Wing Haven Gardens


Exploring Watercolor in the Lawrence Garden

with Janis Schneider
Wednesdays July 15 – August 5, 10 am to 1 pm
$120 (non-members $130)

Using the garden in bloom as inspiration, explore color, paint, brushes and paper in an expressive and experimental way to gain confidence and knowledge of the medium.

This course is intended to be “looser” than traditional botanical painting yet based on floral subject matter. Students can work in any way they desire, from tight to loose and from realistic to abstract.

Janis has been drawing and painting ever since she could hold a pencil and brush. She has studied at Bennington College, received a B.A. in Fine Art from Queens College (CUNY), Botanical Painting at the Horticultural Society in NYC and privately with the past president of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA).  Like many botanical artists, she has been a textile designer for many years and has worked as a designer for various apparel and home furnishings companies. Her designs have sold nationally in major department stores and upscale catalogues. She has exhibited at the National Academy of Design in NYC and currently teaches Illustration and Botanical Illustration at CPCC in Charlotte and at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, NC.

During the winter months we offer a number of educational programs for adults.  The following is a listing of our programs for the Winter of 2009.  Details on our Winter 2010 Lecture series will be available in the fall.


2009 Winter Lecture Series

A Special Thanks to our Sponsors…

Lead Sponsor: AK Nurseries
AKNurseries.com

Affiliate Sponsors:
John Byrd Garden Design
Bruce Clodfelter and Associates
ElliottDavis, Accountants and Business Advisors
Living Color - colorscaping and horticultural services
Rinehart & Associates, Financial Planning & Asset Management
Staton Financial Advisors, LLC

Dwarf Conifers: Color, Texture and Form
Michael Balough
Thursday, January 22 at 9:30 am
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

Dwarf Conifers bring a multitude of dramatic shapes, colors and textures for year-round visual interest and impact to the garden—even in the middle of winter!  Easy to maintain, dwarf conifers require no shearing or trimming.  They are tough plants for tough places and provide captivating architectural elements to highlight your garden and landscape design.  Join Michael Balough for an in-depth look at this diverse group of plants.

Michael received his degree in Landscape Architecture and Horticulture from Ohio State University.  After settling in Asheville, he started Mountain Meadows Landscape in 1980 and opened Mountain Meadows Nursery in 1996.  The Nursery has one of the largest collections of Dwarf Conifers in the Southeast and offers many unusual varieties and specimens.  Michael will bring a few plants to sell at the conclusion of his lecture.

How to Manage a Healthy Landscape and Deal with Drought Stress
Greg Paige
Saturday, January 24 at 10:30
Members: No Charge/Non-members: $5.00

Managing a healthy landscape offers many challenges!  Dealing with drought stress, insects and disease can make it difficult for us to keep our gardens looking good.  Join Greg for a look at many of the issues associated with home gardens and landscapes. The solution?  Good cultural practices and planting and selecting quality plant material!  Plus there are some groovy and tough plants that look good and work well in our stressful urban landscapes.

Greg Paige joined the Bartlett ranks as Arboretum Curator at the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory in 2005. Greg has a long and diverse career working in public horticulture and has worked at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, the Scott Arboretum, and the Biltmore Estate. He has even done a stint in the landscape maintenance world, the nursery trade and as a horticulturist at a cemetery.

Raising Food for our Neighbors the Natural Way: Why Sustainable Local Food Systems Matter
Cassie Parsons
Tuesday, January 27 at 9:30 am
Members: $10.00/Non-members: $15.00

Join Cassie Parsons for a look at the importance of supporting our local food system from the economic, health and environmental points of view.  Along with Natalie Veres, Cassie owns Grateful Growers Farm LLC, a farm offering pasture-raised chicken, pork, and eggs produced without synthetic chemicals.  Their animals are treated humanely and with respect: They freely graze lush pastures that have not been treated with synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, and they’re never fed antibiotics or artificial growth promotants.  The result of their lifestyle is absolutely wholesome and delicious food, direct to you from their farm.

Cassie was trained as a Chef in privately-owned fine dining restaurants in North Carolina and Virginia where she cooked for more than a decade.  After an additional four years in corporate restaurants, she left her culinary career to pursue her own venture in a new field.  Parsons and Veres have a passion for food, farming, and creating sustainable local food systems.

The All Seasons Garden
Andy Cabe
Thursday, January 29 at 9:30 am
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

So many of us are just summer gardeners, but in our climate there is no reason your garden cannot be interesting all year long.  Andy will show slides and discuss some of the great plants that will add interest to your garden throughout the seasons. Although many plants discussed will bring multiple seasons of interest to the garden, others may be “showing” for short periods of time. However, when these plants are combined in the landscape, you will be assured of year-round beauty in the garden!

