2026 Winter Horticulture Forum presented by Bartlett Tree Experts
Gardeners! It’s time to take those gardening tools out of hibernation and start planning for the season with help from three leading plant professionals in this half-day horticulture forum at Newfields. Nick McCullough, Horticulturist, designer, and author, will present on his book, American Roots, featuring home gardens across America. Matthew Ross, Executive Director of The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park, will present on the historic Northern Michigan Asylum and how its transformational ideas established the principle of “beauty is therapy”. Phil Douglas, Director of Horticulture and Center for Global Initiatives for Denver Botanic Gardens, will present on the implications of habitat destruction and the role botanic gardens play in conservation efforts, guiding us from the subtropics to the grasslands.
$50 Members & $65 public
NICK MCCULLOUGH
Award-winning garden designer Nick McCullough has developed a distinctive style he calls Midwest Modern, one that relies on a balance of natural paving and innovative perennial plantings. Based in Ohio, he and his team at McCullough’s Landscape & Nursery create and maintain plant centric gardens in and around the Midwest that are both ecologically sensitive and familyforward. His first book American Roots which he co-authored with his wife Allison and Teresa Woodard has recently been published by Timber Press.
MATTHEW ROSS
Matthew Ross is the Executive Director of The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park in Traverse City Michigan. He oversees the 26-acre Botanical Garden which was founded by visionaries Kurt and Karen Schmidt and a team of volunteers on the site of the Northern Michigan Asylum Farm. Prior to coming home to Michigan, Matthew was the Director of Continuing Education at Longwood Gardens, a college instructor at Owens Community College, and chief Horticulturist at Toledo Botanic Garden. He is a proud graduate of Michigan State University where he received a bachelors and master’s degree in Horticultural Science with an emphasis on Landscape Design Construction Management and Urban Forestry respectively. He is a well-respected public garden professional that spends his spare time kayaking, hiking, and exploring the vast landscape of Northern Michigan.
PHIL DOUGLAS
A native Kentuckian, Douglas began his horticulture career at the historic Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio. Following five years as the director of plant collections for the Chicago Botanic Garden, Douglas most recently serves as the Director of Horticulture and Center for Global Initiatives at the Denver Botanic Gardens. He received a Bachelor of Science in horticulture from the University of Cincinnati, and a Master of Public Administration from Eastern Kentucky University. As the director of horticulture at DBG, Douglas manages a team of esteemed horticulturists overseeing one of the world’s most diverse plant collections. Douglas is a member of the American Public Garden Association, International Dendrology Society, Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, and is a board member of the International Oak Society.
