Crow Dog Native Ferns and Gardens

Workshops, Presentations, and Field Trips

Contact Tom for Presentation Details
Owner Biography
Tom Goforth, owner of Crow Dog Native Ferns and Gardens, conducts workshops, presentations, lectures and guides field trips for symposia, botanical gardens, nurseries, societies, and classes from elementary to university settings. Tom also consults for landscapers, nurseries, and botanical gardens on fern ecology, landscaping, and spore propagation.

SUBJECTS INCLUDE

*Spore propagation of native ferns

*Native fern ecology of the US

*Landscaping with native ferns

*The correlation of geology and plant communities

*Nursery propagation and management of US native ferns

*Fern morphology and taxonomy

*Large-scale ecological connections

*Native fern pressing and documentation

FIELD TRIP DESTINATIONS

*Locations throughout the Carolinas

*Eastern Georgia and Tennessee

*Southwestern US

*Oregon and Washington

*Michigan and Wisconsin

*Northeastern US

RECENT PRESENTATIONS AND FIELD TRIPS

Fern Propagation Consultation, Heritage Seedlings, Salem, Oregon, Oct. 16-17, 2005

Field Trip: Southern Applalachian Ferns, Top to Bottom, 2005 Cullowhee Conference, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, July 20, 2005, 5 hours, 17 participants

Workshop: Native Ferns: Morphology, Propagation and Ecology, 2005 Cullowhee Conference, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, July 21, 2005, 2 1/2 hours, 25 participants

Presentation: Propagating Native Ferns From Spores, The Ferntastic World of Ferns Symposium, Georgia Perimeter College Botanical Garden, Atlanta, GA, June 18, 2005, 1 hour, 150 participants

Workshop Series, Native Ferns: Morphology, Propagation, and Ecology, The Botanical Gardens at Asheville, Asheville, NC, May 14 and 28 and June 4, 2005, two 3-hour workshops and 1 6-hour field trip, 15 participants

Field Trip, The Ferns and Geology of Coves and Ridges of Ordovician Shore Strata, The Western Carolina Botanical Club, Eastern Tennessee, June, 2005, 12 participants

Presentation, Native Ferns: Morphology, Propagation, and Landscaping, Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary, Charlotte, NC, Mar. 10, 2005, 2 hours, 75 participants

Field Trip, Panther Creek Circum-neutral Plant Communities and Geology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Carolina Environmental Program at the Highlands Biological Station, Eastern Georgia, August 16, 2004, 12 students

Mentoring, Using GIS to Predict Plant Distributions: a New Approach (and others), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Carolina Environmental Program at the Highlands Biological Station, Highlands, NC, Fall 2004 semester.

Fern Propagation Consultation, Towaligia Plants, Julliette, GA, August, 2004

Workshop: Native Ferns: Morphology, Propagation and Ecology, 2004 Cullowhee Conference, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, July 20, 2004, 2 1/2 hours, 28 participants

TOP
UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS, AND FIELD TRIPS

Saturday, February 4, 2006...Greenville Master Gardeners Symposium, Presentation: Native Ferns for Garden Spaces http://www.greatergreenvillemastergardener.org/html/Symposium.htm

Thursday, February 16, 2006, Evergreen Communty Charter School, Asheville, NC, Teacher workshop on Ecological Connections

Saturday, March 4, 2006, Waddell Barnes Botanical Garden, Macon State College, Macon, Georgia, Presentation: Native Fern Ecology of the Southern Appalachians

Tuesday March 14, 2006, Georgia Native Plant Society Symposium, Presentation: Native Ferns of the Southeast http://www.gnps.org/SCHED32.HTM

May 13, 20, 27, 2006, The Botanical Gardens at Asheville, NC, Workshop series on native fern morphology, ecology, and propagation, http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/Programs/programs.htm

June 22, 2006, Atlanta Botanical Garden: Native Ferns of the Eastern US.

Thursday, June 1, 2006, 2-4 pm, Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham, NC, Workshop: Ferns of the Carolina Piedmont http://www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens/calendar_of_events.htm

July 19-22, 2006, 2006 Cullowhee Conference, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, Workshop: Native Fern Morphology, Propagation, and Ecology; Field Trip: Diverse Native Ferns and Fern Habitats of the Southern Appalachians; Presentation: Mega Ecological Predictive Connections; http://cess.wcu.edu/np/index.html

August 23, 2006, Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, Presentation: Eastern US Native Fern Ecology

Fall Semester, 2006, Highlands Biological Station, UNC Carolina Environmental Program, Mentoring in botanical field research

January 26, 2007, Western Carolina Botanical Club, Hendersonville, NC, Presentation: Mega Ecological Predictive Connections

February 24, 2007, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, Charlotte, NC, Art in the Garden Conference, Presentation: Sculpture in the Garden

March 3, 2007, Master Gardeners of York County, Second Annual Conference

March 9, 2007, North Carolina Arboretum, Presentation: Native Ferns of the Carolinas: Diversity in Nature and for Gardens.

April 11-13, 2007, Sponsored by the Sarah P. Duke Gardens: Field trip to sites in the Jocassee Gorges Preserve in South Carolina. http://www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens/calendar_descriptions_garden_trips.htm

May 18-25, 2007, Carolina Vegetation Survey, Spring Pulse: Fall Line Plant Community Survey Plots in the Vicinity of Rockingham, NC

July 18-22, 2007, 2007 Cullowhee Conference, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, Workshop/field trip combo: Exploring Mega Ecological Connections Workshop on July 19,and Ecological Predictions Fieldtrip, July 20, http://cess.wcu.edu/np/index.html

March 3-4, 2008, Davidson Horticulture Symposium, Davidson College, Davidson, NC: Landscaping Inspired by Native Fern Habitats, http://www.davidsonsymposium.org/Home_Page.html

July 23-26, 2008, Cullowhee Conference: Native Plants in the Landscape, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, Workshop/field trip combo: Exploring Mega Ecological Connections Workshop on July 23,and Ecological Predictions Fieldtrip, July 24. http://www.wcu.edu/5033.asp

Participant Comments

From Brett in Asheville: "I recently sat in on your presentation on native ferns at the NC Arboretum.  It was an excellent talk and I gained a great deal of knowledge that I will put to use at our new home."

The President of the French Broad River Garden Club: "I keep hearing rave reviews about your lecture at the Arboretum a couple weeks ago! ":

Margie wrote: "I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your talk.  I led a chat Friday evening after the picnic, and several attendees discussed various issues you had raised.  You really got people thinking about connections and the bigger picture.  They were particularly interested in soil biology.  Anyway I wanted you to know you touched a good nerve in people.  Thanks!!"

About the 2006 Cullowhee Conference, Ed from Macon: "Thanks, Tom.  The conference would not have been such a success without super shooters like yourself."

Adrien refering to a field trip the day before: "Thanks so much for taking time to share that special place with us - and your own expertise.  It's always a treat for me to see a diverse community of plants and see plants that I haven't yet seen in the wild.   Wild plants seem so much more vibrant than those in pots in the nursery or even in the garden.    It's especially helpful to me when selling plants to have had an experience of the plants' native habitats to share with customers.    Three cheers for Adder's Tongue Fern.  That was sooo great!"

 

TOP