Absolutely moving, inspired, poetic message. This lecture will change the way I garden forever after.
Webinar Benjamin is also available to do long-distance webinars with your club or group on any of the above topics; sometimes airfare just isn't in the budget. Perhaps the most important thing a keynote speaker can do is challenge your assumptions and enable you to think in different ways, especially when talking about moral and ethical imperatives. This is not an easy task and Benjamin successfully navigated this through his heartfelt words, humor, easy speaking style, and his deep and wide-ranging knowledge of ecology, psychology, and history. Our membership embraced his keynote address as his talk changed the trajectory of conversation for the rest of the day. "
An honest, authentic, and stirring call to action. I don't want to say that Benjamin and A New Garden Ethic are ahead of their time because their time is right this second. Every person with a relationship to the land -- in any capacity -- will benefit from considering these ideas and reevaluating their established paradigms. Change can be difficult, but never have I heard change presented so eloquently and beautifully, with moments of humor interjected throughout. It caused our audience to want to change for the better, and helped us launch our own 'bluestem roots' movement in Madison. Benjamin is a highly captivating speaker and I would recommend him to any audience." 2020 Schedule
3/3 -- Memphis Horticultural Society, Memphis Botanic Gardens -- A New Garden Ethic -- Memphis, TN 2019 Schedule
2/9 -- Nebraska Builders Home & Garden Show -- Low-Care Native Plants for Pollinators -- Lincoln, NE -- 4:30pm 2/16 -- Wild Ones West Cook, Naturally Beautiful Garden Conference -- A New Garden Ethic -- Chicago, IL (River Grove) 2/28 & 3/1 -- Land & Water Summit -- A New Garden Ethic (keynote) -- Albuquerque, NM 3/23 -- Resilient Landscapes Symposium, Allen Centennial Garden, University of Wisconsin-Madison (keynote) -- A New Garden Ethic -- Madison, WI 4/18 -- Gardeners Gathering, Master Gardeners of Kansas City -- A New Garden Ethic -- Kansas City, MO 5/2 -- Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists -- A New Garden Ethic -- Rogers, AR 5/4 -- Arkansas Audubon Society -- Sustainable Design for Garden & Home; A New Garden Ethic (keynote) -- Morrilton, AR 5/9 -- Doane College / NE Conservation Educational Fund -- Native Plants & Social Justice For All Species -- Crete, NE 6/5 -- AdkAction Pollinator Summit -- A New Garden Ethic (keynote); Sustainable Design for Wildlife & Climate Change -- North Creek, NY 2018 Schedule
1/10 -- Tampa Garden Club -- A New Garden Ethic -- Tampa, FL 2/8 & 2/10 -- Northwest Flower & Garden Show -- Sustainable Design for Wildlife & Home; Cultivating a New Garden Ethic -- Seattle, WA 2/9 -- GardenPRO Conference (Northwest Flower & Garden Show) -- A New Garden Ethic -- Seattle, WA 2/17 -- Hitchcock Nature Center -- How to Choose the Right Native Plants for Your Landscape -- Honey Creek, IA 3/17 -- Hitchcock Nature Center -- Native Plants for Pollinators and Beneficial Bugs, Spring Through Fall -- Honey Creek, IA 4/7 -- APLD Los Angeles Chapter -- A New Garden Ethic -- Los Angeles, CA 4/21 -- Earth Day Omaha -- Come visit our table and get free plants and design advice -- 11am-6pm, Omaha, NE 4/27 -- Red Cloud Opera House -- A New Garden Ethic -- 4pm at the Willa Cather Foundation -- Red Cloud, NE 5/2 -- Omaha Downtown Rotary -- Urban Pollinator Gardens -- 12pm at the Field Club -- Omaha, NE 5/6 -- Hitchcock Nature Center -- Designing for Winter Wildlife Habitat and Seasonal Beauty -- Honey Creek, IA 6/13 -- Lincoln East Rotary Club -- Urban Pollinator Gardens -- Lincoln, NE 6/14-- Rotary Club of Council Bluffs -- Urban Pollinator Gardens -- 12pm at The Center -- Council Bluffs, IA 6/18 -- Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center -- Starting & Planning A Native Plant Pollinator Garden -- Denton, NE 7/25 -- Western Nursery & Landscape Association (WNLA) -- Designing a Neighborhood-Friendly "Wild" Landscape -- 12pm -- webinar 2017 Schedule
