2025 EVENTS

---

Tuesday April 8, 2025

Time: 6:30pm-9pm

Open to the Public

Speaker: Deborah Hardwick

Topic: Clematis Best Practice (Selecting, planting, pruning and enjoying)

Christ's Church

3370 Upper Bellbrook Road

Bellbrook, OH 45305

Deborah Hardwick grows thousands of clematis cultivars at her central Ohio garden, Hardwick Hall. She has become known for her expertise in tending these beloved plants, which she believes suffer a fussy reputation that hasn’t been helped by complicated advice. Through outreach to garden clubs, horticultural organizations, botanical gardens, nurseries and more, Deborah works to dispel the myths that surround clematis by highlighting the most rewarding and rugged cultivars and offering simplified strategies for their care.

Tuesday June 10, 2025

Time: 6:00pm-9pm

NOTE EARLY START TIME

Open to the Public

Starting early since gardens are some distance apart.

Paula Huntington

3163 Wilt Road

New Madison, OH 45346

BJ Ney

2865 Zehring Rd.

Farmersville, OH 45325

Mary Hofacker

818 Hampshire Road

Dayton, OH 45419

Mary Hofacker - I have been gardening for most of my life. Gardening began as a tiresome chore as a child; however, as I became an adult I became enamored with it. 

I moved into my home and gardens almost ten years ago to a very overgrown mess. The first task I tackled was removing all the ivy, followed by trimming all three (really five)  Korean lilacs that were over 8 foot tall and wide.  Over the years, my gardens here have continued to evolve.  Most recently I installed many little gardens along what I call the winding path garden.    I definitely have less grass to mow!

I have called my garden, the pizza slice,  because it is wide at the corner like a crust and ends as a point back by the garage.

Many times, I have entered garden stores with "I am not buying any more plants" and walked out with a cart full of interesting specimens.

Please come and enjoy my little pizza slice of a garden. 

BJ Ney -  I have been working on my gardens for about 33 years.  The gardens surround a rustic 18 hole mini garden golf game.

Complete with garden vignettes with plants and salvage finds.  There is also a bit of whimsy with fairy, gnomes, and a music garden.  I also have been making my gardens more wildlife friendly because of the insect and bird decline.  I have been raising Monarch butterflies for the past few years.  My butterfly garden has a giant caterpillar cage, although every year I have less and less.  My garden was featured in the country Gardens magazine in the early spring 2019 issue.  I love sharing my gardens with friends and family.

Paula Huntington - Step into a breathtaking five-acre country garden filled with vibrant colors, lush greenery, and peaceful natural beauty. This enchanting landscape features over 65 varieties of hostas and other shade-loving perennials. There is a diverse array of flowers and plants for every season. The gardens are designed to attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. The stocked pond is home to bass, bluegill, catfish and even turtles, adding a serene water element. Many of our blooms have received top honors at the Darke County Fair. Take home a piece of the garden with a carefully curated selection of seeds. Make sure to check out the charming garden She Shed. There are creative and whimsical pieces or unique garden art that add personality to the landscape. Whether you're an avid gardener or simply looking for a peaceful getaway, this tour offers something for everyone. Come experience the beauty of the countryside.

Tuesday September 9, 2025

Time: 6:30pm-9pm

Open to the Public

Speaker: Pam Bennett

Topic: Top Performing Annuals and Perennials

Vandalia Senior Center

21 S. Tionda Drive

Vandalia, OH 45377

 Pam specializes in herbaceous ornamental plant trials and evaluates more than 200 varieties of annuals and two genera of ornamental grasses; she presents programs on annuals and perennials as well as other landscape topics locally, statewide, and nationally.  Pam is the co-author of the book Garden-pedia, An A-to- Z Guide to Gardening Terms, writes a weekly gardening column for the Springfield News and Sun and the Dayton Daily News, authors the bi-monthly Ask the Expert Column for Ohio Gardening magazine and is a frequent writer for popular gardening magazines as well as trade publications.  Pam teaches in Ohio, nationally, and internationally on a variety of horticulture topics ranging from annuals, perennials and woody ornamentals, vegetables, plant diagnostics, to plant maintenance as well as volunteer management topics.  

Saturday October 25, 2025

Time: 11:30-3:00pm

Can arrive anytime after 11:00 am

Speaker: Josh Roggenbuck (from Walters Gardens)

Topic: An Insider's View on All Things Hosta - Giant, Mini, New and Rare!

Members Only Event

***REGISTRATION REQUIRED (see below)***

Cost $25

Hosted by: Miami Valley Hosta Society

For MVHS, Hosta Society of Greater Cincinnati and Central Ohio Hosta Society Members only

Sinclair Community College Conference Center

444 W. Third Street, Room 116

Dayton, OH 45402

Josh Roggenbuck has been in agriculture all of his life. Growing up on a sugar beet farm and working from young childhood, he found his passion for plants at a local Christmas tree farm and then a landscape nursery. He attended Michigan State University to obtain his degree in Horticulture before building a greenhouse and garden center with his parents and operating it for nine seasons. Walters Gardens is North America’s leading producer of perennial liner plants with over 1000 varieties in their main catalog. They supply plugs and bare root plants to nurseries, greenhouses, and mail order companies in every one of the United States, as well as to many provinces in Canada. Also a breeding company, Walters Gardens introduces around fifty new varieties each season across dozens of plant genera. For over a decade, Walter Gardens has been the home of Proven Winner Perennials and proudly supplies the genetics and liners for a lineup now over 220 varieties strong. Josh’s job at Walters Gardens is to oversee sales in the Midwest. He also supports the company’s initiatives with retail companies and landscape designers. Last and most important, Josh resides in Mid-Michigan with his wife Sarah and daughters Stella and Hattie.

Travel Directions:

From North: Take I-75 south to Exit 53 A (Third street), Turn Left onto Third Street. Go approximately 0.4 miles. Turn right on Perry Street. Go one block. Turn right onto Fourth Street. Turn right into Lot C to underground parking. Use the South elevator/stairwell.

From South: Take I-75 north to Exit 51 (Edwin C. Moses), Turn Right onto Edwin C. Moses.  Go approximately 2.2 miles.  Turn Right onto Third street. Go approximately 0.5 miles. Turn right on Perry Street. Go one block. Turn right onto Fourth Street. Turn right into Lot C to underground parking. Use the South elevator/stairwell.

From Columbus:  Take I-70 to Exit 41 (OH-4 south).  Turn left onto OH-4 South.  Use left two lanes to merge onto 75 South.  Turn Left onto Third Street. Go approximately 0.4 miles. Turn right on Perry Street. Go one block. Turn right onto Fourth Street. Turn right into Lot C to underground parking. Use the South elevator/stairwell.