On Monday, January 13, 2014, I will speak at the ONLA Short Courses in Columbus, Ohio on Reflections of Nature: Landscaping with Plants that Enhance Water Features.

On Tuesday, January 21, 2014, I will speak at the monthly meeting of OLA in Cleveland on Exciting Plant Combinations. This talk will discuss how to combine perennials, ornamental grasses, and shrubs in pleasing combinations for particular sites with examples of how changing one plant can affect the combination. It will also include a discussion of the elements of landscape design that apply: form, texture, color of both flower and foliage, and scale. These combinations can be applied to the garden as well as containers.

Most lectures are 50 minutes in length and all are slide illustrated except the pruning workshop and “Garden Vignettes”.

“A Happy Marriage: Design Integration of House and Landscape” The attempt to reconcile house and landscape is not new but we are still learning how to work toward this goal. Using examples from classic and modern landscapes, designers will learn several different approaches for resolution of this frequent dichotomy.

“A Natural Duo: Perennials and Bulbs” How to interplant; combinations; planting techniques.

“A Primer of Ornamental Grasses”: Specific grasses and their cultural needs.

“Annuals as a Supplement to Perennials and Woodies”: Use of annuals for continuity and extension of bloom; emphasis on unusual and reseeding annuals.

“Annuals for the Connoisseur”: New as well as old but less known annuals to add unusual flowers or foliage colors, shapes and textures to the garden; suggestions for integrating them into the garden.

“April in Paris (and July), The Patterns of Paris Gardens”: Old and modern French gardens; several gardens shown in both spring and summer.

” Artful Garden, The“: The most obvious notion of the artful garden is the incorporation of art, e.g. sculpture and ornament, into the garden but another aspect is the realization that structures such as fences and arbors can be artistic, not just functional. Add creative garden design plus thoughtful choices and uses of plant material to make your garden a living work of art.

“Color in the Landscape”: We tend to think first of flowers when discussing color in the landscape but we should also remember that foliage, fruit, and bark may have even more value. Color is often limited to plant material but hardscaping and ornament can also contribute. Learn about the ramifications of this statement as well as some color theory that will help you make the most of the color in your landscape.

“Color in the Shade with Herbaceous Plants- Perennials, Vines and Ornamental Grasses”: Color in the Shade with Herbaceous Plants: Perennials, Vines and Ornamental Grasses.

“Color Schemes for Perennial Gardens”: Discussion of color and how to use it, its problems and several types of color schemes.

“Design and Maintenance of Perennial Gardens”: A discussion of the principles of design as demonstrated in large and small gardens, factors to consider in selecting and combining perennials, and ways in which design can lessen maintenance.

“Designing for Dry Shade”: Suggestions for design alternatives to planting; selected woodies, perennials and ornamental grasses that thrive in dry shade once established.

“Designing with Ornamental Grasses”: These grasses can be used in countless ways to create more interesting landscapes when aspects of design such as background, scale, texture and form are considered. Take advantage of the multiple attributes of grasses, among which are a wide range of heights, colors and time of bloom. There will also be a short discussion of companion plants.

“Exciting Plant Combinations”: A discussion about combining perennials, ornamental grasses, and shrubs in pleasing combinations for particular sites with examples of how changing one plant can affect the combination. It will also include the elements of landscape design that apply: form, texture, color of both flower and foliage, and scale. These combinations can be applied to the garden as well as containers.

“Expand Your Vision and Profits”: Turn a Hole in the Ground into a Whole Lot More. This talk will focus on creating the right setting for waterscapes and relating them to the house and other existing landscaping.

” Fall Garden, The“: Gardens look great in the spring and early summer but lassitude often takes over when the temperature rises. Fall is the time to get back into the garden and enjoy all of the wonderful plants that are at their best. The discussion of flower and fruit will include herbaceous and woody material.

” Foliage Palette, The“: Discussion of green as a color, other foliage colors, texture, size and shape of foliage, plant combinations.

“Garden Accents: The Finishing Touch”: Plants provide the setting for garden accents which can be whimsical to serious, small to large, and ornamental to structural but is a garden complete without accents? Why do we use them? How and where should we place them? This knowledge may be more important than the choice of accent.

“Garden Vignettes”: A hands-on demonstration of how to combine perennials and ornamental grasses in pleasing combinations for particular sites with examples of how changing one plant can affect the combination. Also includes a discussion of the elements of landscape design that apply: form, texture, color of both flower and foliage, and scale. These combinations can be applied to the garden but also to containers.

“Inspiration from English Perennial Gardens”: Highlights from many of the great English gardens with lessons for American gardeners.

“Low-Maintenance Perennials”: How to have color and texture without spending all your spare time in the garden.

“New and Underused Perennials”: Perennials new to the market from Europe or from Amencan hybridizers, also available but less well-known perennials.

“Nurturing Nature: Using Site-Specific Plants” (1 or 2 hours): An ecological approach to gardening; using site-appropriate plants instead of amending soil, which is not always feasible; specific perennials and ornamental grasses; some combinations.

“Perennials for Commercial Landscapes”: Which ones qualify as lower maintenance and look good in large masses; combinations.

“Perennials for Problem Places”: Using site appropriate plants instead of amending soil which is not always feasible; specific plants and combinations.

“Perennials for the Connoisseur”: New, as well as old, but less known perennials to add unusual flowers or foliage colors, shapes and textures to the garden; suggestions for integrating them into the garden.

“Perennial Pruning Workshop”: This is a two-hour workshop. Principles of pruning and hands-on demonstration by teacher and then hands-on practice by class.

“Pot It! Container Gardening”: Site selection, container selection, plant shapes and textures, specific plant combinations with perennials, annuals and grasses.

“Potscaping With Perennials”: We never think twice about using tropicals and annuals in containers to create exciting combinations. Why don’t we also use perennials for flower and foliage color, form, and texture? Many
perennials will winter over in containers if you follow Bobbie’s instructions. Even if they don’t, they will still have added immeasurably to the beauty, diversity, and excitement of the container planting. This will be a slide illustrated lecture with numerous examples of combinations for sun or partial shade. You can use these examples as a springboard for your containers in 2009.

“Summer and Fall Bulbs: An Extra Dimension for the Landscape”: Integrating bulbs into landscape design intensifies color impact and often bridges periods between flushes of perennial and shrub bloom. Most bulbs discussed have been grown by the speaker and will be hardy to at least zone 5.

“The Sunny Wet Garden”: Using woodies, perennials and annuals in unamended soil; plant combinations.

“Trends in Perennial Garden Design”: What are the trends in perennial garden design that you could incorporate into your designs? Bobbie will discuss how they stem from new and old philosophies of gardening and then will branch out to look at new ways of using plant material, hardscaping, and garden accents.

“Trends in Landscape Design”: Just as fashion changes, so do design trends. Landscape designers need to know what the latest trends are in order to be a trendsetter but Bobbie will also discuss creating trends.

“Xeriscaping in Ohio”: Ohio is not a desert but we still need drought resistant landscapes to lower our water bills and create sustainable landscapes that are also beautiful and interesting.