Who Are the Speakers at the 2026 Garden Symposium?

Updated

The 2026 Garden Symposium features three guest speakers plus a panel of local organizations. Robyn Puffenbarger speaks on birds and bird-friendly gardens, Jack Monsted covers native plants and pollinator meadows, and Kevin Rice addresses insects and gardens. The event runs Saturday, November 14, 2026, at the Corron Community Development Center at Laurel Ridge CC, 173 Skirmisher Lane, Middletown, VA, hosted by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association.

The three speakers and their topics

Speaker Background Topic
Robyn Puffenbarger Bridgewater professor and bird enthusiast Birds, and how to make gardens more bird friendly
Jack Monsted Curator of the Blandy Native Plant Trail Native plants — how to incorporate and care for pollinator meadows
Kevin Rice Entomologist, Alson H. Smith Agricultural Research and Extension Center Insects and gardens

The symposium also includes a panel of local organizations that use community power to make sustainable, eco-friendly changes to the environment.

Who should attend

The theme, "Planting Ideas, Harvesting Change," centers on how ideas cultivated in gardens can create change in landscapes, communities, and the environment. According to the event description, the symposium suits gardeners of all experience levels and offers something for anyone interested in native plants, wildlife, insects, sustainable gardening, or simply expanding horticultural knowledge.

If your main interest is one of the three speaker topics, that session is your clearest reason to attend. If you want to see how local groups organize around sustainability, the panel is the relevant part.

Event details at a glance

  • Date: Saturday, November 14, 2026
  • Location: Laurel Ridge CC, Corron Community Development Center, 173 Skirmisher Lane, Middletown, VA
  • Hosts: Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association
  • Tickets: Listed as now available on the association's site

About the host organization

The Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardener Association supports Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners serving Clarke, Frederick, Page, Shenandoah, and Warren counties. The association leads and financially supports projects, sponsors VCE home-gardening education events, coordinates the annual Master Gardener class, and provides continuing education and fellowship for members. Annual dues are $20, open to all certified Extension Master Gardener Volunteers in the Northern Shenandoah Valley unit.

Extension Master Gardeners are VCE educators who volunteer in their communities to promote environmentally sound horticulture practices through sustainable landscape management, education, and training, and are required to continue their education each year.

Practical notes

Ticket prices and registration steps are not specified in the available site information, so check the association's page for current cost and sign-up details before planning. The speaker lineup and panel are the confirmed program content; session times are not listed in the source material.