IN THE YARD: Top gardeners to speak in Danville

January is a cold month and it is normally too wet to work outside in the yard.

Most gardeners spend their time going through seed catalogues or looking out the window, making plans for warmer weather.

Now there is something for gardeners to do that will expand their knowledge and give them a chance to interact with other gardeners.

Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Danville Master Gardeners present the sedonc annual Spring to Green Horticulture Symposium.

This year’s event will be even better than last year with well known speakers presenting up-to-date information on a variety of gardening topics. The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Stratford Conference Center on Piney Forest Road.

The Keynote speaker will be Alexander X. Niemiera, associate professor of horticulture at Virginia Tech. Niemiera specializes in teaching and research on woody landscape plants, nursery production and marketing.

He has authored more than 30 publications for Virginia Cooperative Extension. He has contributed to several books on invasive plants and commercial nursery production.

His keynote address, “Sexy Trees, Woody Plants You Can’t Live Without,” will cover both common and less common tree species and their obvious and less obvious aesthetic virtues in the landscape, most of which comes from his 38 years of experience working with woody plants.

He will also present “The Invasive Plant Debate” in which he will take a fundamental look at introduced horticultural plants that have displaced native plants in our environment.

David Pike, president of Witherspoon Rose Culture, will present two programs on rose care. Witherspoon Rose Culture, headquartered in Durham, N.C., has been providing roses and care for rose gardens in North Carolina for 60 years and has earned tremendous respect in the American rose industry for their knowledge and skill with this garden gem.

All-American Rose Selections has awarded Witherspoon their prestigious “Outstanding Rose Garden Maintenance” designation. Pike has been featured in several local and national publications including “Southern Living” magazine. Through “Basic Rose Care” Pike will provide the basics for successful establishment and care of a rose garden. His second program, “Advanced Rose Care,” will further expand this knowledge as he goes into greater detail on most aspects of growing roses.

Robert McDuffie is a landscape architect and associate professor of horticulture at Virginia Tech. At Virginia Tech he teaches courses in residential landscape design, the history of landscape architecture and landscape construction.

An avid photographer, he has had several public exhibitions of his photos including an exhibit at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, “Taking Root.”

He has received numerous awards both as a landscape architect and as a teacher. His “Top 10 Worst Landscape Design Ideas” identifies some common errors that designers and homeowners make and tries to offer better alternatives. Over the past 14 years, McDuffie has taken groups all over the world to see some of the best gardens the world.

While this provides great subject matter for photographs, some of the best shots can be found in your own backyard. Through “Garden Photography in the Digital Age” he will explore how you can improve your personal photography through some basic principles.

Jeremy Pattison, assistant professor at North Carolina State University’s Plants for Human Health Institute in Kannapolis, N.C., specializes in the production of small fruits. He is currently working with strawberries.

Pattison will present “Small Fruits in the Home Landscape” to cover the benefits of growing small fruits with an overview of strawberries, brambles, grapes and blueberries in home gardening, and then focus upon the selection, planting and maintenance of blueberries in the home landscape.

Prior to moving to North Carolina he worked as a specialist doing research on small fruits at the Virginia Cooperative Extension research station in Blackstone.

Everyone is encouraged to register in advance as space is limited. The cost is $40 if you register on or before Jan. 9 at the Danville Extension office on Third Avenue.

You can pay $45 on the day of the event, but only if space is available.

For more information contact the Danville Extension office at (434) 799-6558 or talk to a Danville Master Gardener.

Sutphin is an extension agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension, Danville Unit Office. Contact him at (434) 799-6558.