Designing with Native Plants

This survey plant identification class covers horticulturally significant North American native plants that thrive in the Berkshires and surrounding tri-state region. Both herbaceous and woody plants will be covered, with special focus on plant communities and garden worthy, low maintenance plants that work well in the managed landscape. Information on cultural requirements, maintenance, plant combinations and associations will form the framework of this course.

Drew Monthie has operated Ecologic Consulting LLC, specializing in plant-driven design and consultation since 1998. He is based in the Shirt Factory building in Glens Falls, NY. He has been growing plants since the age of 4 and was influenced by his parents and grandparents who always had vegetable and perennial gardens. He worked in nurseries during high school and attended the BOCES horticulture program. After high school, he attended SUNY Cobleskill school where he earned an A.A.S. in Plant Science. After owning and operating a nursery/landscape business for about a decade, he returned to college to earn his B.S. in Ecology and then an M.A. in Ethnobotany. He has been teaching and designing courses as a Professor in the Natural Sciences for SUNY Empire State College for the last decade in the study of horticulture, botany, ethnobotany and ecology. He is also a photographer, and you can find some of his photographic work on his other website: StarflowerStudioNY.com.