17th Annual Gardening Show Speakers
We are pleased to announce these seminars and speakers at the 17th Annual Gardening Show on Saturday, January 21, 2023. We look forward to giving you an enthusiastic welcome at the Show!
When we themed this year's Show "Let's Gather Around Gardening," we wanted to emphasize how thrilled we are to be able to get together again and celebrate our love for growing things. We invite you to join us once again to learn and to grow. There will be seminars in the Main Hall and demonstrations in The Happening Place throughout the day.
Our seminars format has been revised to provide less time waiting in line and more time for answers to your questions. Here's what to look forward to:
9:00 a.m.
Savoring Succulents
Zann Wilson
10:30 a.m.
Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes: Now There’s a Book for That!
Nathanael Pilla and Scott Namestnik
12:00 noon
Bewitching Beauties: Ornamental Trees and Shrubs for Home Landscapes
Heather Prince
1:30 p.m.
Helping Pollinators through Lazy, Messy Gardening
Desi Robertson
Demonstrations will include 30-minute hands-on presentations on these topics:
10:00 a.m.
Kokedama
Alecks Voss, Bella Node
11:00 a.m.
Plant Propagation
Melissa Mills, PCMGA Master Gardener
1:00 p.m.
Re-potting: Keep Your Plants Forever
Don White, Anything Orchids
2:00 p.m.
Seed Starting
Jill Kilhefner, PCMGA Advanced Master Gardener
Scott Namestnik
Scott Namestnik is the Botanist at the Indiana Natural Heritage Data Center, which is part of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources – Division of Nature Preserves. Much of his work involves conducting botanical inventories, assessing sites for protection consideration, and documenting and monitoring occurrences of endangered and threatened species. He has over 20 years of experience with the flora of the Great Lakes region and the Midwestern United States.
Photo credit: Brian Lowry.
Nathanael Pilla
Nathanael J. Pilla is a botanist for Orbis Environmental Consulting who previously worked with Save the Dunes and the Indiana Dunes National Park. He also is an adjunct professor at Notre Dame University and host of the YouTube series, Botany and Beer. He is well versed in the terrestrial and aquatic flora of the Chicago region bringing his knowledge and charisma with him in and outside the workplace. He has experience in botanical research and identification, hands-on resource management, project management and plant identification, and his written work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals.
Heather Prince
Heather Prince has been a part of the green industry for more than 20 years, including experience at The Morton Arboretum, Chicago Botanic Garden, The Growing Place, The Pizzo Group, Wannemaker’s Home & Garden, and the American Horticultural Society. She is a trained horticulturist specializing in trees, shrubs, and natives with a passion for connecting people with plants.
Currently she is the email marketing manager for The Garden of Words and co-founder of Midwest Garden Stories. In addition, her freelance writing includes Chicagoland Gardening, The Landscape Contractor, and numerous newspaper articles, blog posts, newsletters, and more. Heather also relishes sharing her knowledge and experience by teaching at The Morton Arboretum, Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago Flower & Garden Show, Edith Farnsworth House as well as garden clubs, groups, and industry gatherings.
Desi Robertson
Desi Robertson grew up in Chesterton and spent much of her childhood exploring the Indiana Dunes and the magical gardens tended by her mother and grandmother. After completing her undergraduate degree in Biology from Northern Arizona University, she served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia. Desi later went on to complete her PhD in Entomology at the University of Minnesota. Her research has ranged from evolutionary studies of aquatic insects to human-mediated dispersal of invasive species, such as the emerald ash borer. Desi currently serves as Research Program Manager of the Great Lakes Research and Education Center, based at Indiana Dunes National Park. She coordinates several pollinator research projects and represents the NPS in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative’s Pollinator Task Force. Desi resides with her husband and 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 lizards, a cat, and an old goat on 10 acres on the Valparaiso moraine.
Zann Wilson
Growing up in central Ohio, Zann Wilson graduated from The Ohio State University with a Communications degree. After graduate school in Illinois, she worked as an educator in Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina (NC State) and Arizona. Having enjoyed gardening from an early age, searching out plants and plant people in those various locations brought her to understand that plants’ needs and adaptabilities allow for adventurous choices for the gardener.
Zann is a Porter County Master Gardener (class of 2002). After moving to Arizona in 2012, she trained in Pinal County as an Arizona Master Gardener. She is certified in both Arizona and Indiana, cross referencing plant knowledge in two very different ecologies. At the Gardening Show she will share her love of succulent plants.
Jill Kilhefner
Jill Kilhefner is a Purdue Advanced Master Gardener and hobbyist beekeeper. After she and her husband built their house on a one-acre lot, Jill needed lots of plants for their gardens. She quickly realized that growing them from seed was more economical than buying plants. So she built 2 growing stations and has been seed starting for 25 years. She recently began using the “winter sowing” method for native plants to add to her pollinator garden. She has taught seed starting classes at the local library and for Porter County Master Gardeners Association.
Melissa Mills
Melissa Mills is an Outdoor Educator with Dunes Learning Center and has been a Master Gardener since spring, 2021. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology and Environmental Studies and thrives on sharing her love of the outdoors with others. Over the last 15 years, her garden has expanded from vegetables to flowers to a variety of houseplants.
Plant propagation is a fancy term for multiplying plants from a parent plant. During her demonstration at the Gardening Show, you will learn several techniques for propagating your houseplants - especially Pothos, inch plant and succulents. You'll learn about the science of plant propagation as well as some tips and pitfalls.
Alecks Voss
Alecks Voss got her love of plants, like many of us, from her mother. As she got older and had a home, she started a collection of her own. She learned from trial and error, a lot of research and social media groups.
In 2019 she sold her plants collection to acquire the extremely rare and unique Philodendron Joepii. In 2020, the houseplant world exploded and Alecks started her very successful plant business, Bella Node, in Chesterton, IN.
Don White
Don White became interested in orchids because of their fragrance when he was 10 years old and lived near The Missouri Botanical Gardens. He has been raising orchids for 40 years and still has his first orchid which continues to flower yearly. He has been bringing his orchids to our Gardening Show for 16 years and we look forward to welcoming him again to demonstrate how to re-pot your orchids and keep them forever.