Phoenix Perennials owner Gary Lewis is a dynamic and passionate speaker who has inspired gardeners of all levels across North America. He is available to give talks at garden club meetings and conferences both in-person and virtually. Gary’s talks can also be adapted for professional audiences.
Plants that reduce maintenance, control erosion, improve the environment, and beautify the landscape
Ground covers are widely thought of as utilitarian, but these plants also offer a diverse range of beautiful and intriguing options with a variety of colors, textures, and forms. They can unify a landscape, knit together plantings and hardscape, and add extra layers of beauty, dynamism, and surprise. As a replacement for lawns, they can reduce our use of water, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, carbon-based fuels, and transform a yard into a diverse landscape of habitat and food for native insects, birds, and other wildlife. In this companion talk to Gary’s encyclopedia The Complete Book of Ground Covers published by Timber Press in fall 2022, Gary will highlight the functional and aesthetic uses of ground covers in the landscape including tips and tricks for designing with ground covers to take your outdoor space to the next level and a discussion on the diverse services ground covers can provide to make gardens more sustainable. He will illustrate all these benefits and uses of ground covers with beautiful photos taken from his travels to gardens around the world!
The talk can be followed by book sales and a book signing.
Learn more about The Complete Book of Ground Covers.
And How to Use Them
In his encyclopedia The Complete Book of Ground Covers, Gary profiled 4000 different species and cultivars of this most useful group of small but mighty plants. Amongst the usual characters are many lesser known, rare and underused ground covers that could be used to great effect to add botanical intrigue, surprise, and creativity to the garden. In this talk you’ll discover some of Gary’s favourite rare, unusual and underused ground covers and how to use them in the garden to take your outdoor space to the next level.
The talk can be followed by book sales and a book signing.
Learn more about The Complete Book of Ground Covers.
Plantsman, nursery owner, and author Gary Lewis travels the world in search of beauty and inspiration in gardens and from nature both on personal trips and while leading garden and botanical tours. In this talk you’ll travel across Canada, the US, and Mexico and on to Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia discovering many unforgettable features of some of the world’s most beautiful gardens and wild landscapes. This talk will be packed with design ideas for both hardscape and softscape, cool plants, dynamic plant combinations, garden art, and more. Whether you’re a home gardener or a landscape professional, this talk will inspire you with new ideas to take your space(s) to the next level – all while taking a whirlwind trip around the world!
Cutting Edge Garden Plants for Cutting Edge Gardens
Phoenix Perennials is among the first nurseries in Canada—and even the world—to offer new cultivars developed by the best international breeders. Gary will give you the inside track on recent new cutting edge garden plants and talk about where plant breeding is heading in the future. If you love new plants, you won’t want to miss this talk! Because of the fast pace of perennial breeding this talk will likely have a full turnover of plants every 2-3 years. From year to year it will never be the same!
Jewels of the Winter and Spring Garden
Phoenix Perennials has become famous for our annual Hellebore Hurrah! Weekend each February which draws hundreds of gardeners from around the province and beyond to one of the largest selections of Hellebores offered in North America. In this presentation you’ll learn about the botany, ecology, and distribution of hellebores as well as their history in western gardens and the complex breeding required to arrive at the stunning array of modern forms. Gary will tour you through the best of what’s available today and speak to new directions in breeding. If you book this talk in February or March Gary will bring an array of hellebores to “show and tell” after the PowerPoint portion of the evening.
Great Plants for Summer and Fall
Does your garden look fabulous in the spring only to have its vibrant colours fade with the summer heat? Gary offers advice on how to avoid these summer doldrums and recommends a host of great garden plants to keep colour in the garden through the hot months of the year. At the end Gary will “show and tell” a select group of plants from the talk.
Botanically Intriguing Options for your Garden
Countless fascinating garden plants exist at the fringes of cultivation including many that have recently been introduced from the far-flung corners of the world. On this virtual tour of six continents you’ll discover a multitude of rare, uncommon and underused perennials to add some botanical intrigue to your patio and garden. At the end Gary will “show and tell” a select group of plants from the talk.
Drama, Structure and Intrigue with Succulent Foliage and Flowers
Gary will introduce you to the fascinating world of succulents for the garden. He will show you a variety of hardy and non-hardy plants including Agave, Echeveria, Aeonium, Yucca, Dasylirion, Sempervivum, cacti, Delosperma, Sedum and more. He will discuss their geographical origins, their biology, their value in design and how to grow them in the garden and in containers. This talk is not Power Point-based but is a “show and tell” style talk in which Gary will bring a diversity of plants to enhance the lecture.