2/4 -- ICEC Winter Workshop -- Gardening for Pollinators With Native Plants -- Guthrie Center, IA -- All you need to know about pollinators, native plants, and how to create a landscape that benefits their life processes. Geared toward educators. 3/6 -- Michigan Wildflower Conference -- A New Garden Ethic -- East Lansing, MI -- Keynote address 4/4 -- Spring Creek Prairie -- Bringing Birds to Your Backyard -- Denton, NE -- 6:30pm 4/29 -- Garden & Landscape Education Expo -- Keynote, Designing Urban Prairie Gardens; Native Plants for Native Pollinators -- Gillette, WY 5/21 -- Westminster Presbyterian Church -- Gardening for Pollinators -- 9-10am 7/8 -- Hitchcock Nature Center -- A New Garden Ethic -- Honey Creek, IA (just northeast of Omaha) -- 4pm 9/17 -- University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, Native Gardening Conference -- A New Garden Ethic -- Madison, WI -- Keynote address 9/30 -- A New Garden Ethic book launch presentation & prize raffle -- Lincoln, NE -- 3310 Holdrege St. (Hardin Hall Auditorium, UNL East Campus) -- 2pm 10/17 -- Illinois Landscape Contractors Association, Impact Conference -- A New Garden Ethic-- Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, IL 10/21 -- Francie and Finch Bookshop, panel discussion on landscape ethics -- Lincoln, NE -- 2pm 10/29 -- Book signing at The Bookworm -- Omaha, NE -- 1pm 11/2 -- Sustainability Leadership Presentation Series -- A New Garden Ethic -- Lincoln , NE and streaming online -- 3:30pm 2016 Schedule
2/20 -- Design With Nature Conference (Twin Cities Wild Ones) -- St. Paul, MN -- Designing for ecological and gorgeous winter gardens. 3/2 -- How's It Growin' -- 11am-12noon -- Radio appearance on KZUM with Bob & Bertine talking native plants & winter garden design. Listen to the podcast. 3/18 -- Denver Parks & Rec -- private event for staff. 3/19 -- Western Landscape Symposium (Colorado State University) -- Pueblo, CO -- Keynote address on garden ethics, climate change, and native plants (2 talks). 6/21 -- 6-8pm -- Redefining Urban Spaces: Pollinators, Predators, and Native Plants -- Community Crops is sponsoring this talk, which will be followed with hands on activities like planting a designed pollinator garden (we'll learn how to arrange plant to benefit humans and wildlife). Everyone brings home a free pollinator magnet (aka aster). 7/9 -- Midwest Native Plant Society -- Dayton, OH -- Keynote on native plant gardening for winter interest and wildlife habitat. Our gardens can be as lush, dynamic, and gorgeous in winter as high summer. 7/22 -- Lincoln South Rotary Club -- Lunchtime talk (noon) on gardening with natives for pollinators & more. 10/15 -- Hendricks County Master Gardeners "Adventures in Gardening" Symposium -- Danville, IN -- Keynote presentation on garden ethics, second talk on winter garden design with native plants. 12/8 -- Sustainable Landscape Workshop, Nebraska Statewide Arboretum -- Lincoln, NE -- 1-4 and 5-7, workshop explores how and why to garden for the environment and wildlife, featuring a panel of experts with their visions and projects. More here. 2015 Schedule
11/14 -- Creating Harmony with Native Landscaping (Lake to Prairie Wild Ones) -- Grayslake, IL -- The ethics of native plant gardening in a time of climate change and extinction. 10/28 -- Living Activism, Art & Social Justice Week -- Sheldon Museum of Art -- Lincoln, NE -- Equality and justice for all species through smarter-designed gardens and landscapes. 9/18/-9/21 -- 67th Annual Garden Writers Association Symposium -- Pasadena, CA -- speaking on 9/20 about making social media work for your personal brand. 8/11 -- Class: Wildflower Gardening for Butterflies and Bees -- 6:30-7:30pm -- Southeast Community College, Lincoln -- learn what native plants are best for pollinators and how to grow a low-maintenance garden for year-round benefit. 7/17 -- Reading / discussion from The Tallgrass Prairie Reader -- 1-3pm -- 2015 Iowa Prairie Conference, Cedar Falls, IA. Join anthology editor John Price -- and contributors Lisa Knopp, Mary Swander, Elizabeth Dodd, and myself -- as we read our own writing and the writing of prairie authors we admire, while discussing how to speak for the nearly-vanished tallgrass prairie. 