Agenda for the 2023 Independent Plant Breeders Conference in Denver
August 23rd, 2023
All times below are in Mountain Daylight Time.
Monday, October 23
5:00 – 7:00 pm: Welcome Reception. At the Hyatt Denver/Cherry Creek
Tuesday, October 24
8:30-8:40 am: Welcome. Brian Vogt, Chief Executive Officer, Denver Botanic Gardens.
8:40 am: Creating Wins for Both Breeders & Plant Brands. Ross Shrigley, Executive Director, Plant Select.
9:00 am: Kelly Grummons, Cactus Wrangler: In Search of Better Plants for the Dry Landscape. Kelly Grummons, Owner, Cold Hardy Cactus (Colorado).
10:00 am: Break
10:15 am: Trialed. Tested. Proven. An Inside Look at Breeding Ornamental Shrubs at Spring Meadow Nursery. Megan Mathey, Ornamental Plant Breeder, Spring Meadow Nursery (Michigan).
11:15 am: Effects of Plant Breeding on Pest Management in Horticultural Cropping Systems. Dr. Raymond Cloyd, Professor and Extension Specialist in Ornamental Entomology and Integrated Pest Management, Department of Entomology, Kansas State University.
12:15 pm: Lunch
1:15 pm: A Walk on the Wild Side: On the Importance of Genetic Diversity in Plant Improvement. Dr. Jim Bradeen, Professor of Plant Pathology, Plant Breeder and Associate Vice President, Colorado State University Spur Strategy.
2:15 pm: Break
2:30 pm: Establishment of Cultivar Development Programs at the Ventura Botanical Gardens. Dr. Joseph Cahill, Botanist and Executive Director, Ventura Botanical Gardens (California).
3:30-4:15 pm: Aren’t There Enough Echinacea and Daylilies Yet? Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator and Director of Outreach, Denver Botanic Gardens.
4:20-5:20 pm: Waterwise Garden Tour (OPTIONAL) at Denver Botanic Gardens. Dan Johnson, Curator of Native Plants and Associate Director of Horticulture, Denver Botanic Gardens.
5:30-7:30 pm: Dinner
Wednesday, October 25
8:00-9:00 am: Steppe Garden Tour (OPTIONAL) at Denver Botanic Gardens. Mike Bone, Curator of Steppe Collections, Denver Botanic Gardens.
9:10 am: Welcome. Ross Shrigley, Executive Director, Plant Select.
9:15 am: Plant Breeding for International Markets and International Branding Partnerships. Dr. Veronica Bugallo, Researcher, Floriculture Institute of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) and Professor, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
10:00 am: Genetic Improvement with Advanced Breeding Tools. Dr. Heqiang “Alfred” Huo, Assistant Professor of Ornamental Plant Breeding, Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of Florida.
11:00 am: Break
11:15 am: New and Appropriate Plants for a Sense of Place in the Dry West. Sean Hogan, Owner, Cistus Nursery (Oregon).
12:15 pm: Lunch
1:30 pm: Cultivating Resilient Plants for Dry Urban Climates. Nick Shipley, Co-owner & Chief Operations and Grow Officer, Civano Growers (Arizona).
2:30 pm: Break
2:45 pm: The Process of Developing and Selecting Better Trees. Guy Meacham, New Product Development Manager, J. Frank Schmidt & Son Company (Oregon).
3:45 pm: Wrap-up. Ross Shrigley, Executive Director, Plant Select.
