Gondwana was the southern mega-continent that existed hundreds of millions of years ago and whose breakup resulted in most of the continents known to this day below the equator. Retracing some of its history gives gardeners tools to better recognize and utilize Gondwanan plant groups such as Podocarpus, Proteaceae, Restionaceae and a wealth of stunning bulbs.

Emphasis is here given to specific examples of the best plant candidates for our gardens, from the rarest to the most common, tender or hardy to the bones. This allows attendees to plan a most original and satisfactory garden, convinced that dinosaurs could have, at one point, been part of the scene!

A digital presentation for beginners and serious plantspeople alike

While most trends fade away as fast as they have arisen, our growing fondness for ornamental grasses is here to stay. Few plant families have been as successful as the grass one, the Poaceae. Found in nearly all habitats of this planet, grasses big and small play a vital ecological role and serve humanity in several ways.

This talk aims at demonstrating sustainable garden design solutions involving grasses through examples captured around the world. Drawing on wild habitats and cutting edge gardens, this talk will also inform viewers on the better grass cultivars and their smart use in northern gardens.

A digital talk for beginners and serious plantspeople alike.

With this colorful speech, attendees will experience vicarious traveling from Chile and Argentina to South Africa and Mongolia, on the tracks of native plants in their favored habitats.

As the result of a few years of traveling with plants and gardens in mind, this talk builds on the idea that seeing plants in the wild fuels better gardening practices.

A slide talk for beginners.

This presentation was born out of a full summer spent in Mongolia, this off-the beaten-path country of central Asia, in search for better garden plants for cold climates. Unspoiled grasslands, rolling Siberian larch forests and baking sand dunes make for a most interesting plant-collecting territory. A balance of natural history and plants, people and anecdotes will entertain both curious northern gardeners and vicarious travelers.

A digital talk for beginners and serious plantspeople alike.

The tiny Indian province of Sikkim, formerly a Buddhist kingdom, and the neighbouring Bhutan, a monarchy seemingly lost in time, make for an incredible destination for the curious, plant-minded trekker.

In the shadow of some of the highest peaks on the planet, rhododendrons grow into endless forests and goats feed on fields of blue poppies, towering magnolias frame millennia-old temples and groves of cardamom circle villages perched on cliffs.
This travelogue will also highlight some of the best plants for our gardens.

A digital talk for beginners and serious plantspeople alike.

Here is a royal introduction to these three fascinating genus of surprisingly hardy woodlanders from the Northern hemisphere. Flavored with a hint of natural history and ethnobotany, this speech covers every aspect useful to the gardener, from taxonomy all the way to hands-on gardening advice.

Generously illustrated with images from the wild and from gardens, A Woodland Monarchy will sure delight the amateur as well as the avid collector.

A digital talk for serious plantspeople.