WE’RE BACK! How do three more 90-minute escapes from the seemingly endless world madness sound right about now, with each session offering an updated look at a foundational element of the ecological garden-making and management equation?

I’ve been buoyed by your continuing enthusiasm for my “Garden 2.0” webinar series, and the chance to learn together as we did in 2025’s classes from experts in ecological horticulture. I hope you’ll consider continuing our education in the new year, with a monthly gathering for an expert talk and Q&A (available to join live, or watch in replay at a time of your choosing).

With that in mind, I’ve invited three presenters whose work I greatly admire to coach us and answer our questions. Each one will tease apart an aspect of what makes a garden that thrives ecologically, and is also beautiful, including:

  • Not all native plants are created equal: How to confidently choose the best ones for your landscape, from straight species to “nativars” and beyond;
  • What you need to know before you design: Key pieces of essential homework to insure not just strong aesthetics, but a finished garden’s ecological vibrancy;
  • What the research (not guessing or conventional wisdoms!) tells us are the best garden-maintenance practices to maximize biodiversity.

How it all works: For nearly four years, my Virtual Garden Club operated only on a subscription model, where members purchased access to a whole semester of classes at a time. Last year, I introduced a new format, which because of your positive response is continuing.

I’ll once again host monthly 90-minute workshops you can buy individually (or sign up for all three at a 14 percent discount!). Attend your choice(s) live, or watch the recorded version for three months afterward, at your leisure.

Tickets for these standalone webinars are just $29, or $75 for the series.

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The lineup to choose from:

Jan. 29, 2026 1-2:30 PM Eastern

Joseph Tychonievich

The Cultivar Conundrum

WHEN TRYING to choose native plants for the garden, we’re confronted with terms like straight species, wild-type, cultivar, nativar, selection, and ecotype. In this lecture Joseph Tychonievich will dig into what all those terms mean, where named plant selections come from, and how they impact the ecosystem that is your garden. Which ones work for the garden’s essential inhabitants, the pollinators and other beneficials, and which ones don’t? You’ll come away with everything you need to confidently choose the best native plants for your landscape.

Joseph Tychonievich is a lifelong lover of plants and gardening. He earned his degree in horticulture from Ohio State University and went on to work for specialty rare-plant nurseries in Japan and Michigan. Joseph is the author of several books, including “Rock Gardening: Reimagining a Classic Style,” and “The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food: Step-by-Step Vegetable Gardening for Everyone.” He is the editor of the North American Rock Garden Society’s quarterly journal, and has been published in “Fine Gardening,” “Horticulture,” and “The New York Times.” He currently lives and gardens in South Bend, Ind., with his husband, three cats, and a truly excessive number of plants (including some that he has bred himself).

 

Feb. 19, 2026, 1-2:30 PM Eastern

Rebecca McMackin

Approaching Design from an Ecological Perspective

WELL BEFORE we pick out a plant palette and draw beds on a plan, there is much research and consideration that go into designing an ecological landscape. The history of your land, the ecology of the region, and the existing wildlife communities can all be incorporated into a final design that has more integrity than any store-bought butterfly garden. Join ecological horticulturalist and designer Rebecca McMackin to learn how to approach a yard transformation that considers ecoregions alongside soccer games, and neighbors alongside wildlife habitat.

Rebecca McMackin is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist, garden designer, and writer. She is Lead Horticulturist for the American Horticultural Society and produces the monthly newsletter and podcast, “Grow Like Wild!” Prior to moving to the woods of New England, Rebecca was Arboretum Curator at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, a Loeb Fellow at Harvard, and managed Brooklyn Bridge Park for a decade. She has written for and been featured in Gardens Illustrated, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, PBS, and her TED talk on ecological gardening has been watched more than a million times. Her garden for the Brooklyn Museum recently won the Perennial Plant Association’s Award of Excellence.

March 19, 2026, 1-2:30 PM Eastern

Max Ferlauto

The Science Behind Leaving Your Leaves (and More Garden-Care Insights)

LONG-HELD garden-maintenance practices are evolving as we learn more about their impact on ecology, so what’s “best practice” now in caring for our yards? In March 2025, Maryland’s state entomologist, Max Ferlauto, and Karin T. Burghardt, an ecologist and associate professor at the University of Maryland, published results of two years of research about the impacts of fall leaf removal—offering hard numbers to back up the Cleanup 2.0 call to “leave the leaves” we’ve heard in recent years. This webinar will expand on the research results, and also go into depth on topics such as yard biodiversity and soil health. Max has studied additional factors in the “leave the leaves” question—such as alternative planting and management strategies beyond fall-cleanup tactics, and even show us how our yard-biodiversity planning efforts can be tied to the larger conservation goals of preserving rare species and habitats.

Max Ferlauto, the State Entomologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources since November 2023, earned his doctorate degree in entomology from the University of Maryland. In March 2025, with Karin Burghardt of the University of Maryland, he published much-heralded research on the impacts of leaf removal resulting from their two-year study in 20 residential suburban Maryland yards, finally putting hard numbers to the effects of one of our highest-impact garden practices: fall cleanup.

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