Speaker Directory

The BC Council of Garden Clubs has compiled a list of speakers who are willing to speak to garden clubs and organizations on various garden related topics.

While this list is fairly comprehensive, it does not contain all the names of knowledgeable speakers in BC. If you would like to suggest a name for this list or if you wish to have your name added to this list, please contact the Speaker List Coordinator.

Please note the following:

  • The BC Council of Garden Clubs does not accept any responsibility for the quality or the content of any presentation by these individuals.
  • It is the responsibility of the gardening organization to negotiate the terms of the presentation with the speaker (including topic, travel and expenses, fees, etc.)
  • Fees listed are provided as guideline and are subject to change at the discretion of the speaker without notice to the Council.
  • Please click on a speaker name from the table below for more detail.

Displaying 1 - 25 of 87

NameAdrian Avendaño

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Websiteiscmv.ca
Instagram@iscmv
General Topics
  • Garden Insects, Bees, Butterflies, Garden Pests
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • invasive plants
  • invasive species
  • integrated pest management
  • plant ID
Speaker Profile

Adrian is an environmental technician, percussionist, sound artist, recordist, and interdisciplinary artist based in Surrey-Vancouver, Canada. He holds a Diploma of Technology from BCIT’s Forest and Natural Areas Management program,

Sample topics
  • Invasive species in Metro Vancouver
  • Invasive plants 101

NameAlex Augustyniak

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeHonourarium
Phone(604) 952-8820
General Topics
  • Vegetables
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Herbs, growing and using
Speaker Profile

West Coast Seeds are located in Ladner, BC. We are available for tours and some tastings of our seed trials in mid summer. We are also working on developing our

Sample topics
  • Farm tours and talks at West Coast seeds

NameAmanda Jarrett

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Phone(604) 719-5954
General Topics
  • Vegetables
  • Garden Insects, Bees, Butterflies, Garden Pests
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Garden Design, landscaping
  • Floral Arts, Floral Design, Flower Arrangements
  • Healthy soil, fertilizers, soil amendments, etc.
Specialty Plants
  • growing organically
Speaker Profile

Red Seal in Horticulture, Organic Land Care Professional, retired instructor of Organic Master Gardener and Ecological Landscape Design at Langara College. Douglas College instructor of Residential Landscape Technician, Plant Identification

Sample topics
  • container gardening with or without demonstration, growing vegetables, curb appeal, growing from seed, common garden mistakes, lawn care, low maintenance gardening

NameAna Dushyna

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Instagram@ana_herbal_apothecary
Phone(236) 866-7779
General Topics
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Garden Design, landscaping
  • Herbs, growing and using
Specialty Plants
  • Medicinal plants
Speaker Profile

Ana is a Botanical Pharmacology specialist, Master of Science in Pharmacy. Certified landscaper. She delivers a variety of online or live Programs about Medicinal plants which grow in BC gardens.

Sample topics
  • All season herbal garden. Tasty medicinal plants. Herbs for natural beauty rituals. Herbal remedies for seasonal ills. Spring is coming, herbal detox for body and soul and more

NameBarrie Agar

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
General Topics
  • Fruits, Fruit Trees
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Fruit Growing,
Speaker Profile

Barrie trained in Ireland and has worked in various specialty nurseries both in Canada and Ireland. For the past twenty years the past 17 years she was the head gardener

Sample topics
  • Travel- Gardens of Ireland, Gardens of Japan, Historical Royal Roads Gardens Gardening for your site, Heritage Apples

NameBotanus

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Phone(604) 513-0100
General Topics
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Flower Bulbs
Speaker Profile

Living up to our commitment of Care~Inspire~Grow Botanus is proud to offer an exciting roster of amazing presentations that are intended to inform, excite and inspire. Drawing from years of

Sample topics
  • 10 Most Asked Questions about Successful Bulb Growing
  • Fall in Love with Unusuals
  • Lily-licisious
  • Tulips-From Mania to Megastar
  • Create a Summer Bulb Spectacular
  • One Container, Two Container, Three Container, Grow!

NameBrenda Dyck - Guerrilla Garden Adventures

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeNegotiable
Phone(604) 819-9099
General Topics
  • Vegetables
  • Garden Insects, Bees, Butterflies, Garden Pests
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Floral Arts, Floral Design, Flower Arrangements
  • Herbs, growing and using
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Dried Flowers
  • Cut Flowers
  • Fairy Gardens
  • Edible Flowers and Landscaping
  • Seed Saving
Speaker Profile

Garden information that is not only entertaining but also funny! Brenda Dyck is a self-styled guerrilla gardener who hopes that her wit, sense of humor and passion will inspire you

Sample topics
  • Guerrilla Gardening
  • Container Gardening for Urban Spaces- aka The Pot Garden
  • Refunk Your Junk – One Person’s Trash!
  • Fairies, Trolls and Dinosaurs - Gardening with Children
  • Making Gardening Cool Again- Gardening with Teenagers

