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2025 PPA National Symposium
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Tuesday, July 29
 

8:00am CDT

Welcome
Tuesday July 29, 2025 8:00am - 8:15am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Welcome to the 2025 National Symposium!

Special thanks to our local planning committee!
Aaron Harpold, Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden
Kara Hetrick, Reiman Gardens
David McKinney, Iowa Arboretum and Gardens
Kelly Norris, Author and Plantsman
Aaron Steil, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
Ed Lyon, Spellbound Garden Writing & Consulting
Sponsors
avatar for New Moon Nursery

New Moon Nursery

Eastern native perennial plant material for landscape professionals, container production, storm water management, and restoration. New Moon grows all plant material in a deep plug. Our DP50 plug measures 2" x 4.5", 50 count per tray. The DP50 liner is suitable for planting directly... Read More →
avatar for Twixwood Nursery

Twixwood Nursery

Twixwood Nursery is one of the country’s premier wholesale growers of groundcovers, perennials, carex, and ornamental grasses. Located in the village of Berrien Springs, off the shore of Lake Michigan, Twixwood is conveniently located within 200 miles of Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 8:00am - 8:15am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

8:15am CDT

The Prairie – Past, Present and Future
Tuesday July 29, 2025 8:15am - 9:15am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
This presentation provides a historical overview of the origin of the North American Prairie ecosystem, its destruction by agriculture and human developments, and the resurgence in restoration meadows and gardens for contemporary landscapes to create habitat for pollinators, butterflies, birds, etc.
Speakers
avatar for Neil Diboll

Neil Diboll

President and Consulting Ecologist, Prairie Nursery
A pioneer in the native plant industry and recognized internationally as an expert in native plant ecology, Neil Diboll has dedicated his life to the propagation of native plants, promoting their benefits and furthering their use in gardens, landscapes and restoration projects. His... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 8:15am - 9:15am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

9:15am CDT

Ecological Responses to Climate Change: Lessons from the Past
Tuesday July 29, 2025 9:15am - 10:00am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
This talk focuses on the 6C (11F) global warming accompanying the end of the last ice age (19,000 to 8,000 years ago, a time well within human history and the evolutionary lifetimes of modern plants) as a model system for understanding how plants respond to changing climates. Using research on themes such as novel climates and ecosystems, abrupt changes in ecosystems, and the causes and consequences of past extinctions, Dr. Williams will expertly reveal how our past can help inform our future.
Speakers
avatar for Dr. Jack (John) Williams

Dr. Jack (John) Williams

University of Wisconsin
Expert on global warming and ecological responses to climate change, past and future. John is a professor of geography with the College of Letters and Science with the University of Wisconsin. His areas of interest include ecological impacts of global climate change, paleoecology... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 9:15am - 10:00am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

10:00am CDT

Landscape Design Awards Part I
Tuesday July 29, 2025 10:00am - 10:15am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Tuesday July 29, 2025 10:00am - 10:15am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

10:15am CDT

Trade Show & Break
Tuesday July 29, 2025 10:15am - 11:00am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Visit our Trade Show Exhibitors!
Coffee and snacks available in the Exhibit Hall.
Sponsors
avatar for GET Group, Inc.

GET Group, Inc.

We have been providing premium quality perennial and grass liners to the growing industry since 2002.  With  over 120,000 square feet of growing and propagation facilities, we produce over 400 varieties in 32 and 72 cell trays .
avatar for Gro 'n Sell

Gro 'n Sell

Break SponsorWe grow wholesale plants for independent garden centers, retail/wholesale greenhouses, landscapers, industry breeders, and cut flower growers. Our large product line is made up of thousands of varieties and several tray sizes so that we can cater to your specific needs... Read More →
avatar for Midwest Groundcovers

Midwest Groundcovers

Break SponsorAlthough Groundcovers are our specialty, Midwest Groundcovers’ plant offerings include Evergreens and Broadleaves, Deciduous Shrubs, Perennials, Ornamental Grasses, Vines and Native Prairie, Wetland and Woodland species. We are leaders in the Green Industry in partnering... Read More →
avatar for Plantworks Nursery

Plantworks Nursery

Break SponsorPlantworks is exlusively a wholesale supplier of herbaceous plants to the industry.  We offer a wide range of annuals, combos, daylilies, ferns, groundcovers, herbs, hosta, ornamental grasses, perennials, succulents, tropicals and vines. Plantworks is growing neonicotinoid... Read More →
avatar for Unex Inc.

Unex Inc.