Andy Cabe, a 1997 Clemson graduate in horticulture, has been with Riverbanks Zoo and Garden for over eight years. Now the Director of the Riverbanks Botanical Garden, Andy truly has one of the fun jobs in horticulture. Having the opportunity to pick out plants and bring new and exciting plant material into the garden is one of the true joys of his job. A lifelong South Carolina resident, Andy currently resides in Columbia with his wife and their cat and dog.

Creating a Haven for Wildlife in Your OWN Backyard
Carol Buie-Jackson
Saturday, January 31 at 10:30
Members: No Charge/Non-members: $5.00

Learn how to provide the four elements of a wildlife habitat using a variety of manmade and natural products.  By offering food, water, shelter and places to raise young, you can invite wildlife into your garden. Topics covered will be sustainable gardening practices, planting with native plants, soil and water stewardship and the importance of reducing lawn size.

Carol Buie-Jackson, a lifelong gardener and wildlife enthusiast, is co-founder and president of HAWK, Habitat and Wildlife Keepers a chapter of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.  Carol serves on the executive board of the NC Wildlife Federation as Treasurer and on the Matthews Appearance and Tree Board as Secretary. She is a Habitat Steward with the National Wildlife Federation and a Master Composter with Mecklenburg County. Carol is an instructor for the County's PLANT (Piedmont Landscaping and Naturescaping Training) program and works part time at an organic farm in Waxhaw. She received the 2006 Governor's Award as Wildlife Volunteer of the Year and publishes a conservation blog called Smell Like Dirt designed to encourage people to get outside and explore our natural resources.

Drought Resistant Plants: It's a Matter of Design
Tracy Traer
Tuesday, February 3 at 9:30 am
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

Creating drought resistant gardens is more than developing a list of drought tolerant plants! Tracy Traer will present several methods and examples of designing landscapes and gardens with increased sustainability and drought tolerance. Plants that thrive in these situations will be highlighted.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Tracy Traer spent her summers wandering the forests of North Georgia and became enamored with plants. After receiving her Masters in Landscape Architecture she studied in England for two years and returned to serve on the faculty at North Carolina State University in the Department of Horticultural Science and in the School of Design for eighteen years. She has made numerous presentations on design and the use of native plants including the Lehr Symposium at the U.S. National Arboretum and the Native Plant Conference in Cullowhee. Her design process is responsive to natural systems and emphasizes environmentally sound solutions.

Roses: Old & New…Let’s Discuss a Few
Pat Henry
Thursday, February 5 at 9:30 am
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

Join Pat Henry for a discussion on some of the best roses for the Southeast—their cultural requirements and how to use them in the garden.  Pat will give us advice on design—starting a new garden, adding plants to an existing garden, and growing roses in containers.  She will also share her feeding program and introduce us to her favorite disease-resistant roses.

Born in rural Georgia where her father’s garden was filled with sweet peas, tall old-fashioned hollyhocks, and roses, southern roots go deep for Pat Henry.  Pat’s South Carolina garden has been featured in numerous publications, and she has incorporated the feeling of peace and tranquility with the clever use of architectural accents of old iron fencing and gates, statuary from another lifetime, and, of course, plants—herbs, perennials and ROSES.  Throughout the garden, she has combined—and planted together—all types and classes of roses that so that they flow gracefully throughout the garden.  Along with Bill Patterson, Pat is co-owner of Roses Unlimited, an ‘own root’ business of 21 years offering some 1200 varieties of roses.  Pat has spoken on the national level with the ARS through the years, and at many rose societies and spring garden shows such as the Atlanta Flower Show. The nursery entertains many Garden Clubs and Master Gardeners and offers Rose Study Days in March each year.

Color Me Blue…Color Me Purple
Debbie Moore Clark
Tuesday, February 10 at 9:30 am
Members: $10.00/Non-members: $15.00

Adding a splash of blue or purple to the garden landscape—or floral arrangement or interior room design—pulls other colors in the scheme together in a pleasing way.  Almost magically, a cool dash of blue, or any of this primary color’s analogous hues, works to blend and harmonize, pulling everything together.  As a gardener, Debbie chooses plants and colors in her little garden, which mirror colors inside her home.  Unable to resist the blues, purples and lavenders in the plant world, she uses these colors throughout her garden as a unifying influence.  In her presentation, Debbie will share color pictures and a handy plant list of many choices that might color your own garden blue.

