MICHIGAN DIVISION SPEAKERS BUREAU
Welcome to the Michigan Division Speakers Bureau. The speakers have all agreed to be included on the list. Speakers should be contacted by the individual branches. The Speaker Committee Chair, Joette Kunse, welcomes suggestions for additional speakers. Please email her at [email protected] or call at (248) 620 2984.
Nature on the GO! Laurel Zoet
[email protected]
http://www.natureonthego.com/
(734) 550 9613
Preferred method contact: email
Nature on the GO! Is based in Brighton. A new program this year is entitled “Hummingbirds: Nature’s Jewels”; and “Meet Opossum-Michigan’s Marvelous Marsupial” will be available in August, “The Lives of Skunks”; “Coyote, the Urban Adaptor” and “Oh, Deer” are additional programs available.
Jan Bills “Two Women and a Hoe”
[email protected]
(248) 891 0548
www.twowomenandahoe.com
Preferred method of contact: phone or email
Topics include: “Sustainable gardening”; “How to garden with Comfort, Ease and Simplicity”; “Ten Blunders in the Garden”; “Rain Garden”, “Vegetable Gardening”, “Seasonal Container Plantings”; “Organic Gardening Maintenance”; Restoration Gardening’’; “Seasonal Pruning”’ and “Designing Low Maintenance Gardens”.
Judy Cornellier
(248) 879 6465
1449 Cadmus, Troy, MI 48085-1247
[email protected]
on Facebook as Judy Cornellier and can be PM
Preferred method of contact: phone
Lecturer at Telly’s Greenhouse & Garden Center
Programs include – “Early Spring Gardening”; Designing with Plant Material’; “Birds, Butterflies and Honeybee Gardens”; “Cuttings B A Form of Multiplication”; “Container Planting – Beyond Spikes and Geraniums”; “Nip, Pinch & Tuck – topiary training and care”; “ A Pressing Issue Recalling Summer Past”, and “Exploring Christmas Greens”.
Ben Cohen
Small House Farm
2603 W. Olson Rd. Sanford, MI
(989) 708 0549
www.smallhousefarm.com
[email protected]
Preferred method of contact: phone or email
Programs include “Sustainable agriculture”; “Herbal Wellness’; “Growing and processing herbs”; “Community seed sharing and libraries”; “Compressed seed and nut oils”; and “Gathering plant materials from the wild – naturalized or invasive”.
RELEAF MICHIGAN.ORG
[email protected]
www.releafmichigan.org
Open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
1 800 642 7353
Preferred method of contact: email
Speakers: Bill Lawrence, Certified Arborist – Benefits of Trees; Dr. Dave Roberts, Professor, MSU – Oak Wilt, Tree Care and Maintenance. A variety of talks are available
Susan Betz
[email protected]
(517) 849 2470 or (517) 212 6032 9(cell)
1477 East Hastings Lake Rd., Jonesville, MI 49250
www.freshstartherbs.org
Susan Betz is a Master Gardener, author and garden communicator, who has specialized in herbs and native plants for over 35 years. She is a charter member of the Michigan Herb Associates, International Herb Association, Garden Writers Association and Ecological Landscape Alliance. Program topics: Reading Your Landscape; Twelve Neighborly Native Herbs for Your Backyard & Beyond; Herbs for Pleasure & Purpose; Thymely Tips and Sage Advice; Magical Moons & Seasonal Circles; Native Treasurers: Tales From the Plant Kingdom; Native Treasures: Tales from the Plant Kingdom; and Growing Herbs in Containers.
Mary Gerstenberger
[email protected]
(586) 596 4240
30375 Tennessee
Roseville, MI 48066
Mary Gerstenberger is a Master Gardener, Master Composter, and has a B.S. in Biology. She recently retired as the Consumer Horticulture Coordinator for Macomb MSU Extension. Her specialties are Water Quality, Vegetable Gardening, Community Gardening, Wetlands, Backyard Composting and Children’s Gardening.
Carol Czechowski
[email protected]
2433 Mulberry Square #43, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
(248) 332 9824
Preferred method of contact: phone or email
Carol Czechowski is a member of the Herb Society of America and the Michigan Herb Associates and has been a backyard herb gardener for over 40 years. She has contributed articles to area newspapers and lectures on growing and the using of herbs. Her gardens have been featured in Detroit Monthly Magazine and Jim Wilson’s book, Landscaping with Herbs.
Program topics: A Tea Lovers Herb Garden – covering the history of tea, including how and why the early colonists turned to native plants for their tea gardens. The Cooks Garden of Colorful Culinaries - Cooking with herbs from the Emperor Charlemagne to the Shakers, everyone who was anyone at all maintained a kitchen garden, appropriate plants and where to get them; growing conditions and use will be suggested for developing a culinary garden. Plant an Herb Garden for Use and Delight – The pleasure of herbs are many. A traditional herb garden is rich in history and use. Appropriate plants and where to get them will be suggested for developing an herb garden and/or expanding your herb garden to include specialty gardens such as culinary, cottage, knot and shade. Peter Rabbit’s Herb Garden: Pottering Around with Beatrix and Peter – Gardening was a favorite hobby of Beatrix Potter, botanist, artist and author of the 23 ‘Peter Rabbit’ books. She mentions many plants, herbs, and flowers in her ‘little books’. Carol and her gardening friends have traveled to the Lake District in England to visit Beatrix Potter’s beloved Hill Top Farm where they were permitted to gather seeds from Beatrix’s own collection of foxgloves. Carol is a member of the Beatrix Potter Society.
Lynne Easton
248 891 2321
[email protected]
Preferred method of contact is phone or email
Carnivorous Plants
Lynne says her interest is carnivorous plants and that is her only topic. Her talks include plants that she raises and how to care for them and their use in nature. She has given talks at garden centers and MI Div. branches.