28th Annual FLORIDA MASTER GARDENER CONTINUED TRAINING CONFERENCE October 20-22, 2008 Coral Springs Marriott Hotel, Golf Club and Convention Center Coral Springs, Florida

Dear Master Gardeners,

The fall is fast approaching and I am excited to open the registration for the 2008 Master Gardener Continued Training Conference. As we have done over the past few years, we move the conference out into the state on the even years, and this year the conference is being held in the Ft. Lauderdale area. All the sessions will be held at our host hotel, the
Coral Springs Marriott. This is a great location with plenty of shopping and restaurants close-by.

This year, the Broward County Master Gardeners and their Agent John Pipoly have scheduled an optional pre-conference tour on Sunday October 19th. This tour will visit the Bonnet House and Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Make sure to register early as this trip is sure to fill-up.

The conference planning committee has done a great job putting together a program that contains more education hours than ever before. The conference is highlighted by our general session presenters. We have the ever popular Rick Schoellhorn back to talk about Global New Plants. Monica Elliott will present the latest information about Palm Problems and their Care. Ed Gilman will be talking about Tree Roots and Establishment and our final general session speaker is Sydney Park Brown talking about Fabulous Foliage. Our concurrent sessions are diverse enough to fit all interest areas and are filled by a line-up of amazing speakers.

We listened to your requests and have implemented a one-day registration fee for those people that can’t attend the entire conference. Hopefully this makes the event more available for everyone. We also are not printing thousands of brochures this year in an effort to be more environmentally friendly. The registrations will be primarily handled electronically, so be sure to share the conference web address with all your Master Gardener friends.

Don’t forget to assemble your team to participate in the 4H Plant ID and Judging Contest. The winning county is listed on a plaque located in the Dean’s office each year. South Florida has so much to offer in the way of gardens, and unique places to visit. Come and increase your knowledge, celebrate the past years great work at the awards banquet, meet new friends and have at great time at this year’s conference.

I look forward to seeing you in October.

Sincerely,

Tom Wichman
Florida Master Gardener Coordinator
 

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Florida Yards & Neighborhoods

The Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program was developed to address serious problems of pollution and disappearing habitats by enlisting homeowners in the battle to save our natural environment. This program provides special educational and outreach activities directed at the community to help residents reduce pollution and enhance their environment by improving home and landscape management.

Master Gardeners who have received additional FYN training in their county can become Florida Yard Advisors and help homeowners evaluate and reduce the environmental impacts of their landscapes. All Master Gardeners play a key role in educating homeowners about the nine Florida Yards and Neighborhoods (FYN) principles:

• Right Plant, Right Place

• Water Efficiently

• Fertilize Appropriately

• Mulch

• Attract Wildlife

• Control Yard Pests Responsibly

• Recycle

• Reduce Stormwater Runoff

• Protect the Waterfront

All conference participants will attend concurrent sessions sponsored by Florida Yards & Neighborhoods.

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TOUR AGENDA

Sunday, October 19, 2008

ADVANCE Registration is Required by October 3^rd. The price is $45 per person and the maximum number of people is 50, so register early!

Exciting Tour of Bonnet House Museum and Gardens

By the time early settler Hugh Taylor Birch purchased the Bonnet House site in 1895, the grounds had already witnessed 4,000 years of Florida history.  A shell midden (piles of mollusk shells) left by the Tequesta people indicates that human activity on the site dates back to 2,000 B.C. while further archaeological evidence suggests that the grounds saw one of the first sites of Spanish contact with the New World.

Bonnet House’s modern history began when Birch gave the 35 acre property as a wedding gift to his daughter Helen and her husband, Chicago artist Frederic Clay Bartlett in 1919.  The newlyweds began construction of Bonnet House in 1920, eager for a winter retreat where Frederic could pursue his artwork and Helen could compose music and poetry.  Tragedy struck in 1925 when Helen died from breast cancer.  Frederic’s visits to Bonnet House then became sporadic until 1931 when he married Evelyn Fortune Lilly.  With this marriage, a renaissance occurred on the site as Frederic and Evelyn entered a prolific period of embellishing Bonnet House with the decorative elements that delight visitors to this day.

Bonnet House Museum & Gardens is accredited by the American Association of Museums.  The site was listed on the National Register of Historic places in 1984 and declared a historic landmark by the City of Fort Lauderdale in 2002.  In 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Bonnet House in its Save America’s Treasures program.  Due to the threat posed by inappropriately massive nearby development, the National Trust and the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation designated listed Bonnet House as one of America’s 11 most endangered sites in 2008.

