Five Panel Discussions You Need to Attend at Cultivate’19

Attendees of the educational sessions that take place at Cultivate each year are guaranteed to return home having learned something they didn’t previously know. In many cases, talks that feature multiple speakers can be particularly engaging because they can offer a range of viewpoints in a specific topic.

Here are five panel talks taking place at Cultivate’19 that you might want to mark on your calendar.
• Perennial Production: Laura Robles, Trials Manager at Walters Gardens, and Bill Hall, Head Grower at Hoffman Nursery, will offer their take on better baptisia and problem-free panicum.
• Cultivate Town Hall. Often one of the most dynamic discussions, the theme of this year’s Town Hall is “Retaining Talent in the Horticulture Industry.” Hear insights from John Kennedy, Owner of John Kennedy Consulting; Lloyd Traven, President of Peace Tree Farm LLC; Tammy Behm, Owner and Managing Director of May Pop Shop; Mason Day, Co-Founder of GrowIt!.; Lauren Kirchner, Director of Sales and Marketing at Spring Creek Growers; and Chelsea Mahaffey, Fellow, Longwood Gardens.
• Plant Parenting: This will give you a chance to hear from garden communicators on how what consumers really think of the plants they’re buying.
• Pollinator Protection, Pesticide Stewardship, and Best Management Practices: This discussion will feature expert insights from Jill Calabro, Science & Research Programs Director at AmericanHort and the Horticultural Research Institute; Caydee Savinelli, Pollinator and IPM Stewardship Lead at Syngenta; Joe Chamberlin, Product Development Manager at Valent; and Frank Wong, Senior Regulatory Affairs Consultant at Bayer.
• Transplanting Cuttings by Hand and Robotics: Dig into the numbers behind automated vs. hand transplanting with insights from Paul Fisher, Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Florida; Mike Goyette, Operations Manager at Pleasant View Gardens; Gail Berner, Manager of Propagation at Spring Meadow Nursery; Bob Dickman, General Manager of Dickman Farms; and Jeff Back, Director of Greenhouse Operations at Four Star Greenhouses.