6/26 -- Prairie Gardening for Pollinators -- Platte River Prairies Field Day -- 9am-3pm -- The Nature Conservancy's Derr House in Wood River, NE -- I'll be presenting twice at 9:15 and again at 2:15, and there will be tons going on the entire day. 6/21 -- Wachiska Audubon 26th Annual Backyard Habitat Garden Tour -- 11am-4pm -- I'm on the board so I had to share this Lincoln event with you! 6/16 -- Monarch Butterfly Gardening -- 7:30pm live video chat on Google Hangouts, will be archived as well. 5/17 -- Ethical Gardening with Native Plants for Pollinators -- 10:30am -- Bethany Christian Church, Lincoln. 5/15-5/17 -- Spring Into Spring -- Lauritzen Gardens plant sale, Omaha, NE -- Under the guise of Milk the Weed, we'll have a booth on gardening for butterflies, raising monarchs, native bee house examples, native plant guides, and more. Booth will be staffed for the members only sale on 5/15 4:30-7pm. The sale continues for the public from 9am-5pm on 5/16 and 5/17, but our booth won't be staffed again until Sunday afternoon. 4/25 -- Spring Affair plant sale -- Lancaster Event Center -- the region's largest plant sale! 4/23 -- Celebrate Spring Gardening -- Central Community College, Columbus, NE -- two talks: Gardening with Native Plants for Beneficial Pollinators; Making a Low Maintenance Prairie Garden From Lawn 4/18 -- Lincoln Earth Day celebration at Union Plaza 4/12 -- Sustainability Celebration -- 9:30am-1pm -- First Plymouth Church, Lincoln -- we'll have a table featuring native bee houses, info on top native plants to help pollinators, and why native plant gardens are awesome. 4/10 -- The Mike Nowak Show -- Discussing "The Ultimate Pollinator and Native Plant Gardening Guide." Listen to the podcast. 3/9 -- Class: Wildflower Gardening for Butterflies and Bees -- 6:30-7:30pm -- Southeast Community College, Lincoln -- learn what native plants are best for pollinators and how to grow a low-maintenance garden for year-round benefit. 2/15 -- Carefree Butterfly Gardening With Prairie Plants -- 2-3pm -- Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, Sioux City, IA. 1/29 -- Class: Wildflower Gardening for Butterflies and Bees -- 6:30-7:30pm -- Southeast Community College, Lincoln -- learn what native plants are best for pollinators and how to grow a low-maintenance garden for year-round benefit. 1/8 -- Native Plants, Climate Change, Extinction, and a New Garden Ethic -- Union College, Lincoln -- 7-8:30pm -- Wachiska Audubon Society 1/6 -- Sustainable Prairie Garden Design -- Earth 2 Lincoln -- 6:30pm -- KZUM radio. 2014 Schedule (selected)
11/8 -- 10am (cst) -- The Master Gardener Hour with Kate Copsey on America's Web Radio -- An hour discussing fall gardening, winter interest, native plants, wildlife gardening in the "off" season, what to do and what not to do in autumn, and a few good stories. 10/26 -- 10am hour -- The Mike Nowak Show on WCPT Chicago, discussing climate change, species loss, native plants, and gardening ethics. 2/15 -- 3pm -- Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society conference, Kearney, NE -- Native prairie plant choices for beneficial insects as a way to increase small and large farm crop yields. 4/5 -- 1pm -- Bluebirds Across Nebraska conference, Beatrice, NE -- Learn about gardening with native plants for birds. 4/26 -- Noon-1pm -- Nebraska Book Festival, UNO, Omaha, NE -- Reading from my prairie poetry collection Afterimage. 5/15 -- Noon -- Fremont Kiwanis Club, Fremont Golf Club, Fremont, NE -- Butterfly gardening with native plants. 5/30 -- 6:15pm -- Loess Hills Prairie Seminar, Onawa, IA -- How prairie plants connect us to place making a better world, and some of my top tallgrass native wildflower choices for wildlife. 6/5-6/7 -- 6/6 9:15-10:30am & 6/7 10:15-11:15am -- Millersville Native Plants in the Landscape conference, Millersville, PA -- I'll be speaking on the moral / ethical imperative of using native plants, as well as on monarch butterfly gardening. The event will be streamed live online. |
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