PHS Gardening Experts Available This Spring

Philadelphia (Spring 2010) The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which produces the Philadelphia International Flower Show and the acclaimed urban greening program, Philadelphia Green, has several gardening, greening and landscape experts available this spring and summer.

• Trees: PHS will plant nearly 9,000 bare-root trees this spring and summer as part of Tree Tenders ®, TreeVitalize, and federal reinvestment funds. Talk to PHS tree experts Patricia Schrieber, Mindy Maslin and Barley VanClief on how to plant and care for trees this spring, prune damaged trees from the winter, as well as how to get communities excited about trees.

• Urban Greening: Interview PHS President-Elect, Drew Becher, who starts on June 1. Becher was the Executive Director of New York Restoration Project (NYRP), and spearheaded New York City’s renowned MillionTreesNYC greening initiative, which led to the planting of more than 310,000 trees in New York City’s five boroughs. As Chief of Staff for the Chicago Park District, Becher helped to forge Mayor Richard M. Daley’s acclaimed environmental agenda which contributed to Chicago’s recent placement on the Forbes list of the world’s most beautiful cities.

• Vegetable Gardening. Talk to PHS’s Sally McCabe, Eileen Gallagher, or Meadowbrook Farm’s Sharon Kazan about spring vegetables, how to handle the changing weather and how to start a community garden.

• Green Gardening: From improving your soil, making your own rain barrels, using native plants, turning your lawn organic, to learning permaculture, talk to PHS’s Sally McCabe, Joe Ziccardi, Julie Snell, and Eileen Gallagher this spring and summer.

• Rain Gardens: Talk to PHS landscape designers who have designed plans for rain gardens and other innovative water conservation techniques at parks, schools, and recreation centers across the Philadelphia region.

• Container Gardening: Learn from the best, including PHS landscape designers who worked on containers along Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts, Broad Street, as well as how much to water, what the best types of containers are, and more.

• School Gardening: Talk to Patricia Schrieber and Sally McCabe, who head PHS’s Green City Teachers program, which helps greater Philadelphia teachers incorporate horticulture into their curriculum.

• City Gardens: Be inspired by the winners of the PHS annual City Gardens Contest. Photos of the displays will be at the Gallery, 9th and Market Street Entrance, April 11-18. The deadline for this year’s contest is June 10. Hear from PHS’s Flossie Narducci what local gardeners did with their spaces.

• Parks: Volunteer to make your park a better place this summer. Learn more about how to organize a community, free events in Philadelphia parks, or hear about the PHS City Parks Handbook.

PHS, a non-profit organization founded in 1827, is America’s first horticultural society. Its two major initiatives include the Philadelphia International Flower Show and Philadelphia Green, the largest and most comprehensive urban greening program in the nation. PHS motivates people to improve the quality of life and create a sense of community through horticulture.

To arrange an interview, contact PR Manager Alan Jaffe at 215-988-8833 or Senior PR Coordinator Laura Hoover at 215-988-8836.