Oct 20, 2017
SNA Announces 2018 Speaker Lineup

The Southern Nursery Association (SNA) has announced final details of The 15^th Southern Plant Conference to take place in conjunction with The SNA Conference, co-locating with the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) in 2018.

Both events will take place at the Baltimore Convention Center with The SNA Conference preceding MANTS on Jan. 8-9, 2018. MANTS will take place on Jan. 10-12.

Following in the steps of Michael Dirr and Don Shadow, Richard Olsen (chair) and Thomas Molnar (co-chair) have pulled together this year’s lineup of speakers for the 2018 Southern Plant Conference.

Twelve top plant experts from across the country, the Channel Islands, and the Netherlands, will share their knowledge and expertise during this two-day conference.

The 2018 lineup includes:

Shannon Currey, Hoffman Nursery, Rougemont, North Carolina, A New Perspective with Green Infrastructure;
Raymond J. Evison, The Guernsey Clematis Nursery Ltd and Raymond J. Evison Ltd, Guernsey, Channel Islands, Great Britain, Clematis for Today’s Gardens;
Heidi Hesselein, Pleasant Run Nursery, Allentown, New Jersey, New and Classic Ornamentals for Eastern Landscapes;
Hayes Jackson, Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, and Longleaf Botanical Gardens, Anniston, Alabama, Pushing the Limits to Expand Your Plant Palette;
Mark Krautman, Heritage Seedling, Salem, Oregon, Opportunities to Unite Plant Geeks and Conservationists;
Brent Markus, Rare Tree Nursery, Silverton, Oregon, Conifers and Maples from the West Coast to the East Coast;
Bill McLaughlin, U.S. Botanic Garden, Washington, D.C., Beyond Echinacea: Native Plants Awaiting our Attention, Breeding and Selection;
Dr. Richard Olsen, U.S. National Arboretum, Washington, D.C., The Legacy of Plants and People and the Future of New Plants;
Kim Shearer, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois, Chicagoland Grows a Greener World;
Rupert Spaargaren – W.J. Spaargaren, BV, Boskoop, Holland, European Trends Can Change the Nursery Industry;
Angela Treadwell-Palmer, Plants Nouveau, West Newbury, Massachusetts, The Challenges of Bringing New Plants to Market; and
Paul Westervelt, Saunders Brothers Nursery, Piney River, Virginia, The New Perennial Movement and Why It Matters.