NameBrian Minter

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeNegotiable
Phone(604) 792-3799
General Topics
  • Fruits, Fruit Trees
  • Vegetables
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Garden Design, landscaping
  • Special Interest Plants
Sample topics
  • New Gardening Trends and Designs
  • New Plant Varieties
  • Food Gardening
  • New Direction of the Horticultural Industry
  • Container Gardening
  • Small Space gardens
  • Taking your Garden to the Next Level

NameBryn Jones

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Phone(604) 856-3203
General Topics
  • Garden Insects, Bees, Butterflies, Garden Pests
Speaker Profile

What gardeners can do to help. What 3bhoneybee company does. The presentation involves two speakers, beekeepers/gardeners speaking in conjunction with a vibrant, entertaining PowerPoint slide show

Sample topics
  • Honeybees in the Garden and their Problems

NameCarolyn Herriot

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeNegotiable
Phone(250) 924-4478
General Topics
  • Fruits, Fruit Trees
  • Vegetables
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Seed Saving
Speaker Profile

$500 plus Travel and Accommodations

Sample topics
  • The Edible Landscape
  • The Zero-Mile Diet
  • Preserving the Harvest
  • Making Seed Saving Fun
  • Gardening with Wildlife

NameCatherine Dale

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Phone(604) 553-0246
General Topics
  • Special Interest Plants
  • Healthy soil, fertilizers, soil amendments, etc.
Sample topics
  • Autumn Berries
  • Compost and compost tea
  • Garden - Heritage restoration - Eagles Estate

NameChris Jennings

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Phone(604) 838-9504
General Topics
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Plants that will grow well in partial or full shade
Speaker Profile

I founded the Vancouver Shade Garden Society in 2003 and have been its President for most of the time since then. Our Society has focussed on learning all about shade-loving

Sample topics
  • General shade gardening; specific presentations on some families of shade plants, like Arisaemas, Asarums, ferns, heucheras, and many others.

NameClaude LeDoux

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeNegotiable
Instagram@Claude LeDoux
General Topics
  • Fruits, Fruit Trees
  • Vegetables
  • Garden Insects, Bees, Butterflies, Garden Pests
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Garden Design, landscaping
  • Trees, Arboretums, Arborists
  • Herbs, growing and using
  • Healthy soil, fertilizers, soil amendments, etc.
Speaker Profile

Over 45 years experience in the horticultural field. Retired 2018 Park Department Horticultural Manager, City of New Westminster, member of Great Plant Picks of the Pacific Northwest, Royal Horticultural Society,

Sample topics
  • Renovating the Perennial Border, Gardening in Tight Spaces, Small Space Gardening, Annual Colour in the Garden

NameClifford Thorbes

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeNegotiable
Instagram@keeping.nature.in.mind
Phone(604) 684-0584
General Topics
  • Floral Arts, Floral Design, Flower Arrangements
Specialty Plants
  • General Topics: Horticultural Therapy, Therapeutic Horticulture, Gardening as a Therapeutic Activity
Speaker Profile

Cliff Thorbes lives in Brentwood Bay, BC, and is a Horticultural Therapist – Registered (HTR), Certified Career Development Practitioner, and an Expressive Artist. He is the Horticultural Therapist at Homewood

Sample topics
  • Horticultural Therapy/Therapeutic Horticulture

NameColin Tamboline

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeHonourarium
Phone(250) 812-5383
General Topics
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Lilies - true lilies of the genus Lilium
Speaker Profile

I have gardened all my adult life. I got my PhD in Developmental Biology from UVic in 1990, and my MD from UBC in 1991. I have been a family

Sample topics
  • 'Lilies - Summer Splendor' ' Lilium for Rhododendron Lovers - two great genera are better than one' 'Lily Propogation'
  • 'Lilium Species - Around the World in 80 Lilies' 'A Deep Dive into OT Hybrids in Lilium - History, Biology, and Personalities'

NameConway Lum

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeHonourarium
Phone(604) 732-6830
General Topics
  • Garden Insects, Bees, Butterflies, Garden Pests
  • Trees, Arboretums, Arborists
  • Healthy soil, fertilizers, soil amendments, etc.
Specialty Plants
  • General topics: diagnosing plant problems, general or new pests, numerous indoor or outdoor plants, winter plants of interest, soils (amendments or fertility), beneficial organisms, plant propagation, and open to other topics (more detail inquire in advance).
  • Specialty Plants: as mentioned under general topics (more details inquire in advance).
Speaker Profile

Ag, LIC, CHT, Red Seal for Landscape Horticulture plus other awards (B.C. Landscape and Nursery, City of Burnaby, and Invasive Species Council of B.C.).

