North American Japanese Garden Association Biennial Conference- Chicago

[North American Japanese Garden Association]

This three-day event at the Chicago Botanic Garden will feature workshops and lectures on Japanese garden design, maintenance and horticulture, health and wellness in the garden, garden history, business practices, and education and cultural programming. Top Japanese garden experts and scholars from across North America, as well as Japan and the United Kingdom, will be in Chicago to lead the sessions.

Four Japanese gardens in the Chicago area will be showcased during the conference: Garden of the Phoenix (formerly the Osaka Garden) in Jackson Park, Anderson Japanese Gardens and Rosecrance Japanese Garden in Rockford Illinois and Chicago Botanic Garden's very own Sansho-en - The Elizabeth Hubert Mallott Japanese Garden. Conference press release: http://najga.org/Blog-and-Newsletter/3095819     

Members of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) can earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from selected conference sessions to meet professional certification requirement.

For more information about conference sessions, speakers and to register, please go to: http://najga.org/EVENTS. On-site and one-day registrations are also available.

[edzard]

Grace, welcome and thank you for the information..
Question: which gardens will be used for the conference, meaning, which are used in or for the conference as a venue, and which are optional and need to be visited as separate to the conference ?
thanks for the clarifications of some of the fine print in the newsletter...
                 edzard

[North American Japanese Garden Association]

Grace, welcome and thank you for the information..
Question: which gardens will be used for the conference, meaning, which are used in or for the conference as a venue, and which are optional and need to be visited as separate to the conference ?
thanks for the clarifications of some of the fine print in the newsletter...
                 edzard

Thanks Edzard! Strictly speaking, visit to all the Chicago Japanese gardens mentioned are optional during the conference.  Garden of the Phoenix will host the pre-conference skills workshop on Oct. 15. Rosecrance and Anderson will be the destinations for a pre-conference tour on that same date. Sansho-en in the Chicago Botanic Garden will be a venue for a workshop on Oct. 16.  The lectures and the rest of the workshops will be conducted in the indoor facilities of the Chicago Botanic Garden.  We just want to emphasize the fact that attendees also have the opportunity to see some interesting gardens aside from listening to lectures and participating in the workshops. 

[edzard]

- most interesting Grace..
It may be a better idea then to post the itinerary for the Conference that is known for the moment ..

It seems that i will not be able to see the 2 key gardens: Rosecrance and the Anderson...
Quite selfishly then if I may, are there any other arrangements for people to see these gardens in addition to the tour date? what if seeing the gardens is critically instructional and yet attending the workshops is a must?

can I go to these gardens on the 14th or 20th? (are these dates correct for being on either end of the conference?)
                        thanks...        edzard

[North American Japanese Garden Association]

- most interesting Grace..
It may be a better idea then to post the itinerary for the Conference that is known for the moment ..

It seems that i will not be able to see the 2 key gardens: Rosecrance and the Anderson...
Quite selfishly then if I may, are there any other arrangements for people to see these gardens in addition to the tour date? what if seeing the gardens is critically instructional and yet attending the workshops is a must?

can I go to these gardens on the 14th or 20th? (are these dates correct for being on either end of the conference?)
                        thanks...        edzard

Hi Edzard,

We don't really have any special arrangements for conference attendees to visit Rosecrance and Anderson on Oct. 14 and 20, or Oct 19 for that matter (The conference proper is actually Oct. 16 to 18).  But Anderson is a public facility so you may certainly visit it on a date convenient for you. Rosecrance however is not a public facility so it might not be possible to just drop by without a prior arrangement. 

Unfortunately too, the October 15 garden tour is fully booked already (we even have people on the waiting list!) so in effect, the only option available on that date at this time will be the skills workshop at the Garden of the Phoenix. Quite an excellent alternative to the garden tour if you need to brush up or learn more about aesthetic pruning, moss garden and small stone work.

Cheers!

Grace


 

[Jando]

Edzard,

If you would like to arrange to see the Anderson's Gardens I would be happy to help you out, just let me know.
June

[edzard]

June.. as ever you are kind.. and it would be good to spend some time with you and yours again as well..
at the moment I don't know what to say, except yes,..  (though may not be necessary, per se)
by explanation, as that may seem best:
before I was presenting with Ardie, I booked the pre-tour on the 15th,
then, at the latest point for changing/altering flights, I found out we were presenting on the 15th,
now, it seems in the last few days, we are presenting on the 17th..
   its all good, except when I booked my flights, ,  I went back and changed my flight to arrive on the 13th instead of the 14th to have the 14th to visit gardens, and present on the 15th, the day of the pre-tour...
so.. please forgive my confusion and late reply..   and, does this matter to anyone else.. nope.. sorry to waste bandwidth for my tardy reply...             
so.... June,.. you're attending the conference....   ...
anyone else?
              edzard

[Jando]

Hey Edzard,
Unfortunately I am not attending the conference.  After all the time you spent helping me when I was putting in my garden I would be more than happy to see you got to Rockford and Andersons Gardens.  Shoot me an email if you wish to confirm plans. If you remember I live near the gardens and it would be an easy commute to get you there.
June

[North American Japanese Garden Association]

before I was presenting with Ardie, I booked the pre-tour on the 15th,
then, at the latest point for changing/altering flights, I found out we were presenting on the 15th,
now, it seems in the last few days, we are presenting on the 17th..         
so.... June,.. you're attending the conference....   ...
anyone else?
              edzard

Hi Edzard --- Looking forward to your presentation with Ardie at the conference.  We read the summary and quite amazed with the way you position extreme environmental conditions as a learning opportunity for gardeners. Because a garden can be a very highly controlled environment, we do sometime lose sight of the fact that the plants in our garden should follow a natural rather than a human calendar. 

[edzard]

thank you Grace,.....
.. and for the diplomacy...   please feel free to suggest refinements....
I am trying to come to terms with some extreme concepts these days..

to actually make a difference by observing an extreme, I was hoping for something to capture the idea of 'epic...' happenings..
and then I found out that 'epic' is no longer when Moses parted the seas, 
but when someone has actually decided where to part their hair... - for themselves-...
now thats epic...           
         I think I can safely say that I've been hanging out in the trees too long...       and your assistance for getting back on the ground is appreciated...       tks,..     edzard

btw.,, the NAJGA online leaflet states that the hotel bookings are full..   ?
               .. but I booked the conference hotel and got a room at the conference pricing.. did more rooms become available? Does that mean the conference is almost fully booked?
           

[North American Japanese Garden Association]

btw.,, the NAJGA online leaflet states that the hotel bookings are full..   ?
               .. but I booked the conference hotel and got a room at the conference pricing.. did more rooms become available? Does that mean the conference is almost fully booked?
           

Hi Edzard, we really meant it when we said that your summary was very well-written. Your approach to the topic couldn't be more compelling. I get to handle all the content that conference presenters provide us so has a basis for comparison. 

About your conference hotel question, we have a second hotel for conference attendees to consider: Sheraton Chicago Northbrook Hotel. You can call the hotel directly at (847) 480- 900 and reference "NAJGA", or go to link below to start on-line reservation:

https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/booking/reservation?id=1409184232&key=34C05D11 

Cheers!

Grace