Upcoming online talks feature garden celebrities and new garden books

Connie Cottingham • November 13, 2020

I am so excited – feels like I just opened a stack of Christmas presents! While researching garden events this morning, I found a treasure trove of virtual events and ended up registering for six webinars (many with garden celebrities), plus three 2020 coffee table gardening books – all for under $100. Half of the events are free.

This afternoon I will be speaking as part of the Georgia Master Gardener Annual meeting. After that, I am all in for learning from others at this conference and these webinars. You can find all of these and more are on my website calendar ( tinyurl.com/garden-events), but I am sharing direct links for you below.

First, there are three free webinars in the next three days:

Saturday, November 14, 11 a.m.              The Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival

Monty Don, Britain’s treasured horticulturist, author, and broadcaster, and Sue Stuart–Smith, prominent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, reflect on the life-affirming capacity of gardening and nature to soothe troubled minds in our disturbing world. Part of The Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival.

Sunday, November 15, 2 p.m.

OK, this one is not gardening, but looks interesting: Is it possible that the arts could not only survive, but emerge from the COVID crisis and recent social unrest stronger than before? Cultural leaders from the US and UK re-imagine the future of their art forms.

Monday, November 16, 7 p.m.

The world is getting smaller! With more globalization, more efficient technology, and more people, small is now the big thing. Gardening is following the trend as breeders and plant companies select miniature models of plants and pixies for the patio. But, in an ever-shrinking world, we horticulturists shouldn’t forget the friendly giants of the landscape. Jared Barnes will share perennials that are huge both in size and in personality and show how to incorporate them into gardens both big and small. This free event is a partnership with the Georgia Perennial Plant Association and the Atlanta History Center.

Second, The Garden Conservancy has a Fall 2020 Literary Series that is amazing; we have watched two episodes already. Not only did I just sign up for all three remaining talks, but I am going for the opportunity to get the corresponding book mailed to me a week ahead at an amazing price.

Note from GC: Webinars will be presented via Zoom. Links will be sent to registered attendees on the morning of each webinar. If you cannot join us for the live webinar, we still encourage you to register! A link to a recording of the webinar will be emailed to registrants in the days following the session.

November 19, 2 p.m.     $40 for the book and talk, $15 for just the Zoom talk

Garden Portraits: Experiences of Natural Beauty , a painterly collection of sixteen magnificent and diverse landscapes, is the sixth botanical photography book from Larry Lederman, the photographer of the New York Botanical Garden.

December 3, 2 p.m.        $28 for the book and talk, $15 for just the Zoom talk

Windcliff: A Story of People, Plants, and Gardens  follows the course of Dan Hinkley’s plant-obsessed life as he developed his latest garden on a high bluff overlooking Puget Sound in Indianola, WA. As he reflects on his property, he also reflects upon the principles of good horticulture gathered from over five decades of gardening.

December 17, 2 p.m.     $28 for the book and talk, $15 for just the Zoom talk

Chasing Eden: Design Inspiration from the Gardens at Hortulus Farm  (Timber Press, January 2020) is a lavishly illustrated roadmap to creating a personal Eden. Together with his late partner, Jack Staub, Renny Reynolds created Hortulus Farm Garden and nursery, a 100-acre 18th-century farmstead and nursery in the rolling hills of Bucks County, PA. Hortulus Farm is not only a model of classical gardening and design teners, but also a showcase of how traditions can successfully be broken.

You can also stream their summer series of speakers for free.  Thank you, Garden Conservancy!

Third, GardenComm is selling tickets for an on-demand play that you can stream anytime Dec. 3-6.

Betrothal is a 35-minute comedy about two iris growers who meet at a competition under a tent during a rainstorm. Natalie and Joe Carmolli will perform in the play by Lanford Wilson, which will be videoed by Adriana Robinson of Spring Meadow Nursery. Pat Stone, publisher of GreenPrints, will entertain with a musical introduction.

I hope this inspires you. My geeky little heart was racing as I found more and more ways to see gardens and learn about gardening. It felt like presents were dropping from the internet cloud.

OK, my registrations are in, all is on my calendar. Alexa, add popcorn to my shopping list.

Four Posts, Four Plants, Many Stories

By Connie Cottingham • October 18, 2026
My arbor is woven with memories as much as vines.

I haven't planted tall phlox in years.

By Connie Cottingham • September 25, 2026
One beautiful plant at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden made me rethink that.

These, sweet, pink romantic roses laugh at heat and drought

By Connie Cottingham • September 15, 2026
Thanksgiving week 2024: a fun, memorable family gathering that lasted for days in my niece’s new home in Atlanta. Still, I took the opportunity to hide in the guest bedroom for a moment because I had promised myself I would unapologetically find a treasure among the many Black Friday sales. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? Roses! The treasure I found was four own-root roses from Heirloom Roses . Not electronics. Not fashion. Roses. Yeah, surprised me too. I recently wrote about the New Dawn rose that has now reached the top of my backyard arbor. The other three were planted closely together until I could build and fill more raised beds. Then numerous peonies came into my life, a few refugees from other beds had to be moved and, well, these three roses are still in the same spot and way too close together. That won’t change anytime soon.  What also doesn’t seem likely to change is this insufferable heat and drought. Ten inches of rain in June, none since. Temperatures linger in the 90s and triple digits, and the forecast stays hot and dry through August 23

Magical Times I Had a Public Garden (Practically) to Myself

By Connie Cottingham • September 9, 2026
There is something slightly thrilling about standing in a world-famous garden and realizing that, for the moment, nobody else seems to be there. Public gardens are meant to be public. I love seeing people enjoying them, especially children encountering a garden for the first time. The more people who experience gardens and nature, the better. But every once in a while, through luck, timing or a little audacity, I have found myself practically alone in one.  Those quiet hours remain among my most magical travel memories

Dad and the Scientist: a botanical garden visit that changed the way I saw expertise.