Debbie is an avid gardener who has grown herbs for over 20 years.  About ten years ago, Debbie enlarged her garden to include perennials, Conifers and ornamental trees.  Trained as an Extension Master Gardenersm, Debbie has served Mecklenburg County, NC, as an active volunteer and newsletter editor since 1998.  Her love of herbs kept her involved in the activities of the Charlotte Herb Guild from 1996-2006 where she served as Newsletter Editor for nine years.  Before moving to Charlotte in 1996, Debbie was active as a Master Gardener with Roanoke County, Virginia, and member of the Herb Society of Southwestern Virginia.

Maintaining the No-Maintenance Garden
Ann Armstrong
Thursday, February 12 at 9:30
Members: $10.00/Non-members: $15.00

Of course there is no such thing as a no-maintenance garden, but through the years Ann has developed a schedule of maintenance that leaves time to do other enjoyable things in life. There will be ample time for questions.

Ann Armstrong has kicked along the garden path for a number of years talking throughout the South on gardening in the South. Her garden has been featured in a number of books and magazines and for seven years she wrote a gardening column for the late Leader Newspaper. She also co-edited a collection of Elizabeth Lawrence's gardening columns for Duke Press and wrote a Gardening Journal for Wing Haven.

The Reasons & Proper Seasons for Pruning
Jeffrey Drum
Tuesday, February 17 from 9:15 am to 1:00 pm (lunch included)
Members: $55.00/Non-members: $60.00
To be held in the Lawrence Garden at 348 Ridgewood Avenue.

Contrary to popular practice, pruning techniques are not instinctive.  Join Jeffrey Drum for an in-depth pruning workshop in the Lawrence Garden.  Learn the reasons for pruning—beautification, renovation—as well as the proper time of year to prune.  Proper techniques and tools for pruning shrubs and small ornamental trees—nandinas, mahonias, camellias, roses, Japanese maples, boxwood, hollies and hydrangeas—will be addressed.  Participants will have the opportunity to work with Jeff as he makes pruning decisions in the garden.  Jeff will be assisted by Janie Levinson—Wing Haven nursery volunteer and co-owner of Textures.  Enrollment limited to 15 participants.

Jeffrey Drum is Wing Haven’s Garden Curator.  With over 25 years experience, Jeff has worked in many of the finest gardens in Charlotte.

The Best Natives for the Border
Cathy Davis
Thursday, February 19 at 9:30 am
Members: $15/Non-members: $20.00

Take a long, hard look at those plants you’ve tried to grow in your garden.  You know, the ones that are supposedly hardy to Zone 5 but turned to mush during the freeze and thaw of the winter (they look so great in the English garden books!!!). Or the ones that melted in the summer heat and drought (especially the delphiniums).  End your misery and ban them from your garden!  Embrace the bounty that the native plant communities of the southeast have bestowed on us.   Not only can you have beautiful blooms, you can attract butterflies, provide food and habitat for songbirds and nourish local wildlife.  And everyone will think you’re a fantastic gardener!

Cathy Davis is a Landscape Architect with High Country Consulting in Asheville, NC.  She is a 1990 graduate (MLA) of the School of Environmental Design at the University of Georgia.  Davis emphasizes a naturalistic style and prominent use of native plants in her landscape designs.  She designs resort, estate and residential gardens throughout Western North Carolina.  Chapel Lane at Linville Resorts, of which she was the co-designer, received the 1999 Award of Excellence from the North Carolina Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Designing YOUR Timeless Landscape, A Design Workshop and Mini- Certificate Course
Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLAs
Thursday, February 19 at 7:30 pm.  Introductory Lecture and Reception.
Friday, February 20, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Lecture and Design Studio.
Saturday, February 21, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Lecture and Design Studio
$350.00 per person (Thursday Evening Guests: $25)
All sessions will be held in the Elizabeth Lawrence House at 348 Ridgewood Avenue.

This certificate program kicks off with an introductory lecture on Thursday evening.  The program continues throughout the day on Friday and Saturday and concludes with the presentation of the certificates at dinner on Saturday evening.  An additional intensive design studio is available to interested participants on Sunday.

A home landscape design should be well organized and efficient. Harmoniously planned properties adapt well to changing environmental and social needs. The four parts of residential landscape design include the approach, hub, perimeter and destinations, and provide the framework for creating beautiful and functional, earth sensitive landscapes. Tips to aid homeowners in water harvesting, energy-efficient site planning, composting, paving choices and much more are covered.  Participants are encouraged to bring a guest ($25 per guest) to the introductory lecture and reception on Thursday evening.

