A Kansas City Gardening Original

The Kansas City Garden Symposium presented by Gardeners Connect is one of the premier gardening events in the region.

We bring to the stage the best in local, regional and national garden experts and talent to educate and inspire gardeners of all skill levels.

2024 Kansas City Garden Symposium

2024 Kansas City Garden Symposium

Saturday, March 16, 2024

8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

(Doors Open 7:30 a.m.)

Four Speakers. Six Presentations. Lunch. Gift Bag.
A Day of Gardening Delight You Won’t Want to Miss.

Create Your Garden Masterpiece.

2023 Kansas City
Garden Symposium

“Garden Obsession” is all about the gardens and plants that entice, beguile and make gardeners obsess.

Three speakers. Six presentations. Lunch. Gift bag.

A day of gardening delight you won’t want to miss.

Grow Your Own Way Logo

2020 Kansas City
Garden Symposium

“Grow Your Own Way” spoke to the ideals of nearly every gardener. To glean ideas, inspiration and different viewpoints from the gardens we visit and the gardeners we have met and modify, adapt and integrate those gleanings to our own gardens and style. Truly gardening our own way.

2018 Kansas City
Garden Symposium

“Growing a Greener Garden” delved into ways to make our gardens more resilient to the extremes of gardening in the Midwest by selecting the correct plants, the right design and the best practices to not only make our gardens greener for ourselves but also that of our communities and the creatures that inhabit it.

Garden Symposium Chronicles

2023 Kansas City Garden Syposium
Garden Obsession

Rockhurst University, Arrupe Hall
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Joseph Tychonievich
Ed Lyon
Chris Fehlhaber

2020 Kansas City Garden Syposium
Grow Your Own Way

Rockhurst University, Arrupe Hall
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Brie Arthur
Alan Branhagen
Jeff Epping
Nick McCullogh

2018 Kansas City Garden Symposium
Growing a Greener Garden

Rockhurst University, Arrupe Hall
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Carol Davit, Executive Director, Missouri Prairie Foundation
Tammi Hartung, Owner, Desert Canyon Farm
Joe Lampl, Host, Growing a Greener World
Kelly Norris, Director of Horticulture, Greater Des Moines Botanical Center

2016 Kansas City Garden Symposium
Sow Your Garden Adventure

The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Atkins Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Lucy Hardiman, Garden Writer and Designer
Dan Hinkley, Author, Plant Explorer, Co-Founder of Heronswood Nursery
Jan Johnsen, Author and Garden Designer
Troy Marden, Author and Host, The Volunteer Gardener

2014 Kansas City Garden Symposium
Color Outside the Lines

The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Atkins Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Keri Ann Mendez, Owner, Perennially Yours
Julie Moir Messervy, Author and Garden Designer
Amanda Thomsen, Author and Commercial Landscaper
Joseph Tychonievich, Author and Nursery Manager, Arrowhead Alpines Nursery

2012 Kansas City Garden Symposium
Grow the Good Life

The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Atkins Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Andrea Bellamy, Garden Writer
Roy Diblik, Garden Designer and Owner, Northwind Perennials
Dan Heims, Author and Owner, Terra Nova Nursery
Ellen Ecker Ogden, Author and Kitchen Garden Designer

2010 Kansas City Garden Symposium
Beauty Woven with Practicality

The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Atkins Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Suzy Bales,
Stephani Cohen,
Rosalind Creasy,
Claire Sawyers,

2008 Kansas City Garden Symposium
Make Your Garden a Work of Art

The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Atkins Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Rosemary Alexander, Founder, the English Garden School
Jennifer Bartley, Author and Landscape Designer
Dan Benarcik, Horticulturist, Chanticleer
Richard Reames, Owner Arborsmith Studios

2006 Kansas City Garden Symposium


Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Karen Bussolini
Tres Fromme
Carol Reese
Steve VanderWoude

2004 Kansas City Garden Symposium
Make Your Garden a Work of Art

The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Atkins Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Alan Armitage
Bill Luchsinger
Janet Macunovich
Karen Strohbeen
Roger Swain

2002 Kansas City Garden Symposium


Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Cole Burrell
Richard Darke
Tracy DiSabato-Aust
Ryan Gainey
Pamela Harper

2000 Kansas City Garden Symposium


Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Neil Diboll
Chris Hansen
Lauren Springer
Roger Swain
Chris Woods

1998 Kansas City Garden Symposium


Kansas City, Missouri

Speakers:
Joe Eck
Nancy Goodwin
Dan Hinkley
Roy Lancaster
Dr Richard Lighty
Lauren Springer