authority Ian Caton will examine plants of the canopied landscape that exemplify the ecological characteristics described by Larry Weaner in previous sessions. His presentation will include plants found at all of the woodland’s vertical layers, from canopy to understory. He will also discuss their specific abilities to integrate with the unique colonization strategies inherent in woodland development and enhancement. Finally, Ian will present a group of “workhorse” native species for the woodland, including those that combine reliability with desirable aesthetic characteristics.

News & Press

2021 Growing Good Kids Book Award Winners

The Junior Master Gardener Program and the American Horticultural Society honor engaging, inspiring works of plant, garden and ecology-themed children’s literature through the “Growing Good Kids – Excellence in Children’s Literature Awards” Program. Each year, book winners are announced at the AHS’s annual National Children & Youth Garden Symposium  (NCYGS).
Join us in congratulating the 2021 Growing Good Kids Book Award Winners!

  • One Little Lot: The 1-2-3s of an Urban Garden

    By Diane C. Mullen
    Illustrated by Oriol Vidal
    Published by Charlesbridge

  • Mae the Mayfly

    By Denise Brennan-Nelson
    illustrated by Florence Weiser
    Published by Sleeping Bear Press

  • Butterflies Belong Here 

    By Deborah Hopkinson
    illustrated by Meilo So
    Published by Chronicle Books
Learn more about each of the winners at https://jmgkids.us/bookawards.
#NCGYS21

News & Press

AHS Joins Million Pollinator Challenge

The American Horticultural Society (AHS) has joined with dozens of other gardening and conservation organizations to form the National Pollinator Garden Network (NPGN). This new coalition is launching a nationwide campaign – the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge – in response to President Barack Obama’s call to action to reverse the decline of a wide variety of pollinating insects ranging from honey bees to native bees and butterflies.

The NPGN, which collectively represents nearly one million active gardeners and 15,000 schoolyard gardens, is challenging the nation to reach the goal of one million additional pollinator gardens by the end of 2016. The NPGN and its individual members will provide resources for individuals, community groups, government agencies, and the garden industry to create more pollinator habitat through sustainable gardening practices and conservation efforts.

As noted in President Obama’s 2014 Presidential Memorandum on Pollinator Health and recently released a National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators, federal action combined with private sector partnerships and strong citizen engagement can restore pollinator populations to healthy levels. Pollinator gardens provide one way to reverse that decline by offering food, water, cover and places to raise young for honey bees, native bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators.

To tackle these challenges, the NPGN is rallying hundreds of thousands of gardeners, horticultural professionals, schools, and volunteers to help create a million pollinator gardens over the next two years. Any individual can participate by planting garden areas to support pollinators. “This challenge is a big step in the right direction,” says Tom Underwood, AHS executive director. “Creating a space that supports pollinators is something just about anyone can do to help make a difference.”

The AHS is proud to partner on this effort with organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, the American Public Gardens Association, the National Gardening Association, National Garden Clubs, Inc, and the American Society of Landscape Architects. To learn more, please visit www.millionpollinatorgardens.org.

# # #
The American Horticultural Society (AHS), founded in 1922, is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to “Making America a Nation of Gardeners, a Land of Gardens.” The mission of the AHS is to open the eyes of all Americans to the vital connection between people and plants, to inspire all Americans to become responsible caretakers of the Earth, to celebrate America’s diversity through the art and science of horticulture; and to lead this effort by sharing the Society’s unique national resources with all Americans.