Event: 2025 Semi-Annual Meeting

Speaker: Peter Picone, wildlife biologist at DEEP

Practical Ways to Improve Your Backyard for Wildlife

Speaker Handouts: Wildlife Natives List Invasives List Meadow

Additional Resources:
Enhancing Your Backyard Habitat for Wildlife
CT Native Tree, Shrub, Perennial Availability List
Winter sowing information
Shade plants listing
Problems with Canada Geese from CT DEEP

Event: 2025 CT Audubon Society Virtual Presentation, April 16th

Speakers: Joyce Leiz, Executive Director of the CT Audubon Society and Board Member and author of the Homegrown Habitat series, Sarah Middeleer.

Planting for and Protecting Our Pollinators

Speaker Handouts: Resources Do Not Buy Pesticides

Event: 2023 Annual Meting
Speaker: Kathy Connolly “Leave the Leaves, Save the Stems: Wildlife-Friendly Winter Landscapes That Work for People, Too”

This year’s speaker, Kathy Connolly, is a landscape designer who specializes in naturalized designs, low-impact landscape techniques, and native plants. She has helped design and install multiple meadows and meadow-gardens and has managed her home meadow for over 25 years. She gives more than 30 talks and workshops annually for conservation organizations, master gardeners, museums, libraries, land trusts, and garden clubs. Topics include meadows, site preparation, native plants, invasive plants, and pollinator encouragement, among others. 

Since 2013, Kathy has published upwards of 150 articles on landscapes, plants, and land care in Connecticut publications. She is active in the Connecticut Invasive Plants Working Group, which awarded her its Leslie J. Mehrhoff Award at the 2022 symposium for her efforts on the topic of invasive plants.  

Kathy has a master's degree in ecological landscape planning and design from the Conway School in Northampton, MA. She completed the advanced master gardener program and is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional through the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut.

Presentation Handout: Leave the Leaves

More information about her work can be found at her website: www.SpeakingofLandscapes.com

Tovah Martin “Awakening Your Senses” Click here to visit Tovah’s website

Tovah will share her newest presentation , which she calls “A Live Outdoor Lecture.” 

Bio: Tovah Martin is an award-winning garden writer and lecturer, with expertise in both indoor and outdoor gardening. She is a passionate perennial, heirloom, vegetable and cottage gardener, and is accredited with NOFA as an Organic Land Care Professional. In addition to the garden outdoors, Tovah’s specialty also includes indoor gardening with tropical plants (especially begonias) in windowsills, greenhouses, and otherwise.

Charles R. Vossbrinck “Growing FIgs in Connecticut” Click here to learn more.

Dr. Vossbrinck will present a lecture and demo of his fig greenhouse on the farm.

Bio: (from the CAES website) Dr. Vossbrinck has a broad range of biological interests. His research centers around the molecular phylogenetic analysis including the analysis of West Nile Virus and Microsporidia. [He] also has an interest in Spiders and other soil dwelling arachnids.

Recently Dr. Vossbrinck has begun a project of growing figs in self-watering pots.  He is growing 6 cultivars of figs (Neri, Melanzana, Osborne, Battaglia, Conadria, Verte) in 25 gallon self watering pots both outside and in high tunnels.  The pots are stored indoors during the winter.

Sheri Forster’’ Handout

Summer Safari Flyer

2008 Summer Safari