Garden Writers Association holding regional meeting in Charleston
March 18, 2015
CHARLESTON, SC – More than 70 garden writers and photographers from around the United States and Canada will meet in Charleston on Friday, March 27, for a regional meeting of the Garden Writers Association.
The GWA’s regional coincides with the city’s 68th Annual Festival of Houses and Gardens, said GWA first-vice president Kirk R. Brown. The group also will meet at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens and Middleton Place. Magnolia’s and Middleton’s history and spring beauty makes the GWA’s first regional in Charleston a draw for garden writers and photographers, he added.
Tom Johnson, Magnolia’s executive director, said, “We are thrilled to host the GWA members. Magnolia has had a long-standing membership in the organization and associations with some of its most prominent members, including Derek Fell.” Fell is considered to be one of the world’s finest garden photographers. He is the author of “Magnolia Plantation and Gardens,” a photographic illustration of the seasons at Magnolia.
The GWA membership is composed of professionals who communicate about horticulture, gardening and the environment. “The members cover a number of horticultural media outlets including, television and radio, newspapers, botanic gardens, blogs, social media, landscape design companies, nursery growers and garden centers,” Brown said.
The Charleston regional will begin with an early morning photo shoot at Magnolia followed by a business session in The Carriage House. Tom Johnson, Magnolia’s executive director, will discuss Magnolia’s on-going effort to replenish the gardens with ancient varieties of camellia and azaleas. GWA members will take guided tours of Magnolia before attending other sessions at Middleton Place.
Johnson said the GWA members will have an opportunity to observe two distinctively different gardening styles during their visits to Magnolia and Middleton. “Middleton is a formal garden,” he said. “Magnolia is America’s oldest public garden and the country’s last large-scale romantic-style garden. Unlike a formal garden, which controls nature, a romantic-style garden cooperates with nature.”
Garden writers attend regional meetings to develop story ideas and collect photos to illustrate them. “The Ashley River plantations will give garden communicators added historical dimensions with the size and quality of the plant collections, the age of the landscape designs, and the depth of the families many political connections,” he said. “This is a very rare opportunity to experience the early development of landscape design in North America.”
Brown, who lives in Orefield, Penn., is an author, garden designer and character actor. He is scheduled to assume the GWA presidency during the association’s symposium Sept. 18-20 at Pasadena, Calif. The GWA is headquartered in Shallowater, Texas.
