Virginia’s Women GoGreen at the 2009 Garden Festival

Virginia’s Green Industry women challenge all  to Keep Virginia Green and Growing, ‘become champions for the environment’ during the forth Virginia GoGreen Garden Festival (and more …) held (rain or shine) September 12, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Garner Pavilion (located behind the Science Museum of VA (SMV), 2500 West Broad Street, in Richmond Virginia.  While Festival admission and parking are free, to expand your Festival day, SMV is offering a ‘buy one ticket get the second ½ price’. For directions, see web site www.smv.org and event details, see www.virginiagardening.com

Grown/Made in Virginia

Do you know when or how to ‘go green’? If you don’t, you are not alone. Most people are confused by the overwhelming ‘greening’ product and/or service claims. Interested in the scoop?  Talented individuals from all facets of Virginia’s Green Industry are on site to make this ‘free admission’ Festival an educational and fun-filled experience. Hear well-known speakers and/or participate in tours to experience ‘green living’ life-style, home, garden and landscape tips & strategies, visit vendor display booths, stop by and “ask the experts”, watch tree care and lawn demonstrations, hear Andre Viette broadcast live his radio show “IN THE GARDEN”, sample some of “Virginia’s Finest” foods, listen to music ‘on the tracks’ provided by Timothy Seaman, www.timothyseaman.com and members of the Virginia Rockitz Network, listen to tales told by members of Tell Tale Hearts Theater, www.telltalehearts.org purchase Virginia’s Beautiful Gardens ‘plants of distinction’, www.beautifulgardens.org as well as other plants and eco-chic home & garden décor’; and treat your children to ‘nature craft activities’ – the Kids’ GoGreen corner.

Featured Speakers/Events

Richmond based The Wright Scoop, Sylvia Hoehns Wright - recipient of the 2008 Turn America From Eco-weak to Eco-chic Award – serves as 2009 event hostess. A consultant, lecturer & wordsmith, Wright specializes in Green Industry communications and eco-chic landscape/garden design strategies. An avid landscape/gardener, she conducts eco-scape workshops, is featured by VA Home Grown WCVE PBS TV and Birds & Blooms magazine; and provides columns and feature articles for consumer publications. See www.TheWrightScoop.com for details of Wright’s activities.

Kicking off events, Wright introduces her colleague Chris French of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, www.alliancechesbay.org who using the newly installed SMV Bayscapes garden will provide tours at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.  At 11:15 a.m., Wright introduces participants of the Trees Are Cool event. Timothy Seaman entertains with his compelling compositions and folk interpretations on hammered dulcimer, Alexander Niemiera - Curator of Woody Plants at the Hahn Horticulture Garden located at VA Tech – explains why ‘Trees Are Cool’, and Smokey the Bear,  www.smokeybear.com accompanied by forester Kathleen Ogilvy reminds everyone of outdoor safety activities.

At 1:00 p.m., Neal Beasley of Timmons Group, www.timmons.com, highlights Beautiful Gardens®, Plants of Distinction program. On site is author and plant developer of Helleborus x hybridus 'Pine Knot Select'  Judith Knott of Pine Knot Farm, www.pineknotfarms.com, a participant of Beautiful Gardens® program who has donated an early-bird special – limited quantity of give-a-way Helleborus x hybridus 'Pine Knot Select' plants.

At 2:00 p.m., Wright introduces Andre Viette, host of national radio call-in program “IN THE GARDEN”, www.viette.com, who shares what’s new at his ‘Virginia grown’ site located in Fishersville Virginia.

Assisting Bob Schubert, Associate Dean for Research College of Architecture and Urban Studies for Virginia Tech who provides tours of SMV’s solar house and energy efficient exhibits is Megan Miller Executive Director of the James River Green Building Council, www.jrgbc.org and her colleagues.

Whether you solicit the assistance of a Virginia Society of Landscape Design member such as Karen Kelley of Shipp and Wilson, www.shippandwilson.com or soil specialist Elizabeth Witkowski of Rich Earth™, www.richearth.net or tips from the Happy Gardener Annette Pelliccio, www.thehappygarden.info – to name a few – all participating Green Industry women are on site to help you ‘go green’.

As a coalition of Virginia based businesses and organizations, the Virginia Green Industry Council (VGIC) provides industry and public sector services. Activities include consumer education, coordination and promotion of professional certifications, distribution of monthly news releases, maintenance of an online speakers bureau, promotion of Green Industry careers and scholarships, coordination of grant applications, “ask the experts” services, sponsorship of Arbor Day activities, consolidation of the economic impact of specialty crops, and sponsoring of the forth Virginia GoGreen Garden Festival held September 12, 2009.  As an umbrella group, VGIC strives to be proactive in its support and promotion of Industry values. For details, contact Executive Director Jeff Miller at 540-382-0943 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or see consumer web site, www.VirginiaGardening.com, or professional web site, www.VirginiaGreen.org. Accept VGIC’s challenge - GoGreen! Become a champion for the environment!