Break SponsorUnex Inc. exports high quality flower bulbs and perennials, which are grown and cultivated in The Netherlands. As one of the leading Dutch exports, we specialize in high quality products for the North American, European and Asian market.We supply wholesale growers, garden... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 10:15am - 11:00am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Trade Show

11:00am CDT

Specialist Bees
Tuesday July 29, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
The monarch butterfly is probably the most famous insect specialist, but did you know that many native bees are also specialists? Female native bee specialists or oligoleges, collect pollen from a narrow range of native plants; this could mean just one plant genus or species, or many genera that belong to one plant family. Heather will highlight many of these native plant-bee specializations as well as the overlapping habitat requirements of the bees and plants. The presentation will also include the threats to specialists such as habitat loss and climate change. Take aways will involve not just understanding which plants to offer as a grower or include in a design, but also answer the “Why?”.
Speakers
avatar for Heather Holm

Heather Holm

Pollinator Conservationist and Educator
Heather Holm is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards including the American... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

12:00pm CDT

Scholarship Winners and Outgoing Board
Tuesday July 29, 2025 12:00pm - 12:30pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Tuesday July 29, 2025 12:00pm - 12:30pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

12:30pm CDT

Young Professionals Lunch
Tuesday July 29, 2025 12:30pm - 2:00pm CDT
TBA
Plan to join the Perennial Plant Foundation for their second annual Young Professionals Lunch at a nearby restaurant. More details to come.

This will be a great opportunity to connect with other young professionals.
Exhibitors
avatar for The Perennial Plant Foundation

The Perennial Plant Foundation

The Perennial Plant Foundation fosters the future of the perennial plant industry through scholarships and activities that connect students and professionals across generations and levels of experience. Visit their booth to find out more and join PPF's events at the National Symp... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 12:30pm - 2:00pm CDT
TBA
  Foundation Event

12:30pm CDT

Trade Show & Lunch Break
Tuesday July 29, 2025 12:30pm - 2:00pm CDT
Sponsors
avatar for GET Group, Inc.

GET Group, Inc.

We have been providing premium quality perennial and grass liners to the growing industry since 2002.  With  over 120,000 square feet of growing and propagation facilities, we produce over 400 varieties in 32 and 72 cell trays .
avatar for Gro 'n Sell

Gro 'n Sell

Break SponsorWe grow wholesale plants for independent garden centers, retail/wholesale greenhouses, landscapers, industry breeders, and cut flower growers. Our large product line is made up of thousands of varieties and several tray sizes so that we can cater to your specific needs... Read More →
avatar for Midwest Groundcovers

Midwest Groundcovers

Break SponsorAlthough Groundcovers are our specialty, Midwest Groundcovers’ plant offerings include Evergreens and Broadleaves, Deciduous Shrubs, Perennials, Ornamental Grasses, Vines and Native Prairie, Wetland and Woodland species. We are leaders in the Green Industry in partnering... Read More →
avatar for Plantworks Nursery

Plantworks Nursery

Break SponsorPlantworks is exlusively a wholesale supplier of herbaceous plants to the industry.  We offer a wide range of annuals, combos, daylilies, ferns, groundcovers, herbs, hosta, ornamental grasses, perennials, succulents, tropicals and vines. Plantworks is growing neonicotinoid... Read More →
avatar for Unex Inc.

Unex Inc.

Break SponsorUnex Inc. exports high quality flower bulbs and perennials, which are grown and cultivated in The Netherlands. As one of the leading Dutch exports, we specialize in high quality products for the North American, European and Asian market.We supply wholesale growers, garden... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 12:30pm - 2:00pm CDT
  Trade Show

2:00pm CDT

Landscapes That Connect Gardening Communities with Perennial Plants
Tuesday July 29, 2025 2:00pm - 3:00pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Understanding how Nature orders landscapes helps us to mimic her design and work in a new, more expansive way. As a result of Victorian collecting and current plant finding trips around the world that have created a readily available ‘supermarket’ of plants, many plantswomen and men require an understanding of how numerous nonnative species grow in their indigenous habitats, the type of plant communities surrounding them and the way they are ordered by Nature and utilized in their habitats. Appreciating this will lead to a new way of conscientious design.
Speakers
avatar for Wambui Ippolito

Wambui Ippolito

Owner & Founder, Wambui Design
Wambui Ippolito is an award-winning Landscape Designer and horticulturist who in 2021 was named one of “11 Revolutionary Female Landscape Designers and Architects Everyone Should Know" by Veranda Magazine. Her optic is influenced by an early childhood in the Great Rift Valley, and... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 2:00pm - 3:00pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

3:00pm CDT

Landscape Design Awards Part II and Perennial Plant of the Year®
Tuesday July 29, 2025 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Tuesday July 29, 2025 3:00pm - 3:20pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

3:20pm CDT

Trade Show & Break
Tuesday July 29, 2025 3:20pm - 3:50pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Visit our Trade Show Exhibitors!
Coffee and light snacks available in the Exhibit Hall.
Sponsors
avatar for GET Group, Inc.

