The 2011 Aiken Garden Show will feature interesting speakers and demonstrations. Plan to join us to learn the latest gardening tips and the best ways to grow your favorite plants.

Friday, May 20th ~ 1:30 pm

Everette Jones

Everette Jones of Shady Characters will present a talk ''Shade Gardening - Preparing the Site, Selecting the Plants and Providing the Right Conditions". Everette’s business out on Wire Road provides primarily shade loving plants for Southern Gardens. Come find the perfect plant for those shady niches! Click here for more info about Everette.

Friday, May 20th ~ 2:30 pm

Sharyn Altman

Sharyn Altman’s talk will take us into the realm of caterpillars and butterflies. Ever wonder what that beautiful butterfly is named, or how to encourage more in your garden? Ever found some truly strange caterpillars with horns and “eyes” at the rear instead of the head? Sharyn will give us tips on how to garden to attract butterflies – what to plant for food for all stages of growth. The talk is a fascinating and beautiful glimpse at the butterflies of the CSRA. Click here for more info about Sharyn.

Friday, May 20th ~ 3:30 pm

Ted Stephens

Ted Stephens of Nurseries Caroliniana will be on hand to talk about "How Japan has Influenced Our Horticultural Heritage". How many of you realize that most likely over 80% of the plants in your garden originated in Japan? From evergreen Azaleas to Hydrangeas to Viburnums to Fatsias to Deutzias to deciduous Magnolias and the list goes on and on. Ted will discuss his travels to Japan over the past eleven years to find and bring back the latest in their botanical jewels. He will discuss their gardening legacy and the character of this resilient people and their love of America. You will see how they have blessed the world with their art of bonsai, flower arranging, garden design and the art of exhibiting plants in the “Koten Egei” style. Click here for more info about Ted.

Saturday, May 21st ~ 1:30 pm

Dr. Ken Perrine

Dr. Ken Perrin will delight us with his talk “Woodland Wildflower Photography”. Ken has followed the trails in Hitchcock Woods to find and photograph wildflowers of every hue and size. His intention was to provide a resource for those who enjoy the woods to identify the wildflowers found there. In his talk he will offer “One Person’s Approach to Photography and Macrophotography of Wildflowers in the Hitchcock Woods.” His book is available for sale in the Museum gift shop. Click here for more info about Dr. Ken Perrine.

Saturday, May 21st ~ 2:30 pm

Linda Boland

Linda Boland, Vice President of the South Carolina Rose Society and Past President of the Augusta Rose Society, will present a program on,  “Roses for Your Garden and Your Home”. Roses do beautifully in the CSRA if one has a plan for the rose types purchased. Linda will cover types and varieties that are easy care for garden color, as well as the more classic and less well known roses used for flower arrangements and garden accents. As a rose judge, she will point out characteristics to look for in rose varieties for the gardener who would like to compete for horticulture and arrangement awards at rose shows or other similar competitions. Linda will offer advice for planting, pruning, and caring of rose bushes in our area that she has gained growing, showing, and arranging over the past 30 years.

Saturday, May 21st ~ 3:30 pm

Dr. Patrick McMillan

Dr. Patrick McMillan, a professor at Clemson University and the host of the ETV series "Expeditions with Patrick McMillan" will close our speakers’ programs with his talk “Nature on the Move – reclaiming our place in the world”. Join Patrick as he takes us on a journey through time to demonstrate how human choices made 5000+ years ago on the coast of the Carolinas and those we make today affect the landscapes of the future. Nature is always on the move and “our decisions in our gardens and our homes are more important now than ever”. Dr. McMillan is a well-known naturalist that has studied throughout the Southeast and in the neotropics. When not in the field filming for his TVseries, he serves as curator of the herbarium at the Campbell Museum of Natural History.

For more information on this fascinating speaker, please go to: www.clemson.edu/public/expeditions/patrick/

Demonstrations & Workshops

Both Friday and Saturday afternoons at Banksia, various horticultural societies will offer demonstrations and information on a variety of topics. Participating societies include the Camellia Society, Rose Society, Orchid Society, Central Savannah Bluebird Society, and the Aiken Augusta Ikebana Society.

The Aiken Garden Club Council will have a booth with information on joining area garden clubs and specialty horticulture clubs that are not represented by membership booths.

Wine & Cheese Reception at Banksia: 4:30 pm

Margaret Brown ~ Flower Arranginging Demo*
- 5:00 pm

* Please see activities menu.

Master Gardeners Demonstrations & Q&A

The Aiken Master Gardeners will be attending each day performing gardening demonstrations and will conduct question & answer sessions guiding you to better gardening & lawn care.