MGSOC Educational Conference – Gardening and All That Jazz – is an annual educational event hosted by the Master Gardener Society of Oakland County.
SAVE THE DATE for the 2025 Conference:
Saturday, April 26, 2025
Our conferences are offered to all who love to garden
All skill levels are welcome, and you need not be a Master Gardener to attend. Master Gardeners receive 5 hours CE Credit.
Chair: Betty Peters
Join us for our 10th Annual Education Garden Conference
Gardening And All That Jazz – Garden Revival
Saturday, April 20, 2024, 8 AM – 4 PM
2024 Keynote Speakers
Joseph Tychonievich
Soil Problems & How to Solve Them
David Culp
David Culp is the creator of the gardens at Brandywine Cottage in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. He has been lecturing about gardens nationwide for more than 15 years. His articles have appeared in Martha Stewart Living, Country Living, Fine Gardening, Green Scene, and many other publications.
He is a former contributing editor to Horticulture magazine and served as chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Hardy Plant Society. David was Vice President for Sunny Border Nurseries in Connecticut. David is a herbaceous perennials instructor at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA.
He has developed the Brandywine Hybrid strain of hellebores and was recently cited in the Wall Street Journal for his expertise on snowdrops. His garden has been featured several times in Martha Stewart Living and on HGTV. Brandywine Cottage is listed in the Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Gardens.
David’s best-selling book, The Layered Garden, published by Timber Press, has been selected by Garden Writers Association as 2013 Best Overall Book. It is now in its eighth printing. David is a recipient of the Distinguished Garden Award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society 1997 and 2016 and has also been awarded the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Award of Merit. He currently serves on the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Gold Medal Plant Selection Committee. He was the recipient of the Garden Media Award from the Perennial Plant Association in 2014. He has been Honorary Chair, Ladew Garden Fair; Celebrated Garden Artist; Wave Hill Gardener’s Party 2016; Celebrated Plant Expert, Rare Plant Auction, Delaware Center for Horticulture in 2017; and featured in the Garden Conservancy’s 25th anniversary book, Outstanding American Gardens, 2016. Visit his website at: www.davidlculp.com
Scott Beuerlein
Topic #1: Badass Trees for Piss-Poor Places
Topic #2: Planting for Pollinators
Kerry Ann Mendez
Kerry Ann Mendez is an award-winning garden educator, author and design consultant based in southern Maine. Since 2015 she has presented over 400 lectures to more than 40,000 gardeners in 21 states and Canada. As a popular educator and communicator she has received over 450 five-star reviews from her lecture audiences, which are available for review on the independent national website GreatGardenSpeakers.com. In 2014 she received the Gold Medal award from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for “Exceptional teaching and writing that increases public enjoyment and appreciation of horticulture.” Her gardens have been featured in numerous magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, Country Gardens, Garden Gate and Horticulture. Kerry Ann’s gardens have been featured in many gardening magazines, including Fine Gardening, Garden Gate, Country Gardens, Horticulture and Better Homes and Gardens.
Kerry Ann has been a featured speaker at botanical gardens, arboretums and horticultural societies in 20 states, including the U.S. Botanic Gardens, U.S. National Arboretum, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Wave Hill, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Longwood Gardens and many more. She has been a presenter and keynote speaker at Master Gardener conferences in 18 states plus dozens of flower shows including Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Ohio and Seattle. In addition, she has been a frequent presenter at nursery and landscaping professional organizations and Green Industry events, including New England Grows, Cultivate, CENTS and the Perennial Plant Association’s annual conferences. Kerry Ann has written four gardening books, with the most recent, The Budget-Wise Gardener, released in February 2018. In 2015 Kerry Ann was a Region I representative for the Garden Writers Association of America. Her monthly e-newsletter and blog go out to over 12,000 subscribers throughout the United States and Canada. In 2016 Kerry Ann started producing international gardening Webinars that have been enjoyed by thousands. In May 2018 she joined Estabrook’s Garden Center and Nursery as the head garden designer and consultant. For more information regarding Kerry Ann Mendez please visit www.pyours.com.
Deborah Trickett
Jaw-Dropping, Traffic-Stopping, Get-the-Neighbors-Talking Containers
Shawna Coronado
Shawna Coronado is a successful author, blogger, photographer, and media host with green lifestyle living, organic gardening, and anti-inflammatory culinary who campaigns for social good. She is also an on-camera spokesperson and social media personality with over half million followers on her various social media venues and a YouTube channel with more than 2 million views. Shawna’s wellness, garden, food, and eco-adventures have been featured in many media venues including news programming, radio broadcasting, and PBS television.
Along with her gardening and green-lifestyle initiatives, Shawna is concerned about promoting and teaching a wellness lifestyle through anti-inflammatory living. She was diagnosed with severe spinal osteoarthritis, this diagnosis has led her to educate audiences about beneficial diet, food, and health practices through her organic living media. She dreams that this will enable more people to be active who suffer from similar conditions. Her successful organic living photographs and stories have been shown both online and off in many international home and garden magazines and multiple books.
You can learn more about Shawna at www.shawnacoronado.com.
Registration Information
The 2024 MGSOC Education Conference will be held at the Oakland Schools Conference Center, 2111 Pontiac Lake Road, Waterford, 48328.
- Registration Fee: $95
- Cancellation Policy: No refunds are granted.
- Registration Deadline: Midnight, Friday, April 12, 2024 (Checks must be received by this date).
- Registration options:
- Register online: buy tickets here
- Register by mail: mail print form and check (made payable to MGSOC, Inc.) to Ann Hudak – Registrar, 3931 Custer Avenue Royal Oak, MI 48073
Please direct conference registration questions to Ann:
Phone (248) 812-9437, E-mail: [email protected]
Conference Agenda
Conference begins promptly at 8 a.m.
Each presentation will be one hour long, with a 15-minute Q&A.
8:00 AM - Welcome with opening remarks
Joseph Tychonievich
Soil Problems & How to Solve Them
20-minute break
Scott Beuerlein
Badass Trees for Piss Poor Places
1 hour lunch break
Deborah Trickett
Jaw-Dropping, Traffic-Stopping, Get-the-Neighbors-Talking Containers
15-minute break
Scott Beuerlein
Planting for Pollinators
4:00 PM - Conference Closes
Past Conferences
The 2024 MGSOC Conference – Gardening and All That Jazz – Garden Revival key note speakers were Joseph Tychonievich, Scott Beuerlein and Deborah Trickett. Thanks so all who attended, and special thanks to the Committee and Betty Peters – Chairperson
