By Staff Writer
David Culp
Debra Knapke
Jim McCormac
Danae Wolfe
Photos courtesy of Master Gardeners of Summit County
WEST AKRON — Master Gardeners of Summit County, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization affiliated with The Ohio State University (OSU) Extension, has announced its annual Design Beyond 2014 symposium taking place Jan. 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Zwisler Hall at St. Sebastian Church, 348 Elmdale Ave.
The cost for the day, including a continental breakfast, lunch and materials, is $40 for all and is open to the public. During the event, attendees will be able to purchase books and have them signed.
Presenters will be:
- David Culp, the creator of the gardens at Brandywine Cottage in Downingtown, Pa. His articles have appeared in Martha Stewart Living, Country Living, Fine Gardening, Green Scene and other publications. He is author of the book “The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year-Round Beauty From Brandywine Cottage.” He is a former contributing editor to Horticulture magazine and served as chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Hardy Plant Society.
Culp is vice president for Sunny Border Nurseries in Connecticut. He is an herbaceous perennials instructor at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa. He has developed the Brandywine Hybrid strain of hellebores, and was recently cited in the Wall Street Journal for his expertise on snowdrops. His garden has been featured several times in Martha Stewart Living and on HGTV.
Culp is a recipient of the Distinguished Garden Award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. He has also been awarded the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Award of Merit. He serves on the Pennsylvania Horticultural Societies Gold Medal Plant Selection Committee.
In his presentation “The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year-Round Beauty From Brandywine Cottage,” Culp will show how to recreate the display of his 2-acre Pennsylvania garden, Brandywine Cottage. It contains a basic lesson in layering — how to choose the correct plants by understanding how they grow and change throughout the seasons, how to design a layered garden and tips on maintaining it. To illustrate how layering works, Culp will present a virtual tour through each part of his garden: the woodland garden, perennial border, kitchen garden, shrubbery and the walled garden. The lecture culminates with his signature plants for all four seasons. His second presentation will be “50 Perennials I Cannot Live Without.” - Debra Knapke turned her avocation of plant study and gardening into her full-time career in 1992 after two other careers. Knapke is passionate about gardening and the natural world and enjoys sharing knowledge through her books, magazine and newsletter articles, guest appearances on the radio program “All Sides” with Ann Fisher, and teaching in the Landscape Design and Management Program at Columbus State Community College.
She was one of the founding members of the Stewards of Metro Parks, an organization that supports the mission and work of the Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District. Another passion is sustainable garden design and the history of gardening. In addition to her many private clients, Knapke has been involved in public garden design in the Central Ohio area. She was on the Design Committee for The Sister’s Garden at Inniswood Metro Gardens, which is a children’s garden that combines cultivated gardens with natural spaces. Currently she is involved with the design of Flint Cemetery in Worthington.
Her books, written with Allison Beck, include: “Perennials for Ohio,” “Annuals for Ohio,” “Gardening Month by Month in Ohio,” “Best Garden Plants for Ohio” and “Herb Gardening for the Midwest,” written with Laura Peters.
Knapke will present “Simplifying Your Garden Without Diminishing Your Joy.” According to Knapke, true success in simplifying your garden depends on understanding its parts and how they fit within the bigger picture, and the way to find joy in your garden is to know what you want from it and not going crazy trying to achieve it. Knapke will use her own garden and others to provide inspiration for the creation of a simpler, blissful garden. - Jim McCormac works for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, specializing in nongame wildlife diversity issues, especially birds. Prior to that, he was a botanist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. He was inaugural president of the Ohio Ornithological Society and was the 2009 recipient of the Ludlow Griscom award, given annually by the American Birding Association to individuals who have made significant regional contributions to ornithology.
He is author of “Birds of Ohio,” “The Great Lakes Nature Guide” and “Wild Ohio: The Best of Our Natural Heritage,” which won the 2010 Ohioana Book award. McCormac writes a column called “Nature” for the Columbus Dispatch, has authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific and popular articles in a variety of publications and has delivered hundreds of presentations throughout the eastern United States. He is at work on a book about wood-warblers, which is slated for release in 2014.
McCormac will share a presentation on butterflies and moths. Many species of butterflies can be drawn to a garden by planting appropriate host and nectar plants. Most moths are nocturnal, but they are arguably even more important than showy butterflies, according to McCormac. This program will explore the four-part life cycle of butterflies and moths, their ecological roles in the environment and practical ways to support them. - Danae Wolfe started with the OSU Extension in June 2012 as Summit County’s agriculture and natural resources extension educator. Before coming to the Extension, Danae worked for the National Park Service as an interpretive park ranger in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. As a park ranger, her primary role was to educate the public about the threat of invasive plants. Danae has continued educating the public about invasive plants in her new role as an extension educator. She has also begun teaching the community about the importance of sustainable gardening and incorporating native plants in the home landscape. In her free time, Danae is an avid macro nature photographer. As part of her OSU Extension program, she teaches photography workshops as a way to increase environmental awareness and stewardship.
Last year, Wolfe gave a crash course in identifying and removing invasive plants from a home landscape. This year, she will follow up with a short presentation about native gardening that will explore the benefits of incorporating native plants into a garden and teach about a new way of designing a home landscape.
For additional information, including costs and registration, visit the website http://conta.cc/1bL9jvG.
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