The Winghaven Landscape Design Workshop is intended for homeowners, landscape designers, master gardeners, architects and related design fields as an opportunity to design your home grounds. Previous design training is not required or necessary to attend this course. Participants are directed in seven major topics: theory and organizational principles of design, drawing up reality, history of landscape design, plant materials, planting design, hardscapes and built features. The design studio compliments the lectures with personal guidance on individual residential landscape design projects. Participants are encouraged to bring an enlarged copy of their survey or plat to class. 

Enrollment is limited.  The Design Workshop will meet between 8:30 am and 5 pm on Friday and Saturday and includes 7 hours of lectures and 8 hours of design studio.  There will be breaks for lunch on Friday and Saturday; however, meals are not included.  For a detailed syllabus, please contact the Wing Haven office at (704-331-0664 x102).

Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLAs are nationally known lecturers and well-published, award-winning landscape architects. Since 1971, their practice spread from Charleston, SC to include landscape designs across America including current projects in New Orleans, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Napa, Atlanta, Spokane, Mobile, Houston and Charlotte. Dargan Landscape Architects (www.dargan.com), a firm of seven, is located in the Atlanta Buckhead area. Books illustrated with Dargan gardens are Timeless Landscape Design (Dargan, 2007), The Architect's Garden (Rosenfeld, 2009), Gardens of Historic Charleston (Cothran,1996) and Garden of the 21st Century (Peirrere, 2000). Both CNN and Ground Breakers (HGTV) regularly air Dargan "Before and After" projects.

In 1985 their first workshop entitled The Art of Garden Design, was held in the outdoor laboratory of historic Charleston, SC. Designing YOUR Timeless Landscape, evolved over decades of interaction with adult students. While teaching undergraduates in landscape architecture at Clemson University, Mary Palmer created The Clemson Certificate in Landscape & Garden Design for adult students.

Advanced Design Studio
Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLAs
Sunday, February 22, 9 am to 1 pm
$200.00 per person

This advanced design studio is intended to further advance your design skills.  Specialized areas are individually studied with the Dargan team.

Preservation of Our Historic Buildings and Neighborhoods
Myrick Howard
Tuesday, February 24 at 9:30 am
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

North Carolina’s historic properties are under imminent threat. Rapid population growth, escalating property values, changing housing trends (leading to teardowns of historic homes), and regional economic disparities have combined to endanger places that are important to our state and its citizens. Myrick Howard will illustrate a variety of ways that North Carolinians are protecting and preserving the state's historic resources.

Since 1978 Myrick Howard has been the Executive Director of Preservation North Carolina (PNC), the state’s only statewide private nonprofit preservation organization.  PNC is one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious statewide preservation organizations.    A Durham native, Myrick attended Brown University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received his Master’s degree in city planning and a law degree in 1978.  In 2006, he participated in the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.  He has been extensively published and has made presentations about PNC’s work in more than thirty states and three foreign countries.  He teaches a graduate seminar on Historic Preservation Planning each year at UNC-Chapel Hill and has served on the Board of Trustees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Understanding and Growing Native Bog Plants.
Larry Mellichamp
Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30 pm
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

Bog gardening is a natural accoutrement to aquatic gardening and works in situations where there is no standing water and the soil is not anaerobic.  Bog plants can have beautiful flowers and leaves, form attractive combinations, and provide endless hours of entertainment, especially the carnivorous species.  Full sun and moist, acidic mediums are generally desirable.  This presentation will deal with selecting and growing native plants that prefer constantly moist soil and are suitable for a bog or wetland (not aquatic) garden.  Native American bog plants may include carnivorous species such as pitcher plants, Venus’-flytraps and sundews.  Non-carnivorous representatives are bog-buttons, orange milkwort, Sabatia, Liatris, Marshalia, Trilisia, and certain orchids.  Choosing non-aggressive, adaptable species is important and will be addressed.  We will see how the plants grow in the wild and consider how to grow them in containers and constructed in-ground beds.

Dr. Larry Mellichamp is a Professor of Botany at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he teaches botany and horticulture courses, and does research on pitcher plants and Southeastern endangered species.  He is also director of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens.  Dr. Mellichamp has traveled and collected plants in Mexico, Costa Rica, Borneo, Hawaii, South Africa, and Australia.  He has received several teaching awards and was the 2003 recipient of the Thomas Roland Medal of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.  He is co-author of the textbook Practical Botany (1983) and the books The Winter Garden (1997, with Peter Loewer) and Wildflowers of the Western Great Lakes Region (1999).