The Bonnet House has one of the last examples of a South Florida native barrier island habitat.  Five distinct ecosystems can be found, including beach and primary dune, fresh water slough, the secondary dune which includes the house site, mangrove wetlands, and a maritime forest. The historic “Desert Garden’s,” plantings have been restored by the Florida Master Gardeners of Broward County. Their work has been heralded for this effort to improve Fort Lauderdale’s pre-eminent meeting place for local, state and national dignitaries. Our indefatigable Master Gardener project coordinators, Stephen Draft and Eugene Cain have made their work a true success story. The Bonnet House Board thought so much of their work that they were able to convince one of them, Stephen Draft, to join the staff as Interim Curator. Evelyn Bartlett was a passionate orchid collector and the varieties she left to Bonnet House comprise one of the largest collections of orchids in the Southeast United States.  Various blooming examples are rotated regularly through the estate’s Orchid Showroom.

For a cost of only $45 you will have a half hour scenic tour through Broward County, followed by 2.5 hours at the Bonnet House,
and 2 hours on Las Olas Boulevard, the heart of Fort Lauderdale and the center for investment, cuisine, fine art, and life in subtropical Florida. You’ll have plenty of time to sample from one or more of its 48 restaurants, cafés or bars, along a one mile stretch of street. You have never seen anything like it!
 

If you plan on participating in the Pre-Conference tour you may print out detailed information by clicking on the button below:

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Presentation slides available: Many speakers have graciously allowed us to reproduce their slides for educational use. If you reference any of the material, please include proper acknowledgement.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Monday, October 20, 2008

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

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General Session Speakers

Rick Schoellhorn

Dr. Rick Schoellhorn is the Director of New Products for Proven Winners L.L.C. In English this means that Rick travels around the world meeting plant breeders and looking for the best new plants to add to the Proven Winners marketing programs. Proven Winner’s goals include becoming the most respected brand of flowering plants in the US, providing consumers with tested, trialed and true plants that will do well in almost every region of the US. For Rick this means that he travels about 60% of the year, spending much of his time in Germany and the Netherlands, Japan, Israel, and traveling around the United States and Canada. Rick’s job is working with plants that are 3-5 years from the shelves of your local garden center, so he is often unsure of both where he is and what year it is…

Monica Elliott

Monica Elliott has been with the University of Florida – IFAS, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center since 1987; She is a Professor and Associate Center Director for FLREC, with appointments in research, extension and administration.

Monica’s current responsibilities include: 1) conducting research on palm diseases, microbes to use for disease control, and microbes to use for weed control; 2) extending information to county agents and clientele groups on palm disease management; and 3) assisting in the administration of the FLREC. Until recently, I also conducted research on warm-season turfgrass diseases.
 

Sydney Park-Brown

Sydney Park Brown is the UF Extension Specialist for Consumer Horticulture. She is located at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center - Plant City campus. Sydney provides leadership to state extension programs for home gardening and also coordinates the Environmental Horticulture teaching program in Plant City. Before assuming this position in 2007, Sydney was a long-time horticulture agent and Master Gardener Coordinator in Hillsborough County.
 

Ed Gilman

Ed Gilman has a 50% research: 50% extension teaching assignment and teaches an arboriculture class. He works with arborists, consultants, landscape contractors, tree nursery operators, urban foresters, planners, landscape architects and others engaged in tree selection, growing, planting and management issues. Research includes irrigation, fertilization, roots, and other tree transplant and after-care techniques and a recent focus on tree response to pruning. Our team provides service to the industry and to citizens in Florida by incorporating this and other research-based information into educational programs, demonstration sites, publications, websites, and software for our target audiences.
 

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County Displays/Exhibits Information

What great projects and programs have been happening in other counties this year?

Display Size: you will receive an 8′ x 30″ table top for your display. We have a limited amount of space so please keep your display to the assigned table-top space. Please contact Amber Madison (amadison@ufl.edu) to sign up for display space.

Setup Instructions: The County Display Room (Sandpiper Room) will be open beginning Sunday, October 19th at 3:00pm for setup. Each display table will have an ID card for you to locate your table. If you arrive after 6:00pm on Sunday night, please plan to setup on Monday, October 20th beginning at 7:00am.

