annual event hosted by JC Raulston Arboretum and JLBG
Southeastern Plant Symposium and Rare Plant Auction
The world of Horticulture is constantly growing as new plants, new techniques and new philosophies are perpetually generated by the passionate and prolific horticulturists who embody the field. Southeastern Plant Symposium is your invitation to be amongst the first to learn about these plant innovations, rub elbows with the folks making them, and take home some of the best, rarest, and newest plants on the market during the two incredible days of programming.
Join us on June 4 & 5, 2026
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About the symposium
Started as a joint venture between Juniper Level Botanic Garden and the JC Raulston Arboretum in 2019, the Southeastern Plant Symposium is a two-day deep dive into what’s new and exciting in the plant world.
The annual event brings together some of the world’s top plant speakers for twelve talks in two days of total ornamental plant immersion. The symposium alternates between a woody plant focus on odd years and a perennial plants focus on even years. Not only will you be able to hear incredible speakers, but you’ll also be able to interact with them one on one.
The industry-famous Rare Plant Auction gives you a chance to purchase new and rare plants, many of which are nearly impossible to find elsewhere. Attendees are able to see and feel the plants at the symposium venue. Auction proceeds benefit the JC Raulston Arboretum and the Tony & Anita Avent Juniper Level Botanic Garden Endowment.
The event has four major parts: Thursday presentations, Thursday evening dinner presentation, Friday presentations, and the Rare Plant Auction. Participants can attend the event in-person or virtually through Zoom. Registration is not required to participate in the Rare Plant Auction.
Registration
Registration fees for in-person, on-site attendance include Thursday and Friday presentations, networking breaks, lunch on Thursday and Friday, and access to presentation recordings post symposium. Online registration includes a live stream of Thursday and Friday’s presentations and access to recordings post symposium.
The Thursday evening dinner presentation is optional and requires an additional registration fee.
Location
The host hotel for the Southeastern Plant Symposium is the Hilton Raleigh North Hills, located at 3415 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, NC 27609.
Questions?
Contact the JCRA Education Team at jcraprograms@ncsu.edu for more information about registration, presentations and other symposium information.
Event gallery
We are visual people so here are some images from past symposium events that will give you better idea of what to expect.
2026 Speakers
We have put together an amazing panel of experts from diverse backgrounds that are excited to share their extensive knowledge with you.
Alan Weakley is one of the most knowledgeable Southeast native plantsmen of our lifetime. Alan is a Professor of Botany at UNC Chapel Hill, and Director of the UNC Herbarium. He is also the author of the monumental work, Flora of the Southeastern United States, as well as the new FloraQuest app.
Andrea Sprott is the former long-time curator of the Elizabeth Lawrence Garden in Charlotte, NC. Andrea has spent much of her life studying Lawrence, who was one of the Southeast’s most well-known plant experts, garden writers, and the first female landscape architect graduate in the Southeast US.
Johan Nilson is the Internationally known garden curator at Sweden’s Gothenburg Botanic Garden, where he is in charge of the Asian woodland and rock garden. He is a widely-traveled plant explorer, in search of rare bulbs, woodland perennials, and rock garden plants.
Brian Keener is a Biological Science Professor at the University of West Alabama, where he also serves as Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, and Director of the UWA Cahaba Biodiversity Center. Brian is renowned in native plant circles for his encyclopedic knowledge of the Southeastern US flora, having already published several new plant species.
Dan Hinkley is one of the world’s top horticulturists/plant explorers, who founded two of America’s most important plant collection-based gardens, Heronswood and Windcliff, both in Washington State. Dan has authored four plant books, and traveled the world looking for “above average garden plants”. He is a winner of numerous awards, including the prestigious RHS Veitch Medal.
Ed Bowen runs one of our favorite micro-mail order nurseries, Issima, in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Ed introduces some of the most fascinating new perennials, including many from his own breeding. His work with the genus, Podophyllum, is quite extraordinary.
Kata Kress-Wallace is manager of Sarastro Nursery, a nursery known worldwide for its new plant introductions. Prior to returning home to her family nursery in Austria, she worked as a Regional Product Manager for Walters Gardens, and as Production Supervisor at Hoffman Nursery. In 2020, Kata was selected by Greenhouse Product Magazine to the class of 40 under 40.
Kathleen Pryer is a Professor Emeritus of Biology at Duke University. She has spent her career studying ferns, especially their evolutionary lineages and relationships. She made national news when she named a new fern genus after Lady Gaga, when describing two new species, Gaga germanotta and G. monstraparva.
Ron Gagliardo, a Raleigh native and NC State alumni, began his career developing the first protocols for the tissue culture of Venus-fly-traps. He went on to run the plant tissue culture lab at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, before moving to Seattle, where he led the initial plantings in the Amazon Spheres. In 2020, he started his own freelance business, consulting for similar projects around the world.
Steve Hootman is an internationally renowned plant explorer, who, has served as the Executive Director of the Rhododendron Species Foundation in Washington State for the last 26 years. Steve is recognized as one of the foremost experts on Rhododendron species and their taxonomy, and has been awarded the American Rhododendron Society’s Gold Medal.
Mark Weathington is the Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum, where he has worked since 2007. Mark is an international plant explorer, international garden speaker, and garden author, in addition to being a passionate plantsman, who travels the world in search of great, new garden plants.
Tony Avent is the founder of Plant Delights and Juniper Level Botanic Gardens, where he as introduced over 1500 new plants to horticulture. He has grown over 85,000 plant taxa, many of which are now expensive compost. He has taken over 100 plant exploration trips, as well as writing and speaking around the world.
Steve Castorani is the co-founder of North Creek Nurseries, as well as the founder of Gateway Garden Center of PA. He is also the co-owner of the American Beauties, brand of North American native plants. He has been honored with a number of awards for his work in the horticultural industry.
Past events
If you’d like to take a deeper dive or are looking for specific information, below is a list of links to the past SEPS events on the JCRA website and blog posts from Tony.
JCRA events archive
2025 Southeastern Plant Symposium
2024 Southeastern Plant Symposium
2023 Southeastern Plant Symposium
2022 Southeastern Plant Symposium
2021 Southeastern Plant Symposium
2020 Southeastern Plant Symposium – cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 Southeastern Plant Symposium