Seminars & Demonstrations

The Capital Region Flower & Garden Expo has an outstanding line-up of in-person speakers planned for 2025. It’s a great combination of horticultural experts, authors, speakers, demonstrators, floral designers, ecological landscape educators, business and garden center professionals. They’ll share tips, trends, hot topics and offer live demonstrations for everyone from the novice to the expert gardener. All seminars, lectures and demonstrations are FREE with paid admission.

Printable Schedule

Seminar

Schedule

Friday, March 28, 2025
Time	Topic	Speaker	Affiliation	Room
11:00 am	Promoting Plant Health Through Proper Pruning	Fred Breglia	Landis Arboretum	1A
11:00 am	Sustainable Landscapes: Creating a Pollinator Garden	Addison Kubik	Capital Region PRISM	Eco 1B
11:30 am	Gardening With Children	Angela Tompkins	Cornell Cooperative Ext. Sch'dy Co.	2A
12:00 pm	Living Wreaths & Kokedame with Herbs	Suzanne Balet-Haight	Balet Flowers & Design	1A
12:00 pm	Please Won't You Be My Neighbor	Donna Lee Newsome	Wild Ones	Eco 1B
12:30 pm	Lawn Maintenance with Robotics	Todd Zimmerman	Kress	2A
1:00 pm	Improving Soils for Better Results in All Locations	Fred Breglia	Landis Arboretum	1A
1:30 pm	Get Ready for Gardening	Casey Harkins	MVP Health Care	2A
2:00 pm	Dahlias - America's Most Underappreciated Flower	Barb Melera	Harvesting History	1A
2:00 pm	Native Carnivorous Plants	Shobha Chengalur-Smith	Cornell Cooperative Ext. Sch'dy Co.	Eco 1B
2:30 pm	Gardening with an Eye to the Sky	Alicia Wasula	STM Weather	2A
3:00 pm	Backyard Medicine	Janis Fallon	Cornell Cooperative Ext. Rens. Co.	1A
3:00 pm	Seed Starting Workshop	Rhonda Rumsey van Heuveln 🌱	Capital Native Plants	Eco 1B
3:30 pm	Landscape Sustainability	Paul Swieton	Hudson Valley Community College	2A
4:00 pm	Growing Plants in Containers	Barb Melera	Harvesting History	1A
4:00 pm	Restore Ecosystems in Yards and Gardens	Sheree Cammer 🌱	Home Earth Alliance	Eco 1B
4:30 pm	Ten Broeck Mansion Gardens: History & Herbariums	Kathryn Kosto	Ten Broeck Mansion	2A

Saturday, March 29, 2025
Time	Topic	Speaker	Affiliation	Room
11:00 am	Improving Soils for Better Results in All Locations	Fred Breglia	Landis Arboretum	1A
11:00 am	An Ecological Approach to the American Lawn	Kate Brittenham 🌱	Front Stoop Gardens, LLC	Eco 1B
11:30 am	Future of Lawn & Garden Power Tools	Todd Zimmerman	Kress	2A
12:00 pm	Cut Flowers and How to Make Them Last	Suzanne Balet-Haight	Balet Flowers & Design	1A
12:00 pm	All Season Wildflowers	Rhonda Rumsey van Heuveln 🌱	Capital Native Plants	Eco 1B
12:30 pm	Orchids 101	Donna Wardlaw	Northeastern NY Orchid Society	2A
1:00 pm	Promoting Plant Health Through Proper Pruning	Fred Breglia	Landis Arboretum	1A
1:00 pm	Please Won't You Be My Neighbor	Donna Lee Newsome	Wild Ones	Eco 1B
1:30 pm	Growing A Great Lawn	David Chinery	Cornell Cooperative Extension Rensselaer	2A
2:00 pm	Begonias - Continuing Opulence Throughout the Entire Summer	Barb Melera	Harvesting History	1A
2:00 pm	Managing Invasive Species in your Backyard	Addison Kubik	Capital Region PRISM	Eco 1B
2:30 pm	Kitchen Herbs - Myth, Magic, Folklore & Uses	Janis Fallon	Cornell Cooperative Ext. Rens. Co.	2A
3:00 pm	Rise and Shine: Waking up Your Garden in Spring	Jana Milbocker	Enchanted Gardens	1A
3:00 pm	Regenerative Gardening Practices for the Home Gardener	Genoveffa Vitale	Wild Ones	Eco 1B
3:30 pm	Engaging Kids in the Garden through Hands-On Learning	Zachary Lynn	Roots Learning Lab	2A
4:00 pm	What's Going on with the Weather?	Alicia Wasula	STM Weather	1A
4:00 pm	Pollinators in Your Home Garden	Lisa Salamon	Wild Ones	Eco 1B
4:30 pm	Japanese & Chinese Gardens of the Northeast	David Besozzi	Educator, Passionate Gardener	2A
5:00 pm	Got Worms?	Cody Futia	Vermiluv	1A

Sunday, March 30, 2025
Time	Topic	Speaker	Affiliation	Room
10:30 am	Ikebana Spring - Japanese Flower Arranging	Kaye Vosburgh	NYSCD Sogetsu Study Group	2A
11:00 am	Calla Lilies - The Perfect Plant	Barb Melera	Harvesting History	1A
11:00 am	Native Garden Management	Genoveffa Vitale	Wild Ones	Eco 1B
11:30 am	Herbal Tea from Your Garden	Matthew Zacharewicz	Short and Stout Tea Company	2A
12:00 pm	Getting to Know Your Weeds	Carole Henry	Cornell Cooperative Extension Albany	1A
12:00 pm	Got Worms?	Cody Futia	Vermiluv	Eco 1B
12:30 pm	Orchids 101: Basic Orchid Culture	Donna Wardlaw	Northeastern NY Orchid Society	2A
1:00 pm	Petal Talk	Michele Peters	Ambiance Florals & Events	1A
1:30 pm	Orchid Repotting	Elyse DuBois	North Eastern NY Orchid Society	2A
2:00 pm	Carnivorous Plants of the World	Bill Schwartz	Clever Carnivores	1A
2:00 pm	Native Perennials and Groundcovers	Carole Henry	Cornell Cooperative Extension Albany	Eco 1B
2:30 pm	Building a Backyard Asian Inspired Garden	David Besozzi	Educator, Passionate Gardener	2A
3:00 pm	Transforming Challenging Landscapes into Ecological Assets	Zachary Lynn	Roots Learning Lab	1A