Check out the line up for this year's Garden and Landscape Symposium. The event is on April 20th, 2013 a the Hillman Center for Performing Arts.

These are some heavy hitters in the gardening world.

For selfish reasons, I'm most excited about Bill Thomas coming to town. He runs one of my favorite gardens, Chanticleer, near Philadelphia.

I profiled him in my documentery The Gardens of Pennsyvania. Just seeing Bill speak is worth the price of admission. Sign up soon, this will sell out.

Here's a link to the video about Chanticleer.

This is the news release with details on the event.

·         Whitney Cranshaw, a Colorado State University professor, specializes in pests and problems affecting Rocky Mountain plants, educating students on various entomological topics. His books include Garden Insects of North America, Pests of the West and the forthcoming Bugs Rule!

·         Kerry Mendez, an expert on low-maintenance perennial gardening and landscaping, works as a marketing professional, consultant, designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. She is the author of The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Top Ten Lists and Top Ten Lists for Beautiful Shade Gardens.  

·         Thomas Rainer, a landscape architect, teacher and writer, advocates for designs that interpret nature and feature native plants. He has designed garden landscapes nationwide, including those at the U.S. Capitol, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and The New York Botanical Garden.

·         R. William Thomas, executive director of Chanticleer near Philadelphia, leads the development of the young garden using an environmentally sensitive and multi-century approach. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in ornamental horticulture from University of Wisconsin-Madison.

·         Joseph Tychonievich, nursery manager for Arrowhead Alpine, has a love of plants that once sent him to Japan to work for Akira Shibamichi. He is the author ofCreating New Heirlooms: A Gardener's Guide to Breeding Plants and holds a B.S. in horticulture from Ohio State University.

This was the perfect day to spend at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens to see the Spring Flower Show. The Secret Garden is the theme and it's an amazing show...enjoy the video.

Heavy, wet snow blankets the garden.

This is spring?

Sometimes it's called an onion snow, the last gasp of winter. In a day or two it's gone and spring returns.

Don't worry about the bulbs and other plants which has sprouted, there's nothing to do with them and most will be just fine.

For trees and shrubs, let them be. Even though their branches weep under the weight of the snow, they will return to their former glory as temperatures rise.

Plants have been dealing with the extremes of spring for centuries and will thrive when spring returns.

I hate to say it, but the garden is beautiful covered in snow.

We all long a break in the weather. When it does, the memories of cold start to the season will fade away like an onion snow.

A couple of days ago 'Pickwick' crocus was open and the honey bees were gathering pollen from the orange anthers. Photos by Doug Oster

Heelebores don't mind the snow. The white stuff sets off the purple blossoms.

Don't forget to feed the birds. They will stick around in the spring and eat lots of bugs.

Pansies on the porch won't be stopped by the snow.

There's nothing to do about these daffodils covered in snow except enjoy them. They will be fine.

There's beauty in the garden regardless of the weather.

Leave trees ans shrubs alone. You'll probably do more damage by trying to remove the snow.

Before you know it the bees will be visiting the crocus again when the onion snow fades away.