The Virginia Society of Landscape Designers
65th Annual Winter Forum
February 22, 2025
Hazel Hall at Laurel Ridge Community College,
6480 College Street, Warrenton, VA 20187
Guest Speakers
David Culp, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cavano’s Perennials
Ethan Kauffman, Director of Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden
Schedule of Events
8:00 AM Site opens for set up. The lobby is open to attendees.
9:15 – 10:00 AM Annual Meeting of the VSLD General Membership in the conference hall. Business meeting is open to members only. Non-members are free to browse the supporting vendor’s displays in the lobby while the meeting is going on.
10:15AM Conference Hall opens to all attendees.
10:30-11:30 AM First Presentation, David Culp, Making Meadows, followed by audience questions as time permits.
12:00 NOON – 1:00 PM Lunch Break. A buffet luncheon will be set up in the lobby, attendees are welcome to bring their meals back into the hall to dine in comfort.
1:30-2:30 PM Second Presentation, Ethan Kauffmann, Wild and Wonderful: Stoneleigh’s Traditional Landscapes Reimagined with Native Plants, followed by audience questions as time permits.
3:00-5:00 PM break down meeting hall and lobby. The conference center must be vacated by 5:00 PM.
Reservations
Before January 31, 2025 – $95.00
February 1-10 – $115.00
No Reservations will be taken after February 10, nor at the door.
Reservations may be made through the VSLD website:
or by mailing a check made to payable to the VSLD: Susan Hayes, P.O. Box 249, Catlett, VA 20119.
If you are reserving for more than one person, please include the names and email addresses of each member of your party.
Please check in by picking up your name badge at the reservation table. If you don’t have a badge, we don’t have a reservation for you.
Please direct questions to: Susan Hayes, susanhayesgardendesign@gmail.com, text 540-878-1420. Mailing address: SHGD, P.O. Box 249, Catlett, VA 20119.
Sponsorships are available, please contact Susan Hayes directly for more information.
Information on our Guest Speakers and their scheduled presentations
Our guest speakers have graciously agreed to autograph their books and chat with members. If you have any of their books at home, you are welcome to bring them to the event to be autographed.
There will be books available to purchase at the event, either directly from the authors or from some of our sponsors. We will not be able to accept credit cards at the site, so please bring cash or checks if you are planning to make purchases.
David Culp is Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cavano’s Perennials. He is also the creator of the gardens at Brandywine Cottage in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, which are listed in the Smithsonian Institution/Archives of American Gardens. The gardens have been featured on television and numerous magazine publications. David is the principle of David L. Culp Designs, owner of the Galanthus Nursery Brandywine Snowdrops, and the developer of the Brandywine Hybrid strain of hellebores. David has been lecturing about gardens nationwide for over 25 years and teaches herbaceous perennials at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
David is the author of The Layered Garden (Timber Press), which won a Gold Medal from the Garden Writers Association (GardenComm) for Best Overall Book of the Year. His new book, A Year at Brandywine Cottage: Six Seasons of Beauty, Bounty and Blooms (Timber Press), takes us further, detailing how more than 30 years creating this sensational year-round garden provides an abundance of joy, both indoors and out, whether it’s choosing plants for twelve months of interest, weaving edibles into the mix, or bringing the bounty indoors with simple arrangements and homegrown recipes.
Making Meadows
Native plant meadows support many landscape purposes, from lawn alternatives on residential sites to larger scale, ecologically sound models that provide biodiverse habitats for a host of pollinators, birds and mammals. David will discuss practical and aesthetic considerations on how the design, installation and management of meadows complement the sites on which they exist.
Ethan Kauffman is the first director of Stoneleigh: a natural garden, where he has led the
transition from a private estate to a public garden over the last 8 years. He developed his love of
the natural world exploring the Susquehanna River hills in southeastern PA. He cultivated his
horticultural perspective over two decades of gardening in the Deep South, including as director
of Moore Farms Botanical Garden, where he also led the transition from a private pleasure
garden to a public botanical garden. Drawing on influences from both regions, he enjoys
creating a garden experience at Stoneleigh that inspires others to garden for beauty,
Wild and Wonderful: Stoneleigh’s Traditional Landscapes Reimagined with Native Plants
With a 150-year history as a private estate, Stoneleigh: a natural garden became one of the
newest public gardens in the Philadelphia region in 2018. Informed by the growing
understanding of the connectedness of all living things, a vision arose during the transition: to
reimagine a historical landscape as an ecologically vibrant wonderland of native plants. Relying
on both tried-and-true gardening techniques and experimentation, the emerging garden is an
exuberant exploration of cultivating native plants in the modern landscape.
Join Stoneleigh Director Ethan Kauffman as he reveals the unexpected plants, expressive
design philosophy, and unconventional practices that are driving Stoneleigh’s exciting
transformation.
General Information
The site is easily accessed from Route 29 in Fauquier County east of Warrenton.
Please check in at the registration desk in the lobby of the conference center.
Sponsor information tables will be set up in the lobby of the conference center. Tables and chairs are provided by the site. Tables may be staffed by representatives of the sponsor.
VSLD members receive 10 CEU’s for attending the entire event.
Hot coffee and tea will be available in the lobby all day.
A buffet lunch will be provided in the lobby during the lunch break. Please feel welcome to return to the Hall to eat your lunch in comfort.
Restrooms are available in the lobby of the conference center.
Please direct further questions to: Susan Hayes, susanhayesgardendesign@gmail.com, text 540-878-1420. Mailing address: SHGD, P.O. Box 249, Catlett, VA 20119.