Low-Maintenance Perennials: Plants, Beds, and Design
Ellen Vincent

Thursday, February 26 at 9:30 am
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

The right plant in the right place ensures long term satisfaction and performance. Learn how to recognize low-maintenance perennial plants and how to display them in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. Low-maintenance perennials for the Southeast will be profiled and basic design principles will be covered and illustrated with gardens and borders from around the world. 

Ellen Vincent is the Environmental Landscape Specialist for Clemson University. She provides environmental landscape education to the green industry and to counties, cities, and towns. She works with the state’s horticultural trade associations to promote certification programs for green industry professionals. She is the principle author of the Urban Tree Species Guide for South Carolina and the author of the “A-Z Encyclopedia of Flower Care” chapter of the new Miracle-Gro Encyclopedia of Plant Care. She is Director of the Pilgrimage of Place rural revitalization project.

Ellen Vincent holds a bachelor’s degree in American Culture; a master’s degree in horticulture; and is currently a PhD student in the Environmental Design and Planning program at Clemson where she is studying the therapeutic benefits of nature. She is from New York’s Hudson River Valley and was self-employed in the green industry before beginning work in academia.

Integrated Pest Management and Biological Controls for the Home Garden
Greg Paige
Saturday, March 7 at 10:30 am
Members: No Charge/Non-members: $5.00

This lecture will look at an integrated approach to manage pests in the home landscape. We will discuss Beneficial Insects, cultural practices, resistant plant material and low impact pesticide use to maintain a healthy, happy, trouble-free garden.

Greg Paige joined the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory as Arboretum Curator in 2005.  His diverse career working in public horticulture includes positions at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, the Scott Arboretum, and the Biltmore Estate. Greg has even done a stint in the landscape maintenance world, the nursery trade and as a horticulturist at a cemetery.

Two Gardeners, Two Continents, One Passion
Bobby Ward and Roy Dicks
Tuesday, March 10 at 9:30 am
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

Prolific authors Elizabeth Lawrence (American) and Beverley Nichols (British) wrote passionately about gardens and nature. Although they never met, they were contemporaries over the first eight decades of the twentieth century, setting down their thoughts and experiences in unique literary voices. Bobby J. Ward and Roy C. Dicks have spent much of the past decade making sure these authors' garden writings remain available to the public. They will discuss the lives and significance of these writers, and offer representative excerpts from their writings.

Bobby J. Ward is the co-editor of A Garden of One's Own: The writings of Elizabeth Lawrence (UNC Press) as well as two Timber Press titles, A Contemplation Upon Flowers: Garden Plants in Myth and Literature and The Plant Hunter's Garden.

Roy C. Dicks has supplied indexing and introductions for the Timber Press series of Beverley Nichols garden book reprints, and is editor of Rhapsody in Green: The Garden Wit and Wisdom of Beverley Nichols, released by Timber Press in March 2009.

HOW GREEN IS MY LIFE?  Lighthearted Lessons from the Birds
Connie Toops

Thursday, March 12 at 9:30 am
Members: $15.00/Non-members: $20.00

Gardeners, backyard bird-watchers, and others who enjoy the outdoors think of themselves as being fairly “green.” We are attuned to nature, we care about the environment, most of us recycle our milk jugs, and some even drive a hybrid vehicle. Yet how do we make meaningful decisions about the eco-impacts of our lifestyles? Where is information available? How GREEN are we – really?

Join award-winning Western North Carolina nature writer and photographer Connie Toops in a thought-provoking program that draws simple lessons from the birds in how to lighten human impact on world resources.

Texture in the Garden
Ann Armstrong
Tuesday, March 17 at 9:30 am

Members: $10.00/Non-members: $15.00

In many borders and gardens most plants bloom but a few weeks at best and there you are…left with the leaves!  Those leaves better be interesting and varied if you hope to have a half-way pleasing garden. Texture is the major player here and, with Ann’s guidance, you can learn to create a garden filled with interest…even when the flowers are not in bloom.

Ann Armstrong has kicked along the garden path for a number of years talking throughout the South on gardening in the South. Her garden has been featured in a number of books and magazines and for seven years she wrote a gardening column for the late Leader Newspaper. She also co-edited a collection of Elizabeth Lawrence's gardening columns for Duke Press and wrote a Gardening Journal for Wing Haven.

Click here for a printable registration form.

Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary
248 Ridgewood Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28209
704.331.0664
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