April 7, 1:30-4:30 pm – Jason Reeves, “Garden Heroes – Top Performing Easy to Grow Annuals and Perennials”

The April meeting of the Nashville Rose Society will be held on April 7, 2024, in the Massey Auditorium of Botanic Hall / Visitor Services Building at Cheekwood Garden and Estate. We will have refreshments at 1:30 and the program will start at 2:00 PM.

Jason Reeves – Garden Tours, Garden Lecturer & Writer, Photographer, Landscape Designer and Consultant with more than 20 years experience in the green industry.
Our guest speaker will be Jason Reeves. Since 2002, Jason has been a research horticulturist and curator of the University of Tennessee Gardens located at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson, Tennessee. He grew up on a farm in West Tennessee, where he fell in love with the plant world. Jason received his Master’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Let’s face it: some plants are just better than others! In the plant world, new is not always better. With his extensive experience in gardens and landscapes Jason focuses on dependable new and older, but underutilized, good garden performers may of which attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators to your domain. This talk will have you racing to the nursery to try out these champions of the garden.

Jason’s colorful plant combinations and unique garden art, made by recycling everyday objects, draws several thousand people each year to the Center’s annual lawn and garden show, Summer Celebration. His past experiences include work at the Opryland Conservatories in Nashville, Missouri Botanical Garden, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, and in private gardens in New Zealand.

When he’s not bringing the grounds to life with his imaginative garden displays, he’s evaluating hundreds of new and unique plants for the state’s green industry; speaking at gardening symposiums or traveling the world leading gardening tours, and serving as a contributing editor to Fine Gardening magazine. He is also a landscape designer and consultant whose influence may be seen in landscapes across Tennessee in the form of distinct plant combinations and his signature garden art. He does all this and manages to find time to garden at home. You can follow him on Facebook at Jason Reeves – in the garden.

The Cheekwood Campus Map shows the location of Botanic Hall.

Note: Admission to Cheekwood is not required – let the gate attendant know that you are attending the NRS Meeting in Botanic Hall.