Perennial lovers take note! The University of Connecticut will host the "Perennial Plant Conference – A Conference for the Professional Horticulturist,” at the Lewis B. Rome Commons on the University of Connecticut Storrs campus, Thursday, March 15.

This all-day educational conference will address a wide range of topics focusing on herbaceous perennial production, sustainable landscape design and retail marketing. The speakers featured at the conference will include:

• Kelly Norris, horticulturist from Rainbow Iris Farm, who will be speaking on “Gardening with a Y” and “What’s New in the World of Irises?”
• Suzi McCoy, president of Garden Media Group, who will be speaking on “The 7 C’s of Social Media”
• Doug Tallamy from the University of Delaware, who will be speaking on “Maintaining Curb Appeal” with “Native Plants”
• Barbara Balgoyen from Walters Gardens, who will be speaking on “New and Exciting Perennials”
• Sydney Eddison, horticulturist and garden writer who will be speaking on “Change: The Passage of Time in the Garden”
• Ethan Roland from AppleSeed Permaculture who will be speaking on “Permaculture/Edible Landscaping”
• Luke Kreye from Emil Kreye & Son, who will be speaking on “Magic in the Landscape: Building Rock Gardens”
• Michael Bowell, President of Create A Scene who will be speaking on “Showtime at the Shore”
• Randy Prostak from the University of Massachusetts, who will be speaking on “Developing Ecologically Responsible Weed Management Programs”

A pre-registration fee of $80 per person is due by March 8. Program and registration information, including online registration, is available at www.2012perennial.uconn.edu. The fee is $90 per person for late registrations and walk-ins. Registration is nonrefundable.

For more information contact Donna Ellis at 860-486-6448, e-mail: donna.ellis@uconn.edu, or visit www.2012perennial.uconn.edu.