We’re only a couple of weeks away from the 2025 Southeastern Plant Symposium, co-hosted by the JC Raulston Arboretum and Juniper Level Botanic Garden. Our goal each year is to bring in the top horticultural speakers from around the world, to share their knowledge about plants that are growable in the Southeastern US region. We alternate between a perennial plant and woody plant focus each year, so this year will be all about trees and shrubs. The dates are Thursday June 12 and Friday June 13, and the location is the North Raleigh Hilton Hotel.
Speakers for 2025 include: Dr. Koen Camelbeke of Belgium’s Arboretum Wespelaar. The Arboretum is world renown for having one of the finest woody plant collections worldwide. Dr. Camelbeke was also a 2025 recipient of the RHS Veitch Medal. Following Koen will be Fred Weisensee and Michelle Loughran of Dancing Oaks Nursery in Oregon. Dancing Oaks is one of the go-to-sources for rare and cool woody plants in the country. Following them will be Ethan Kauffman of Stoneleigh Gardens in Pennsylvannia. After cutting his horticultural teeth at SC’s Moore Farms, Ethan move to Pennsylvannia to become the director of Stoneleigh. There, Ethan has focused on cutting edge uses of native plants to create traditional looking landscapes. He was recently featured on Margaret Roach’s Away to Garden
The next wave of speakers starts with Dr. Min Deng of China’s Yunnan University, who will speak on her specialty, the incredible diversity of evergreen oaks in China. Following Min is Dr. Kevin Parris of Spartanburg Community College. Kevin is considered one of the worlds top magnolia breeders, creating an array of out-of-the-box hybrids by crossing deciduous and evergreen species together. Following Kevin will be nationally renown HortTube founder and NC State graduate, Jim Putnam, who will share his favorite underused and little known woody plants from his extensive travels to interview the country’s top plant experts. The day ends with an evening program (separate ticket) by landscape designer extraoidaire, Pat Cullina, who will speak on Dynamic Landscape Design. His extensive work includes projects such as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and the High Line.
Day two starts with retired NC State plant breeder Dr. Dennis Werner, who has revolutionized the redbud genus, Cercis. His breeding work continues in retirement, so prepare to be amazed. Following Dennis, will be Tim Boland, Director of the famed Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha’s Vineyard. Tim will delve into their extensive work with the genus, Stewartia. Following Tim, will be NC’s Brie Arthur of Brie Grows, who, thanks to her time at Camellia Forest Nursery, will share her passion for camellias, particularly the little known species camellias. Following Brie will be Dr. Jared Barnes of Stephen Austin State University of Texas. Jared, is another NC State grad, who will speak on the Science of Plant Survival Strategies. Following Jared is Kip McConnell, Business Director of Alabama’s legendary plant introduction firm, PDSI. PDSI is responsible for an array of wildly popular plants such as the Encore Azaleas. Following Kip is Abby Meyer, who has spent a large part of her career as Managing Director of Botanic Garden Conservation International. Abby is a regular at plant conservation symposiums, who is often featured as an expert on media outlets like NPR. Ending our symposium is renown University of Georgia plant breeder, Dr. John Ruter. John managed the plant breeding station at Tifton, Georgia, before moving to Athens and taking over the trial gardens when Alan Armitage retired. There he continues with his breakthrough breeding as well as managing the trial gardens.
The accompanying Rare Plant Auction has already reached legend status in the plant world. The auction will go live early symposium week, with more plants being added daily. You do not have to register for the symposium, or be present to submit a winning bid. Plants that are not picked up at the symposium can be shipped after the symposium ends, but only plants of 1 gallon size or smaller. The Rare Plant Auction will close at 3:00 pm on Friday June 13. All proceeds from the symposium are split between Juniper Level Botanic Garden and the JC Raulston Arboretum.
We think we’ve put together one fantastic symposium, and we hope you will join us either in person or via Zoom.
Both the JC Raulston Arboretum and JLBG/Plant Delights will be open for symposium attendees all day Wednesday June 11, and Saturday June 14, from 9-1pm. You can find out even more, and register for the symposium here.