Apr 5, 2021

Registration Open for PPA’s 2021 Virtual National Symposium

The Perennial Plant Association will host a new format for its 2021 National Symposium. PPA will be presenting a Hybrid National Symposium that will showcase world-renowned speakers on an online platform at a Virtual National Symposium and pair this with smaller, outdoor regional PPA Pop-Up events held at various locations around the U.S.

Registration is now open for the annual symposium, hosting this year as the PPA Virtual National Symposium from July 27 to July 29. Inspiration for the program is drawn from the theme Celebrating Perennials: People, Place & Purpose as speakers join us from places like Italy, Britain, Brooklyn, Denver and beyond.

A few of the topics being presented include the latest on trial reports, the native conundrum of supply and demand, foliage and texture, what does biodiversity really mean, and inspiration from public and private gardens. Attendees are encouraged to learn more about the speakers and their work before the program. Program details can be found here.

A few speaker highlights include:

Dan Pearson is a British horticulturist, landscape designer, writer and gardener. His international work for public and private clients is widely celebrated and is characterized by an innate sensitivity to place and deep-rooted horticultural knowledge. Check out his gardening journal, Dig Delve, his studio work at Dan Pearson Studio and his most recent book Tokachi Millennium Forest.

Giacomo Guzzon is an Italian horticulturist currently teaching planting design at the University of Sheffield, University of Greenwich in London and KLC School of Design in London. In addition to his academic activities, he is a Senior Landscape Architect and Head of Planting Design at the international landscape architecture firm Gillespies. Giacomo will lead a session titled Creating Resilient and Biodiverse Plant Communities in Urban Areas. Follow him on Instagram at @giacomo_guzzon.

Rebecca McMackin is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden designer. By day, she is the Director of Horticulture for Brooklyn Bridge Park while in her free time, she writes about landscape management and pollination ecology, and designs gardens. In her session, she will discuss the ecological strategies employed by the park’s designers, as well as the management techniques park staff have developed to cultivate biodiverse parkland. Get to know her on Instagram at @oroeoboeococoao.

Each day of the three-day educational event will consist of hour-long opening and closing sessions, mini sessions, tour talks and traditions such as the New to the Market Forum and Landscape Design Awards. Throughout the event, attendees will participate in polls, trivia and Q&A with presenters. Sponsors are crafting daily mindfulness breaks and those who register by June 18th will receive a welcome box including items to participate in a happy hour and a custom PPA virtual tea tasting by Drink Good Tea.

For a full schedule of events and to register, click here. For updated information on all of the 2021 PPA Hybrid National Symposium plans, go to www.perennialplant.org/page/HybridNationalSymposium.