Today’s Horticulture Symposium

A monarch butterfly resting on a yellow and orange flower.

Friday, February 7, 2025

8:00 am–4:30 pm

The Fountain Room

Plant Sale

8:00 am–4:45 pm

In-Person Symposium Pricing

$119 In-Person Symposium Early Bird
if registered by January 7

$149 In-Person Symposium
if registered after January 7

Includes Gardens Admission, access to the student plant sale, continental breakfast, break refreshments, and lunch.

Online-Only

Fee: $54

Online attendees can livestream the symposium and a recording will be available for 60 days from the date of the event. Both the livestream and event recording are accessible using your preferred platform.

Cancellation Policy

Early reservations are recommended. Seating is limited and reservations will be accepted on a first-come basis. Registration fees will be refunded less $30 processing fee if requests are made by Friday, January 31, 2025.

The event will be held regardless of weather conditions. No refunds will be given if you are unable to attend due to weather.

From exploring diverse ecosystems to the beauty found in connecting the past and current landscapes that inspire the next generation of horticulturists, the Today’s Horticulture Symposium is a day of interesting insights and information.

This daylong symposium is hosted by Longwood Gardens, Chanticleer Foundation, The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, and Pleasant Run Nursery.

2025 Schedule

8:00–8:45 am
Registration, Visitor Center

Continental breakfast provided in the Music Room.

8:00 am–4:45 pm
Plant Sale, Patio of Oranges

Shop an eclectic offering of houseplants, perennials, woodies and more. Proceeds from the sale benefit educational travel for students of the Longwood Gardens Professional Horticulture Program.

8:50 am
Welcome, Fountain Room

Alex Correia, Event Chair

9:00 am
Shrouded in Light: Naturalistic Planting Inspired by Wild Shrublands

Michael Guidi & Kevin Phillip Williams

Shrublands exist all around us, thriving in almost any environmental condition, from the desiccating sunshine of the endless sagebrush steppe to the deep, private shade of moist forests. These diverse and inspiring ecosystems serve as perfect models for our own gardens. Beyond their inherent beauty, they provide nurturing habitats for surrounding organisms and demonstrate resiliency in the face of a changing climate. In this presentation, naturalistic gardener Kevin Phillip Williams and ecologist and horticulture researcher Michael Guidi will explore a glorious spectrum of wild shrublands, as well as the philosophies and design strategies behind translating these magnificent plant communities into home gardens.

9:45–10:15 am
Morning Break

Refreshments provided in the Music Room.

10:15 am
Appalachian Ethnobotany and the Potential of New Horticultural Crops

Eric Burkhart

The Appalachian region of the eastern United States, which includes most of Pennsylvania, is a rich repository of temperate plant biodiversity. In this presentation, botanist, ethnobotanist, and agroforester Dr. Eric Burkhart shares examples of his work with culinary and medicinal crop development using native Appalachian forest species - discusses some of the conservation, restoration, and economic opportunities associated with these efforts.

11:00 am
Fungi and Their Relationships with Plants

Dr. Kristen Wickert

Dr. Kristen Wickert, an online educator dedicated to sharing the fascinating wonders of the natural world via social media explores three different kinds of relationships that plants have with fungi: ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly” … also known as symbiotic, decomposer and pathogenic relationships.

11:45 am
Lunch

Boxed lunches will be provided in the Music Room.

1:00 pm
Welcome Back and Scholarship Announcement

Kaylene Argot

1:05 pm
Professional Horticulture Program Alumni Spotlight

Sandra Lopez

Gardening can help immigrants root themselves into new places while maintaining a connection to their homeland. Join Mexican horticulturist and gardener at The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College Sandra Lopez Cortez for a presentation about her work as she shares her journey of moving from a rural town in Mexico to America’s Garden Capital. Lopez Cortez highlights plants from Mexico that can grow in the mid-Atlantic and some of the best ornamental plants in Delaware Valley that she helps maintain at The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College.

2:00 pm
Afternoon Break

Refreshments provided.