GET Group, Inc.

We have been providing premium quality perennial and grass liners to the growing industry since 2002.  With  over 120,000 square feet of growing and propagation facilities, we produce over 400 varieties in 32 and 72 cell trays .
avatar for Gro 'n Sell

Gro 'n Sell

Break SponsorWe grow wholesale plants for independent garden centers, retail/wholesale greenhouses, landscapers, industry breeders, and cut flower growers. Our large product line is made up of thousands of varieties and several tray sizes so that we can cater to your specific needs... Read More →
avatar for Midwest Groundcovers

Midwest Groundcovers

Break SponsorAlthough Groundcovers are our specialty, Midwest Groundcovers’ plant offerings include Evergreens and Broadleaves, Deciduous Shrubs, Perennials, Ornamental Grasses, Vines and Native Prairie, Wetland and Woodland species. We are leaders in the Green Industry in partnering... Read More →
avatar for Plantworks Nursery

Plantworks Nursery

Break SponsorPlantworks is exlusively a wholesale supplier of herbaceous plants to the industry.  We offer a wide range of annuals, combos, daylilies, ferns, groundcovers, herbs, hosta, ornamental grasses, perennials, succulents, tropicals and vines. Plantworks is growing neonicotinoid... Read More →
avatar for Unex Inc.

Unex Inc.

Break SponsorUnex Inc. exports high quality flower bulbs and perennials, which are grown and cultivated in The Netherlands. As one of the leading Dutch exports, we specialize in high quality products for the North American, European and Asian market.We supply wholesale growers, garden... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 3:20pm - 3:50pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Trade Show

3:50pm CDT

Designing Landscapes of Place
Tuesday July 29, 2025 3:50pm - 4:50pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Four concurrent goals in designing landscapes are that they are:
1.        Ecologically sound
2.        Aesthetically rich
3.        Dynamic, changing over time
4.        “Of the Place”
Darrel will relate how these goals are reflected in landscapes he has designed in different regions of the country, ranging from Montana, Texas, and Wisconsin, to Georgia, New York and Connecticut.  
Speakers
avatar for Darrel Morrison

Darrel Morrison

Honorary Faculty Associate, University of Wisconsin
Darrel Morrison is a renowned landscape architect and educator whose ecology-based approach to design has influenced generations of students and practitioners. Darrel taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Georgia-Athens (where he was Dean of the School... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 3:50pm - 4:50pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Core Education

4:50pm CDT

Trade Show Social
Tuesday July 29, 2025 4:50pm - 6:30pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown
Join us on the trade show floor for networking and refreshments.
Sponsors
avatar for American Beauties Native Plants

American Beauties Native Plants

Bar SponsorWe help you choose plants that are better for the environment, better for pollinators and better for your family by delivering expertly selected native plants that will bring you peace of mind, help you reconnect with nature and bring success and life to your garden.
avatar for Intrinsic Perennial Gardens, Inc

Intrinsic Perennial Gardens, Inc

Bar Sponsor​Our plants are bred and selected in the tough conditions of the Midwest with hot humid summers and cold wet winters. We strive to breed plants not as a means, but with an end in mind. Our goals are simple: improved, durable, ornamental garden plants for our own climate... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 4:50pm - 6:30pm CDT
Des Moines Marriott Downtown 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Trade Show

7:00pm CDT

PPF Trivia Night
Tuesday July 29, 2025 7:00pm - 9:00pm CDT
Big Grove Brewery
Join us for the second Perennial Trivia Extravaganza supporting the Perennial Plant Foundation!
You don’t need a team to register! Sign up individually, and you can organize teams during the symposium.
Bring your friends and compete for the title of Top Trivia Team!
Get more information and tickets here.
Exhibitors
avatar for The Perennial Plant Foundation

The Perennial Plant Foundation

The Perennial Plant Foundation fosters the future of the perennial plant industry through scholarships and activities that connect students and professionals across generations and levels of experience. Visit their booth to find out more and join PPF's events at the National Symp... Read More →
Sponsors
avatar for Twixwood Nursery

Twixwood Nursery

Twixwood Nursery is one of the country’s premier wholesale growers of groundcovers, perennials, carex, and ornamental grasses. Located in the village of Berrien Springs, off the shore of Lake Michigan, Twixwood is conveniently located within 200 miles of Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee... Read More →
Tuesday July 29, 2025 7:00pm - 9:00pm CDT
Big Grove Brewery 555 17th Street, Des Moines, IA 50309
  Foundation Event
 
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TBA
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