Saturday’s Presentations—
Carmen Johnston
Nectar & Company was founded in 2006 by Carmen who has a love of using container gardens to inspire the imagination. Today, she designs container gardens for commercial and residential gardens, fashions affairs to remember, and shares the garden experience through Nectar Garden Parties. Carmen is on a passionate pursuit to share her love of gardening and designing with her generation and others to come. Events at Nectar & Company often include complimentary children’s activities to inspire young gardeners. She is a strong supporter of locally grown. Carmen and her husband, Tommy Johnston, have been featured in national publications, Southern Living, Profit, and Grower Talks. For more info about Carmen, visit her website.
Dr. Wilf Nicholls
Born in London, England, Wilf Nicholls graduated with a B.Sc. (Botany) from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1972. He then earned a PhD (Botany) from the University of British Columbia in 1984.He spent 22 years in Vancouver; first as a graduate student, then an entrepreneur. He served nine years as a research scientist at UBC Botanical Garden. There, he managed the Plant Introduction Scheme and bred ‘Mandarin’ honeysuckle and ‘Starbright’ mock orange. In 1997 he moved to St John’s, Newfoundland to take up the position of Director of Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden. He came to Athens in September 2010 as director of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. For more info about Wilf, see the UGA note about him.
Brooks Garcia
Brooks is a native of Atlanta. After completing a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia, Brooks traveled to Europe to study classical garden design. He is the principal designer of Fine Gardens, a garden design firm established in 1989 that specializes in custom residential gardens, located in Atlanta, Georgia. His personal garden as well as those of several clients, have appeared in many local and national periodicals. His own garden has been featured in Garden Design, Atlanta Homes, Lifestyles, and HGTV’s, “A Gardener’s Diary”. For more info about Brooks, please visit his website.
Peter Loewer
Well-known writer and botanical artist, Peter graduated from the Albright Art School of the University of Buffalo with a degree in graphics and a minor in art history. In 1973 he wrote the first book on ornamental grasses, Growing and Decorating with Ornamental Grasses, then 1994 he published the first book on nocturnal flowers for bloom and fragrance, called The Evening Garden. His book, The Wild Gardener, was named one of the best 75 garden books of the 20th Century by the American Horticultural Society. He has a bi-weekly radio program on MAIN-FM, community radio in Asheville and is the Contributing Editor for Carolina Gardener magazine. Visit Peter’s blog here.
For a printable list of speakers, please click here.