Second Annual Symposium of the WLS. July 30 – August 3, 1986

Our second annual Water Lilly Society Symposium came to a close  in St Louis just a few short months ago, but its not too soon to start thinking about attending our Denver Symposium. Let me share with you just a few things that you “non-attendees” missed at St. Louis. (Read more in the Water Garden Journal Vol. 2-02 and Vol. 2-03)

This was hardly a social gathering although everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. This was a gathering of enthusiasts! From the pre-symposium trip to Ozark Fisheries to the end of symposium  behind the scenes  tour of the Missouri Botanical Gardens, there was excitement  at every turn. The speakers were superb, and the topics were right on the money!

Speakers were: 

Don Bryne of Lake City Florida, talking to us about carnivorous plants.

Ray Davies, joint owner of Stapeley Water Garden Center, talked about water gardening in England

Barbara Dobbins, a landscape designed from Santa Barbara, California, and Jolande Goldberg, acclaimed garden sculpturist, combined for an excellent presentation of Aquascaping

Bill Heritage, author and Lecturer from England, talked about Pond and Waterfall Installation

Wade Mahlke, an Alabama water gardening nurseryman, Lorry McCroskey, the owner of a water gardening business in Washington, and R.D. Steinbach, a college faculty member who is researching the importation of aquatic plants from Africa, together provided a how-to session on turning your Water Gardening Hobby Into Your Profession:.

John Mirgon, founder of the Colorado Water Gardening Society, gave excellent testimony of what we can look forward to at the W.L.S. Symposium in Denver next year.

Mary Smith, a water lily specialist at the Missouri Botanic Gardens, gave an exciting and very informative tour of the Aquatic Gardens at the Missouri Botanic Gardens,

Kirk Strawn, a professor of Fisheries Science at Texas A&M University, and our new president shared with us his vast expertise through his talk on how to care for fish in the water garden

Philip Swindells, the acclaimed author, speaker and curator of the Northern Horticultural Societies’ Harlow Car Gardens in Harrogate England, gave an inspiring talk on Conservation of Aquatic Plants – Wild and Cultivated

Joe Tomocik, on the staff of Denver Botanic Gardens, and another organizer of the 1987 W.L.S. Symposium in Denver, first shared experiences through his talk on The Diary of a Water Gardener, and then changed pace to excite us with a talk on the Rocky Mountain Flora that awaits us as we join him next year in Denver.