Medit Symposium thoughts...

I'm afraid my reflections on the Medit Symposium (Strybing) are somewhat different than those expressed so far. I've always enjoyed going to the Medit symposium with so many hort friends to visit with, plants to buy from the nurseries, books to buy from the Strybing book booth, memorable walks with friends in the garden, some good workshops and occasionally some good talks.

On the plus side the three short talks by Nancy Goslee, Susan Van Atta and Bernard Trainor with Russ Beatty moderating were excellent. Perhaps the best three talks I have heard in the three symposiums so far. The Cistus and Ceanothus talks were full of information about specific groups of plants which I really hope future symposiums will continue as a theme. The Medit Plant Communities talk by Olivier Filippi & Dave Fross was entertaining with some great slides and information but unfortunately way too long so that entire plant communities had to be abandoned when time ran out. Carol Bornstein also gave a very good talk on natives.

Beyond these talks I felt the conference was unfocused and showed how slide shows should not be run. Jan Smithen had some of the best slides of the entire program but way, way too many slides. Anything much beyond 80 slides in a talk is really pushing the limit especially as the last talk of the day after several earlier slide shows and a very poor PA system. I walked out of the first talk of the second morning on "Intreptation, Not Imitation". And then there was the Four Degrees of Separation talk on Friday morning which had lots of interesting information about where and why Medit Climates are located but unfortunately had slides of temperature/precipitation charts/bars that were mostly unreadable and far too small scale. Many of the slide shows were just too long and there were just too many slide shows.

I enjoyed the walk through the garden with Dave Fross / Olivier Filippi / Don Mahony but was abit agast at the skylight room that Roger Raiche was given to show slides in for his workshop on Creative Uses of Containers & Objects. That skylight should have been covered for the conference or another room booked for Roger's excellent presentation.

I really believe the Strybing version of the conference is missing the boat with so many plants right there for a wide variety of walks in the geographic collections. I'm sure that collections in the south could also be used more effectively. I love native plants and am heavily involved with the Santa Cruz Chapter of CNPS but was disappointed with the lack of attention to plants from Chile, Australia and South Africa. Guided walks should be given of each Medit region flora of the world with perhaps a top 30-50 list of appropriate plants for attendees of each walk. Learning is much more than sitting in front of a slide show (much like a TV). Many of us need to touch, smell and hear the plants in the wind. Less illustrated talks and more outdoor one-on-one experience with the plants would greatly improve the conference...at least in my opinion.

One final word on food. The lunches were great but I think there needs to be a more conscious link between Medit food and Medit gardening. How about a talk on Olive Oil followed up with an Olive Oil tasting or Salvia tea or some Australian finger food, etc. Another approach would be a walk through display of containerized aromatic Medit Sea region plants in one room or outdoor space and another space for plants from California or Chile or Australia or South Africa so that people can experience the distinctive aromas of the Medit regions of the world. Our memories of smells & tastes are some of the longest and strongly held memories.

One final thought on the whole movement of appropriate Medit Plants for our California landscapes...we need an outdoor garden display event and happening which highlights a Medit plant garden much like the indoor Cow Palace Garden Show highlights plants from the Northwest. We need real life displays which will inspire gardeners to replace their lawns/water loving plants. Such an event should be on public property somewhere for at least a few months much like the garden festivals of England & Europe.

I hope I didn't offend anyone by sharing my views. I only hope it stirs the Medit soup and brings forth new aromas & tastes for plant hungry gardeners.

Ernie Wasson
Aptos, California

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