Sample topics
  • Arborist
  • Beneficial Insects
  • Fertilizer
  • Multiple Subjects
  • Pruning
  • Winter Garden
  • Open to other Topics of Interest to Garden Club members

NameDaniel Mosquin

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Phone(604) 842-7232
General Topics
  • Garden Photography
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Native plants
Speaker Profile

See the website for a list of available presentations. Travel and accommodation expenses

Sample topics
  • Native plants
  • Photography

NameDarlene Tanaka

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeNegotiable
Phone(604) 418-5796
General Topics
  • Fruits, Fruit Trees
  • Vegetables
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Preserving the Harvest
Speaker Profile

I work for Bernard Ltd. and can offer canning demonstrations/workshops on a sliding scale to non-profit groups and organizations

Sample topics
  • Home Canning - Boiling Water Bath and Pressure Canning
  • Canning Demonstration
  • Canning Workshop

NameDavid Tracey

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$250 - $400
Phone(604) 215-1914
General Topics
  • Fruits, Fruit Trees
  • Vegetables
  • Garden Design, landscaping
  • Trees, Arboretums, Arborists
  • Special Interest Plants
Speaker Profile

Urban Forestry Organic Fruit Tree Care Organic Vegetable Growing

Sample topics
  • Engaged Ecology
  • Ecological Garden Design
  • Groundtruthing
  • Landscape Design History
  • Guerrilla Gardening
  • Urban Agriculture
  • Community Garden Building
  • Vancouver Trees

NameDeborah F Chud

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeNegotiable
Phone(617) 964-2563
General Topics
  • Garden Design, landscaping
Speaker Profile

My name is Deborah Chud and I'm a Massachusetts landscape design consultant and educator with a special area of expertise--the work of Piet Oudolf. I have given presentations to the

Sample topics
  • A Piet Oudolf Story: a personal introduction to his design principles

NameDerek Churchill

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$100 - $250
Instagram@Northshorehorticulture
Phone(604) 445-2848
General Topics
  • Trees, Arboretums, Arborists
Speaker Profile

Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist and Educator. I've been in the landscape industry for nearly 20 years and have many tales to tell about proper planting and care of trees in

Sample topics
  • Why Trees Fail

NameDianne Gaines

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$50 - $100
Phone(604) 856-2359
General Topics
  • Fruits, Fruit Trees
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Bulbs - Spring - Summer
  • Lilies
  • Perennials
  • Small Fruit
  • Roses
Speaker Profile

Bulbs Perennials Small Fruit Roses

Sample topics
  • A-Z of Spring or Summer Bulbs
  • What's new in Spring or Summer Flowering Bulbs
  • Container Gardening with Spring or Summer Bulbs
  • A full Summer of Lilies
  • What's New in Perennials
  • Perennials for Shady Areas or Sunny Spots
  • Encorporating Small Fruit into the Garden
  • What's new in Roses including Weeks and David Austin

NameDonna Balzer

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$250 - $400
Phone(403) 827-6390
General Topics
  • Vegetables
  • Garden Insects, Bees, Butterflies, Garden Pests
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Garden Design, landscaping
  • Healthy soil, fertilizers, soil amendments, etc.
Specialty Plants
  • Growing great food in small spaces. How to build soil, add cover and grow up for best effect.
Speaker Profile

Donna Balzer has two greenhouses and a big vegetable garden on her urban double lot. She is an award-winning media personality and garden consultant with a personal passion for food

Sample topics
  • "Garden Ideas: New and Recycled", "Sow and Grow: 3 tips for success", "Perfect Soils and Stress-Free Gardens"

NameDwight Young

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's FeeNegotiable
Phone(604) 780-5272
General Topics
  • Healthy soil, fertilizers, soil amendments, etc.
Speaker Profile

Hello! My name is Dwight Young, and I am the proud owner of Growers Delight, a family-run business started in 2017. It all started one Sunday afternoon when my wife,

NameGary Lewis

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Speaker's Fee$250 - $400
Instagram@phoenixperennials
Phone(604) 270-4133
General Topics
  • Container Gardening, Small Space Gardening
  • Garden Design, landscaping
  • Special Interest Plants
Specialty Plants
  • Hellebores
  • Ground Covers
  • Rare Plants
  • Cutting Edge New Plants
  • Plants of Western Australia
  • Succulents
Speaker Profile

Gary Lewis has had a lifelong passion for plants. While completing a Masters of Science degree in Botany, Gary became the owner of Phoenix Perennials on his 28th birthday. Since

Sample topics
  • The Complete Talk on Ground Covers
  • Hot New Plants: Cutting Edge Garden Plants for Cutting Edge Gardens
  • Hellebores: Jewels of the Winter and Spring Garden
  • Weird and Wonderful Plants of the World: Botanically Intriguing Options for your Garden
  • Avoiding the Summer Doldrums: Great Plants for Summer and Fall
  • Sizzling Succulents: Drama, Structure and Intrigue with Succulent Foliage and Flowers
  • Among Kangaroo Paws and Grass Trees: The Incredible Spring Flora of Western Australia
  • Plants and Plant Ecology of the American Deserts: A Botanical Travelogue