At Hortlandia this year (April 14 & 15 at Portland EXPO Center), we’ve got a special treat for Sunday, April 15. We’ve got 3 free programs lined up to help you learn from the experts:

10:30AM
30 Great Plants for 30 Great Years

Learn more from Tom Fischer about the plants that made the celebratory list, including what makes them special and how to use them in your own garden. After Tom’s talk, you’ll have plenty of time to shop for the plants that look great to you.

Tom Fischer is editor-in-chief at Timber Press here in Portland. His garden is composed of plants from the world’s five Mediterranean climate areas, with an emphasis on West Coast natives, and has been profiled in The Oregonian. His most recent project has been a collaboration with Portland designer Lauren Hall-Behrens to create a lush, exotic garden featuring ornamental grasses, palms, ferns, salvias, Pacific Coast irises, and Southern Hemisphere plants.

A prolific writer as well as an editor, Tom’s articles have been featured in magazines such as Garden Design, Gardens Illustrated, and Martha Stewart Living.

11:30AM
Pint-Sized Plants for PNW Gardens

Amy Campion, co-author of the indispensable book, Gardening in the Pacific Northwest: The Complete Homeowner’s Guide (which will be 30% off at the sale!), will talk about pint-sized plants for Pacific Northwest gardens.  Many of us garden on small city lots and large plants just aren’t an option, and those with big gardens are so plant-crazed that we fill up even large borders quickly. But we can always find room for cool, small plants. Amy will highlight some of the best petite plants for our region–plants that you can pick up at the show!

Amy Campion is a freelance writer, editor, and photographer, and writes for an online tree retailer. She worked at a large wholesale/retail nursery for 16 years before moving to Oregon, where she is active in the Hardy Plant Society. Amy blogs about gardening at amycampion.com.

1PM
Planting for Pollinators

To coincide with our 30th anniversary focus on pollinators, join Bee Lackner of Beeleaf, and Brian Lacy of Urban Bees and Gardens where they’ll discuss some the bees you’ll find in your gardens, and the challenges they face. Learn how every gardener can foster habitats and healthy forage to encourage more diversity and pollinators. Then you’ll have time to shop for what you might need to make it all possible in your own garden!

Bee Lackner is a native Oregonian who grew up on a rural farm. Now in its 4th generation, the family farm raises organic hazelnuts, beef and seed crops. He is a total plant and bee geek who co-creates art in client gardens, and enjoys spending time in his apiaries. He brings many years of experience working in the specialty nursery industry, small farms, greenhouses and landscapes around the Willamette Valley.

Brian Lacy started beekeeping at age 14. After several years of nonprofit work, most notably founding The Community Cycling Center in 1994, and Growing Gardens in 2001, Brian founded Urban Bees and Gardens in 2010 to renew the Pollinator-Plant-People bond our cycle of life depends on. Today UBAG rescues bees throughout the region, gives presentations to groups, leads education projects in schools, coaches groups and individuals on the craft of urban beekeeping and invents tools for easier tending.