Every spring, gardeners, landscape designers, horticulturalists, and plant lovers gather at the Southern Highlands Reserve to learn about gardening with plants that are native to the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
This year, we are pleased to welcome native plant expert Larry Mellichamp as our Keynote Speaker. Larry is the Director Emertius of the Botanical Gardens at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. Larry will share his insights gathered from a recent voyage to Madagascar on how we can protect the flora and fauna within fragile ecosystems like our own “islands in the sky” high-elevation forests. Guest speakers will include Matt Sprouse and Amy Fahmy of Sitework Studios in Asheville, NC.
The Symposium will be held Saturday, May 14, 2016 in the Chestnut Lodge of the Reserve from 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. We will begin the day with a continental breakfast and spend the morning learning from native plant experts about their best management practices to creating native plant gardens that thrive and flourish. We will enjoy a catered luncheon followed by a garden tour guided by the Reserve’s founders, Betty and Robert Balentine.
Registration is $85 and will begin on March 1st. An announcement will be sent via email when registration is open. Please mark your calendars and register early as space is limited.
Sponsorship Opportunities at the Symposium
Becoming a sponsor of the Symposium places your company in a unique position to develop relationships with new potential clients joining us from across the region, such as nursery staff, landscape architects, gardening professionals and native plant enthusiasts.
Our sponsorship opportunities offer numerous benefits to Symposium attendees who seek new tools and services to further their passion for conservation and native plant gardening. Partnering with the Reserve as a Symposium Sponsor supports the Reserve’s research and educational activities throughout the year, such as our public education programs and tours held within our 20-acre native plant display gardens. This benefits package is structured to allow your organization to account this sponsorship as a fully tax-deductible contribution to our non-profit organization.
To become a Symposium Sponsor, please review our 2016 Sponsorship Materials. Within this packet, you’ll find our sponsorship benefits, registration form, and who to contact for more information.