Renowned gardener to speak at Tallahassee event

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Felder Rushing, noted gardener, garden writer, garden speaker and NPR radio host, will be the featured speaker at Goodwood Museum and Gardens’ 18th Annual Garden Symposium on March 11 at Goodwood’s Carriage House Conference Center.

Rushing, a retired horticultural extension agent and worldwide garden traveler who splits his year between his celebrated Mississippi cottage garden and a terrace herb garden in northern England, will speak on “Tough Plants for the Red Hills Region.” He will incorporate his “slow gardening” philosophy – gardening for the joy of it – into his talk.

“This will be a lot of fun both for me and for y’all,” Rushing said.

He is the author or co-author of 18 books on gardening, including “Passalong Plants,” “Gardening Southern Style,” “Tough Plants for Florida Gardens,” “Tough Plants for Georgia Gardens,” and “Slow Gardening: A No-Stress Philosophy for All Senses and Seasons.” His articles and photographs have been published in Horticulture, Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, Organic Gardening, Garden Design and National Geographic.

Rushing was celebrated by Southern Living magazine as “one of 25 people most likely to change the South” and is in his 17th year as host of NPR’s Gestalt Gardener, which is not carried on Tallahassee’s local NPR affiliate but can be accessed on NPR.org. He also frequently lectures across Florida, including regularly at EPCOT in Orlando.

Rushing describes himself as a “distinctly non-stuffy longtime board member of the American Horticulture Society.” He’s also a member of the British Cottage Garden Society and the British Horticulture Society.

This year, for the first time, the Tallahassee Garden Club is partnering with Goodwood as presenting sponsor of the Garden Symposium. Both organizations have a long history of celebrating gardening and educating local gardeners about the latest in plants, techniques and tips, so the partnership was a good fit.

“Goodwood is thrilled to have the TGC as a presenting sponsor for this year’s symposium,” said Jennifer Humayun, Goodwood’s co-executive director. “Both organizations strive to foster an appreciation and interest in gardening, and this year’s speaker, Felder Rushing, certainly entertains and educates.

“We are looking forward to having a program that appeals to veteran gardeners as well as novice ones.”

Tallahassee Garden Club President Joan Stout was equally enthusiastic.

“The Tallahassee Garden Club is honored and so very proud to work with and support Goodwood Museum on this special event. It’s an educational opportunity and a community outreach,” Stout said. “Felder Rushing is a magnificent and witty speaker, and I know we’re all going to enjoy him.”

Other sponsors include Native Nurseries, Tallahassee Nurseries, Esposito Garden Center and Armstrong Tree Service.

Rushing last spoke in Tallahassee at the Friends of Maclay Gardens State Park program and Tour of Gardens in May 2004, where he charmed the audience with his sly wit and down-home humor. Goodwood Garden Symposium Chair Audrey Post attended that talk and knew he’d be a great addition to a long list of outstanding Goodwood Garden Symposium speakers, including South Carolina plantsman Jenks Farmer, garden designer turned organic vegetable farmer Brooks Garcia, executive director of Orlando’s Leu Gardens Robert Bowden, and acclaimed garden writer Norman Winter, aka “The Garden Guy,” whose garden experience stretches from the National Butterfly Center in Texas to the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens.

“Felder Rushing is extremely knowledgeable and highly entertaining, but he also captures the essence of gardening, in the South and elsewhere – that it should be something that satisfies your soul instead of just being a chore to make your yard look good,” Post said. “When he gave his explanation at the Maclay event of the difference between ‘gaudy’ and ‘tacky,’ I laughed out loud and thought of my late grandmother, who would have agreed.”

Tickets are $40 for the public and $35 for members of Goodwood and the Tallahassee Garden Club; they are available on Eventbrite and at the Goodwood Visitor’s Center. Admission includes lunch provided by Cruton & Co. Doors open at 11 a.m., lunch begins at 11:30 and the program starts at noon and lasts until 1 p.m.

Rushing will have several of his books available for sale and will autograph them after the program.

Goodwood, a nonprofit house museum and public gardens located at 1600 Miccosukee Road in Tallahassee, connects the community as a setting where residents preserve and share their history, enjoy the arts, and celebrate significant events in their lives. Proceeds from the Garden Symposium will be used to fund Goodwood’s educational and preservation efforts, including 20 acres of greenspace just two miles from the state Capitol and almost a dozen historic buildings dating to the 19th and early 20th centuries.

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