An interactive workshop with basic principles for a “New Perennials” design, tips for choosing a location, and examples of prairie-hardy plants.

The New Perennial Movement is a natural answer to the extreme growing conditions that we face. A wonderful range of perennial plants are used, the palette includes many plants native to North America for which interesting and hardy cultivars have been developed.  The plants are layered tightly, and once established their tightly knit tapestry hardly allows rooms for weeds.  It draws inspiration from natural plant communities found on the Prairies, benefits pollinators, and creates a four season dream of a landscape! 

During this interactive workshop participants will

• learn the basic principles of the New Perennial design

• know how to choose a location for their perennial bed 

• discuss options to prepare beds for planting

• start a basic design layout 

• receive a descriptive list of plants recommended for this area 

Registration: 

• Pre-registration required. $50.00/person, payment by e-transfer to PeggBotanicGarden@gmail.com

Instructors: Maria Beers, Double Dutch Design, Meet Maria
Clara Qualizza, Meadow & Thicket Farm Flowers   Meet Clara

About Maria: A Dutch landscape designer with a passion for gardening in rural Alberta.

More than 30 years ago, when my husband and I started our landscape business in the Netherland the New Perennial Movement was just emerging in Europe.  At that time it was called ‘Prairie Garden Style’, because many of the perennials that are used in this style originate in the North American Prairies. The idea was to create a landscape that was inspired by the North American Prairie Landscape. We visited all the famous gardens in Europe to learn about this new way of gardening. We tested newly introduced perennials in our own trial gardens before we incorporated them in our designs. We designed, installed, and maintained many yards, until we moved to Alberta in 2005.

What surprised me most after moving here, is that gardeners in Alberta did not seem to know about this beautiful new gardening style that was getting famous in the rest of the world! So I was very excited, when Lorraine Taylor approached me and asked if I was interested in helping to introduce this style to the rural garden communities and to develop a perennial bed in the George Pegg Botanical Garden.

About Clara:

Clara Qualizza is the owner and Chief Soil Tender of Meadow & Thicket Farm Flowers, a small cut flower farm located north of Wildwood in Yellowhead County.  She and her husband are new transplants to Yellowhead County, residing and operating their small farm there for only 6 years.  Clara’s background is in Soil Science, having worked in reclamation research and contaminated site remediation for about 20 years. 

Decades of pent up gardening dreams, volunteer work on agricultural development projects, life-long yearnings to live on and care for a piece of land, and the realization that they were running out of time, finally prompted Clara and Don to make the leap and buy their farm.  With a keen interest in growing way more flowers than they ever had in the past and armed with research into the nascent industry of “slow flowers”, they started their small cut flower farming business.  Clara’s obsession with the New Perennial Movement began when she lived in the city of Edmonton, her garden there modelled after what she had learned in Piet Ouldolf’s books.  In her spare time, she enjoys attempting to grow many of the plants of the new perennial movement from seed and other methods, to see how they perform in our Zone 2 gardens. 

We are calling this a “New Perennial” Adventure because the design workshop is part of a bigger project that includes a field day, establishing a demonstration bed with volunteer opportunities from site preparation to planting, and group plant purchasing.

“This is a remarkable opportunity to work with landscape designer Maria Beers in our community” Lorraine Taylor, Horticulturist with Lac Ste. Anne County.  “I feel really connected with rural gardeners; I like to support the rural interest.” Maria Beers.

Meadow & Thicket Farm, August 2020