The Michigan Wildflower Conference is open to all who are interested in Michigan native plants and their habitats. Registration opens at 7:30 a.m., refreshments provided. A wide variety of vendors will offer high quality arts and crafts, books, photographs and original paintings. The many exhibits will bring educational information about native habitats.

The conference is held at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center on the MSU campus. Please click here for links to directions and further information about the facilities.

Here is an outline of the schedule and fees for the 2010 conference. The registration form is available here. PLEASE NOTE: Walk-ins are welcome if you cannot meet the registration deadlines.

Sunday, March 7
7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Kellogg Center, Big Ten Wing
Registration opens at 7:30 a.m. in the Red Cedar Room
Refreshments provided.

Morning General Sessions:
8:30–8:45 Greetings and Announcements

8:45–9:45 William Cullina: 50 Great Native Plants for the Great Lakes Region
You don’t need to look too far to find beautiful, functional, enduring plants for our Great Lakes gardens. This region is home to an amazing variety of native plants that bring with them grace, hardiness, and an adaptability to our climate and soils, that is unmatched by most exotics. Bill will profile his favorite native wildflowers, ferns, trees, shrubs, and vines for gardens in the Great Lakes Region.

9:45–10:00 Break

10:00–11:00 Jennifer Hopwood: Native Pollinators

11:00–11:45 Dan Keto: Where the Wild Things Are

11:45-12:00 Break

12:00-1:45 Grant Awards Lunch - ROBERT KRUEGER, Ph.D., WAM Director & MARYANN WHITMAN, Grant Coordinator
WAM/Glassen Grants will be awarded at this luncheon. Winners will have an opportunity to share details about their winning projects.

Afternoon Concurrent Sessions:

2:00-3:00 Ann North: Brookside School Cranbrook
2:00-3:00 Jane Herbert: Lakescaping

3:00–3:15 Break

3:15-4:15 Vern Stephens: Designing Rain Garden/Backyard
3:15-4:15 Bob Grese: Prairie Garden Project at Mattaei Gardens

4:30–6:00 Annual Meeting and Social Hour Red Cedar Room
Join us for a brief WAM Annual meeting followed by the opportunity to socialize with speakers and fellow WAMMERS!

Monday, March 8
7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Kellogg Center, Big Ten Wing
Registration opens at 7:30 a.m. in the Red Cedar Room
Refreshments provided.

Morning Concurrent Sessions:
8:30-8:40 Greetings and Announcements

8:40-9:40 Dr. Dan Moerman: Native American Plant Communities and Use
8:40-9:40 Gary Noble: Muskegon Watershed

9:40–9:50 Break

9:50-10:50 Lisa Brush: Community Communication
9:50-10:50 Michael Saint: Home Landscape Design

10:50–11:00 Break

11:00-11:45 Dawn Vezina: Organization for Bat Conservation- includes live bats
11:00-11:45 Phyllis Higman: Michigan Invasive Species

11:45–12:00 Break

12:00-1:00 Lunch – Special Recognition Awards and Door Prize Drawing.

Afternoon General Sessions:
Afternoon Sessions

1:15-2:15 Keynote Address
William Cullina: Native Plants in Context: Ecology, Diversity, and Interconnection

No plant is an island; each exists in a context and community of trees and toads, rocks and rotifers, birds and bugs. Like human communities, this network of individual needs is supported by a complex communication and mutualisms between soil, weather, climate and water that we hardly understand. In his address Bill uses the analogy of human communities to explain the importance of relationships in the natural world. He will answer the age old lament “why is gardening such hard work” and will present a more sustainable (not to mention back-friendly) way to garden and thrive on this small planet.

2:15-2:30 Break

2:30-4:00 Panel on Weed Ordinances and Native Landscapes

Registration:

The registration form is available here. PLEASE NOTE: Walk-ins are welcome if you cannot meet the registration deadlines.

Early-bird discount (applies to registrations post-marked by
February 5, 2009)
Members of WAM, Michigan Garden Clubs
$55/one day or $100/both days
Non-members $75/one day or
$140/ both days.

Deadline for regular registration by mail is February 22, 2009
Members of WAM, Michigan Garden Clubs, and Audubon:
$65/one day or $120/both days
Non-members $85/one day or $160/both days.

On-site registration
Members of WAM, Michigan Garden Clubs and Audubon
$70/day: non-members: $90/day
(There is no discount for two-day registration at the door and no
guarantee of conference material availability. Lunch tickets
may be available at an additional $20)

Lunch is included in the early bird and regular registration rate.

For more information contact:
Jean Weirich, registrar, 3947 E.
St. Joseph, Grand Ledge, MI 48837
or phone 517-627-7927 or e-mail
Jean Weirich