The Incredible Spring Flora of Western Australia
Join Gary for a trip Down Under to explore an out of this world flora you have likely never even dreamed of—a world of banksias and feather flowers, donkey orchids and spider orchids, eucalypts and myrtles and, of course, kangaroo paws and grass trees. In this talk you’ll see wonderful photography from his trip as well as learn about why this area of the world is considered a biodiversity “hotspot.”
A Botanical Travelogue
Travel with Gary Lewis on a tour of California and Arizona and discover the intriguing plants that inhabit the challenging desert environments of the American Southwest. This presentation includes stunning imagery of blooming cacti and other desert wildflowers and draws on ecology, biogeography and botany to paint a picture of a fascinating botanical environment.
Hot New Plants
Cutting Edge Garden Plants for Cutting Edge Gardens
Phoenix Perennials is among the first nurseries in Canada—and even the world—to offer new cultivars developed by the best international breeders. Gary will give you the inside track on recent new cutting edge garden plants and talk about where plant breeding is heading in the future. If you love new plants, you won’t want to miss this talk! Because of the fast pace of perennial breeding this talk will likely have a full turnover of plants every 2-3 years. From year to year it will never be the same!
Hellebores
Jewels of the Winter and Spring Garden
Phoenix Perennials has become famous for our annual Hellebore Hurrah! Weekend each February which draws hundreds of gardeners from around the province and beyond to one of the largest selections of Hellebores offered in North America. In this presentation you’ll learn about the botany, ecology, and distribution of hellebores as well as their history in western gardens and the complex breeding required to arrive at the stunning array of modern forms. Gary will tour you through the best of what’s available today and speak to new directions in breeding. If you book this talk in February or March Gary will bring an array of hellebores to “show and tell” after the PowerPoint portion of the evening.
Sizzling Succulents
Drama, Structure and Intrigue with Succulent Foliage and Flowers
Gary will introduce you to the fascinating world of succulents for the garden. He will show you a variety of hardy and non-hardy plants including Agave, Echeveria, Aeonium, Yucca, Dasylirion, Sempervivum, cacti, Delosperma, Sedum and more. He will discuss their geographical origins, their biology, their value in design and how to grow them in the garden and in containers. This talk is not Power Point-based but is a “show and tell” style talk in which Gary will bring a diversity of plants to enhance the lecture.
Among Kangaroo Paws and Grass Trees
The Incredible Spring Flora of Western Australia
Join Gary for a trip Down Under to explore an out of this world flora you have likely never even dreamed of—a world of banksias and feather flowers, donkey orchids and spider orchids, eucalypts and myrtles and, of course, kangaroo paws and grass trees. In this talk you’ll see wonderful photography from his trip as well as learn about why this area of the world is considered a biodiversity “hotspot.”
Weird and Wonderful Plants of the World
Botanically Intriguing Options for your Garden
Countless fascinating garden plants exist at the fringes of cultivation including many that have recently been introduced from the far-flung corners of the world. On this virtual tour of six continents you’ll discover a multitude of rare, uncommon and underused perennials to add some botanical intrigue to your patio and garden. At the end Gary will “show and tell” a select group of plants from the talk.
Avoiding the Summer Doldrums
Great Plants for Summer and Fall
Does your garden look fabulous in the spring only to have its vibrant colours fade with the summer heat? Gary offers advice on how to avoid these summer doldrums and recommends a host of great garden plants to keep colour in the garden through the hot months of the year. At the end Gary will “show and tell” a select group of plants from the talk.
Plants and Plant Ecology of the American Deserts
A Botanical Travelogue
Travel with Gary Lewis on a tour of California and Arizona and discover the intriguing plants that inhabit the challenging desert environments of the American Southwest. This presentation includes stunning imagery of blooming cacti and other desert wildflowers and draws on ecology, biogeography and botany to paint a picture of a fascinating botanical environment.
Questions? The Phoenicians can help you find just what you’re looking for. Get in touch with us here!
We are happy to accept Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, Debit and Cash. Some customers ask us which we prefer. Debit and Cash are better for the nursery.
3380 No. 6 Road, Richmond, BC, V6V 1P5, Canada
Hours Of Operation
Open 7 Days a Week, 10am-5pm
from late February or Early March to mid November including all holidays.
Reduced hours from 10am-4pm from Nov 1st onwards.
Phone & Fax: 604.270.4133
Toll-Free: 1-877-596-0934
Nursery Email for Local Customers:
info@phoenixperennials.com
Mail Order Email:
mailorder@phoenixperennials.com
Pre-Order Email:
preorder@phoenixperennials.com
Copyright 2024 | Phoenix Perennials and Specialty Plants | All Rights Reserved