Botanists, horticulturists and gardening enthusiasts who love the Salvia genus are invited to Salvia Summit III – a global conference taking place from Friday, October 7, to Sunday October 9, 2016 in Berkeley, California. Lectures will be held at the Environmental Education Center of Tilden Regional Park, which is on the Berkeley boundary of the 2,079-acre park. 

The event will include lectures and tours at Northern California gardens such as the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Tilden's Regional Parks Botanic Garden and the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

Speakers from Argentina, Australia, Germany, Greece, the U.K. and the U.S. will offer presentations on a broad range of topics related to the 900-plus species of Salvias growing worldwide. They include:

• Kermit Carter, CEO and Salvia specialist, Flowers by the Sea Farm and Online Nursery
• Eleftherios Dariotis (also known as Liberto Dario), agriculturist and botanist for the Municipality of Papagos-Xolargos, Greece
• Brian Drew, Salvia phylogeny expert and assistant professor in the biology department of the University of Nebraska, Kearney
• Frank Fischer, owner of Frank’s Salvias, a plant nursery in Freiburg, Germany
• Jesus Guadelupe González-Gallegos, plant explorer and Salvia expert, Mexico
• Don Mahoney, curator emeritus, San Francisco Botanical Garden
• Bart O’Brien, manager, Regional Parks Botanic Garden, East Bay Regional Park District, California
• India Pinnock, horticulturist and Salvia manager, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, U.K.
• Sue Templeton, Salvia specialist, Australia, and
• John Whittlesey, landscaper and author of The Plant Lover’s Guide to Salvias, Northern California.

Tilden Park, which is more than 80 years old, is part of the East Bay Regional Park District. Its Regional Parks Botanic Garden is a preserve of California native plants that Salvia Summit participant Bart O’Brien oversees.

Other Tilden Park attractions include more than 39 miles of hiking trails, a merry-go-round, train rides and the Ardenwood Historic Farm.

Cultivation of hundreds of species of Salvia is a major aspect of the horticulture program at Cabrillo College on California’s central coast. In 2008, it hosted the first Salvia Summit in Aptos. Salvia Summit II occurred in 2013 in Southern California at Pasadena’s Huntington Botanical Garden.

More information and registration for Salvia Summit III is available through Seedhunt.com. Space is limited for the Friday evening dinner, so early registration is encouraged. The conference is a not-for-profit event.

Photo Credits: Tilden Park Clouds, Angelo DeSantis, Wikimedia Commons, [CC by 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]; Eucalyptus at Tilden Park, Wikiwatcher1 [CC by-SA w3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]