By Connie Cottingham • August 24, 2026
The photo is from the 2024 exhibit "Exquisite Creatures" at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR.

Discovering George Washington Carver, garden history, and a white passionflower in Southern Missouri

By Connie Cottingham • August 17, 2026
George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri

Don’t wait until June to visit Crystal Bridges – Visit Now.

By Connie Cottingham • February 26, 2026
Everyone is talking about the grand reopening in June. More space. More galleries. More excitement. But waiting means missing something special. Here are eight reasons why I think now is one of the best times to visit Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. It’s free – which expands your freedom. Yes, parking and admission here are always free. That’s easy to take for granted since most Bentonville area museums do not charge admission. But that free admission means you don’t have to think about your budget and time in the same way as if you were paying a $20-40 entry fee. You can stop in to join a tour or fill time between appointments by visiting one gallery.
Greeting card: Pineapple art print and portrait of woman with text.

Maria Sibylla Merian at Philbrook Museum: A Botanical Illustrator Worth the Trip to Tulsa

By Connie Cottingham • February 22, 2026
An exhibit on Maria Sibylla Merian is currently on display at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Drawn from a private collection, the works are well worth seeing. So is Philbrook itself—a 1920s historic estate built during Tulsa’s oil boom and now home to a museum surrounded by beautiful gardens. Art, architecture, and gardens together in one place? Definitely my jam. Who is Maria Sibylla Merian? Well, if anyone asks me who my favorite artist is, who is one of my sheroes, it’s Merian. She was a botanical illustrator, scientist, explorer. She was also fearless, curious, groundbreaking, and well-traveled. She was a single mother. She was open to other cultures and deduced her own opinions. She sold everything and brought her daughter with her to another continent at age 52. Oh, and she lived from 1647 to 1717.
Bay laurel plant in a black pot, with green leaves, and a plant tag.

A Bay Tree on the Windowsill

By Connie Cottingham • February 22, 2026
“Add a couple bay leaves,” suggested a friend. I had been moaning that I had looked everywhere I could think and could not find Bruce’s pinto bean recipe. Soak the beans overnight, add onions, ham, cumin, salt, and pepper into the Crock Pot. I found a similar, delicious recipe, but it was not the recipe. And Bruce’s recipe did not include bay leaves. But Kris said every bean recipe should have a bay leaf. And there is a bay tree on my windowsill. OK—at about 14 inches tall, tree may be a bit of an exaggeration. Bay leaves are commonly used in Mediterranean, French, and Spanish cooking, adding a subtle, savory flavor. Bay is also traditionally recommended to help with upset tummies, flatulence, and digestion. Ah—so that is why you toss bay into pots of beans. I hadn’t heard that before. Nor did I know bay leaves are sometimes boiled into custards.  During my snowed-in week, I made two pots of soup and a pot of beans, snapping off a leaf or two of bay and harvesting from the vase of sage and rosemary for the soups. My bay has adjusted well to indoor life and has plenty of leaves to share. Fresh bay leaves are a bit stronger than dried—one book describes the fresh flavor as “more eucalyptus-y.” I’ve always thought of bay as very mild. Although they are evergreen trees in the Mediterranean, bay (Laurus nobilis) takes well to pruning and can be grown in a container. I plan to keep mine a manageable two feet tall and happily invite it into my kitchen every winter. If you see a bay plant, I recommend buying one. None of my books recommend growing them from seed, and it can take a year or more to grow one from a cutting.

6 reasons to start your vacation at the local visitor center

By Connie Cottingham • October 1, 2025
1. The locals know which destinations suit your interests The people who work and volunteer are proud of their town and happy to have you discover all it has to offer. Once you start talking, they will light up as they give suggestions on what would interest you. Yes, there may be an abundance of breweries in an area, but a visitor center singled out the one that was also a cut flower farm to me. 2. Free parking while you get your bearings It takes a moment to figure out what is what in a new town. Many visitor centers offer free parking while you plan your visit with helpful staff and volunteers. 3. Restrooms and coffee ... welcome finds on a road trip. 4. Warnings and options When I mentioned that I wanted to experience the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way home in the Hendersonville (NC) Welcome Center, they warned me that weather had shut a segment down. They suggested another route where I enjoyed an outdoor lunch, art galleries, and a scenic drive home. Visitor centerscan also point out festivals and events to either enjoy or navigate around. 5. Gift shop A visitor center gift shop often carries postcards, local products, shirts, books, and other keepsakes to remember your trip. I seek out stickers to label my travel journals with the destinations inside.Photo in text here