Farmingdale State College will hold its 5th Annual Sustainable Garden Conference – “Flower Power: Growing and Designing with Flowers for All Seasons” – on Wednesday, March 25, from 9:00 a.m. –5 p.m. The event will be held in the Campus Center Ballroom A.
The conference – sponsored by Farmingdale’s Department of Urban Horticulture and Design - will include lectures, book and flower sales, plant and art auctions, and lunch. The admission price is $65 for the general public, and $35 for students.
All speakers are experts in their fields: growers and farmers; floral and landscape designers; marketers and entrepreneurs; scientists, and historians. Speakers include Carolyn Summers, author of Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East; Dr. Michael Barry, owner of Rose Meadow Farm in Brookhaven; Dr. Diane Barthel-Bouchier, founder of the American Society of Botanical Artists, and Michael Veracka, chair of Farmingdale’s Department of Urban Horticulture and Design.
Lecture topics include:
- Growing Flowers for a Local Market – The Slow Flower Movement
- Working with Local Cut Flowers – A Designer’s Perspective
- Edible Flowers – From Garden to Palate
- Disgusting Diseases of Flowers and Strategies for Defying Them
In 2013, SUNY designated the Sustainable Garden one of “Six Big Ideas, with Unlimited Potential.” The Sustainable Garden promotes working, productive ornamental landscapes, and champions the idea of combining together ornamental and edible plantings. The garden’s major components promote environmental stewardship through the development of landscapes that demonstrate resource conservation, recycling principles, plant selection, and product development. Members of the community can join Friends of the Sustainable Garden; membership rates start at $30.