Removal Instructions: All Displays should be removed no later than Wednesday, October 22nd immediately following the conclusion of the conference.

Any additional questions, please contact Sharon Borneman (spb@ufl.edu).

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Registration Information

The conference registration fee, combined with funds contributed by our generous sponsors, provides 2.5 days of educational program, conference materials, a proceedings book of Speaker Handouts, a Monday Welcome Reception, daily refreshments breaks, the Tuesday Horticultural Auction, and the Wednesday Awards Breakfast.

A “Guest Registration Fee” is available this year that allows participation in the Monday Welcome Reception, Tuesday Horticultural Auction and the Wednesday Awards Breakfast. Please note that ‘guests’ are not permitted to attend the daily educational sessions or refreshment breaks. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
 

We are also pleased to announce “One-Day Fees” this year that will allow full participation in all events for that day only. Each day will have a different colored nametag to help identify the one-day attendees. We hope that this will help those attendees that can only come for one day’s educational sessions and networking.
 

Registration is limited. Register early to ensure participation!
 

Refund Policy: Requests for registration refunds will be honored if a written notoification of cancellation is received by the Office of Conference & Institutes on or before October 6, 2008. A $50.00 processing fee will be deducted from each registration refund. Sorry, no refunds will be honored for cancellation after October 6, 2008.

Special Needs: Participants with special needs can be reasonably accommodated by contacting the Office of Conferences & Institutes at least 10 working days prior to the conference. We can be reached by phone at 1-352-392-5930, by fax at 1-352-392-9734, or by calling 1-800-955-8771 (TDD). The TDD number can only be accessed from within the State of Florida.
 

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Meeting Site & Hotel Accommodations

11775 Heron Bay Boulevard Coral Springs, FL 33076 PHONE: 954-753-5598 FAX: 954-753-2888 TOLL FREE: 800-311-8018

Please join us at the upscale resort-style Marriott hotel & conference center located directly on the Tournament Player's Club at Heron Bay golf course. The Marriott is conveniently located midway between Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, just off the Sawgrass Expressway, in the prestigious Heron Bay development.

The Coral Springs Marriott is offering participants of the 28th Annual Florida Master Gardener Continued Training Conference a very special rate of $129.00 per night (plus 11% state and local taxes), for up to 4 people in a room. The group rate will be honored three days prior and three days following the conference dates, based on availability.

To Make a Reservation:

• Reservations must be made by Monday, September 22, 2008 in order to receive this group rate. Please be aware the block of rooms may fill before the deadline, so we urge you to make your reservation as soon as possible. After Monday, September 22, the discounted rate is not guaranteed on possible remaining rooms.

• Click here for online hotel reservation

• You may also call the Marriott Coral Springs Hotel reservations direct line at (800) 311-8018 and identify yourself as a participant of the 28th Annual Florida Master Gardener Continued Training Conference to receive the reduced rates.

• Florida government participants: To receive tax exempt status, payment must be made in the form of a government issued check or credit card and be accompanied by a Florida sales tax exemption certificate presented at check-in). Note: The Coral Springs Marriott is seeking Green Lodging certification. For information about Florida’s Green Travel Policies, click here.

Please note:
- All reservations must be accompanied by a first night room deposit or guaranteed with a major credit card. The hotel will not hold any reservations after 6:00pm on the day of arrival if not secured by one of the above methods.

- The hotel check-in time is 3:00pm and check out is 12:00pm.
 

Click here for directions and map to Coral Springs Marriott Hotel, Golf Club and Convention Center.

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Conference Sponsors
 

All the Master Gardeners and County Extension Offices who donate material for the Plant Auction

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Travel & Area Information

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) serves millions of travelers from all over the world and is located in the heart of Florida's Gold Coast. Just a ten-minute drive from immaculate beaches, the area's business district, hotels, golf courses and many other major attractions.

Miami International Airport (MIA), one of the busiest airports in the world, is served by over 100 airlines taking travelers to approximately 150 destinations around the globe. Miami International Airport (MIA) has more than 33.6 million passengers and 500,000 take-offs and landings each year.

Miami Shuttle is available in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach & all south Florida area with a NON SHARE & DIRECT transportation service 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
 

	Official Site of Broward County, Florida
Sawgrass Mills Mall
Everglades Tours	Butterfly World
The Deerfield Beach Arboretum
Flamingo Gardens	Mounts Botanical Garden

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Related Sites of Interest

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Program Committee

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Questions?

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