2:30 pm
People, Plants, and Pests: Archaebotany at Bartram’s Garden

Alexandria Mitchem

Join historical archaeologist and archaeobotanist Alexandria Mitchem for a deep dive into Philadelphia’s Bartram's Garden, the oldest botanic garden in North America. Mitchem discusses a cache of desiccated plant material that has been found in the family home’s attic at Bartram’s Garden, how it got there, and what it might tell us about the history of the garden—bringing together archaeobotanical and archival research to offer a new perspective on Bartram’s Garden.

3:15 pm
Horticulture, Gardens, and Identity: Landscapes as a Political Gesture

David Rubin

Gardens and landscapes reflect human culture – representing their creators, their personal identity, or the people they were designed for. As such, they are extensions of a global community from front porch gardens to civic parks and plazas. Join David A. Rubin, founding principal of the landscape architecture, urban design, and planning studio DAVID RUBIN Land Collective, for an exploration of how landscape designs have the prospect of positively informing all of us about the world around us.

4:00 pm
Closing Remarks

About Our Speakers

Eric Burkhart

Dr. Eric Burkhart is a botanist, ethnobotanist, and agroforester in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Penn State University. He holds degrees in botany/ethnobotany (B.A, Idaho State University), horticulture (M.S., Penn State University), and forest resources (Ph.D., Penn State University). His research and teaching program focuses on wild plant stewardship and agroforestry crop development in Appalachia and the Caribbean.

Sandra Lopez Cortez

Sandra Lopez Cortez is a Mexican horticulturist and gardener at The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College where she helps maintain the campus-arboretum gardens, collections, green roofs, plant nursery. Lopez holds a B.S. in agriculture and natural resources with a minor in horticulture from the University of Delaware and is a graduate of Longwood Gardens’ Professional Horticulture Program.

Michael Guidi & Kevin Phillip Williams

Kevin Philip Williams is a naturalistic gardener who collaborates with active and passive materials to create dynamic and challenging worlds. His unique style combines bioregional plant palettes, a hardcore punk ethos, and post-human aesthetics to craft wild and captivating spaces. Phillip Williams’s extensive work with the Denver Botanic Gardens has led to the creation of celebrated public gardens throughout the city . Michael Guidi is an ecologist and horticulture researcher who is passionate about naturalistic plantings that embody the flexibility and resiliency of wild systems. Guidi is a proponent of dynamic, self-sustaining gardens and green infrastructure, viewing them as ideal alternatives to static, high-maintenance landscaping. His scientific research links ecological theory with horticultural techniques and designs to broaden the definition of gardens and gardening.

Alexandria Mitchem

Alexandria Mitchem is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University. She is a historical archaeologist and archaeobotanists who studies environmental history, natural history and all manners of creatures in the 18th and 19th centuries. Her dissertation focuses on Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia, PA, the oldest botanic garden, in North America.

David Rubin

David A. Rubin is the founding principal of DAVID RUBIN Land Collective, a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning studio committed to practicing with an emphasis on “empathy-driven design.” Rubin is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and recipient of the 2024 Elvira Broome Doolan medal from the Garden Club of America. He was appointed by the U.S. State Department to serve on their Industry Advisory Group to promote best practices in landscape architecture in overseas building operations.

Kristen Wickert

Over the past nine years Dr. Kristen Wickert has educated the public about the natural world through Instagram. The posts on her personal Instagram account, (KaydubsTheHikingScientist), include information about organisms and conservation efforts happening all around us.

Professional Credit

Professional credit is offered by the following organizations for attendance at the symposium (in-person attendees only).

Course CEUs

PLNA - Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association: Awaiting Confirmation
LA CES - Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System: 4.75
ASHS - American Society for Horticultural Science: 6
NOFA - Northeast Organic Farming Association: AOLCP 3 units with self reporting (Also available to webcast attendees)
DNLA - Delaware Nursery and Landscape Association: 1 (Also available to webcast attendees)
APLD - Association of Professional Landscape Designers: Awaiting Confirmation
ISA - International Society of Arboriculture:
- 4.25 Arborist, TW Climber, Municipal TW Aerial lift
- 1.5 BCMA Science, Management
- 1.25 BCMA Practice

For inquiries about the 2025 Today's Horticulture Symposium, please email: studentprograms@longwoodgardens.org