Conventions 2025 Keynote Speakers, Educational Breakouts and Hands-On Workshops

Keynote Speakers

Come hear from Horticultural and Environmental Leaders!

KEYNOTE SPEAKER! Brent Leech, Vice-President of American Floral Institute of Designers
Sunday, April 27, 2025 [AFGC Convention] Floral Design Demonstration, 10:30am until Noon
Boxed Lunch will be served at Noon.

Mr. Brent Leech is the Senior Floral Education Coordinator at the Arizona Flower Market and former National Board of Director at Large at American Institute of Floral Designers (AFID). Brent currently serves at Vice President of AFID. He stays very active in the local community of floral design and public arts. Come hear about techniques for creating stunning arrangements and tips about stunning designs.

GET MORE! Brent is offering an afternoon workshop for a limited number of participants and auditors. Refer to the convention agenda for more details.

Learn more about Brent Leech on his Facebook page.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER! Kim Gray, Executive Director at Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Monday, April 28, 2025 [PRGC Convention] at the Lunch-n-Learn in Main Ballroom, 12:45pm – 1:45pm
Plated Lunch will be served at Noon.

Conservation In Action at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum!

Kim Gray, a native Arizonian, has cultivated her deep-rooted passion for the natural world through a lifetime spent exploring the diverse landscapes of Arizona. Kim’s professional journey spans over 35 years within the zoological and conservation community, starting as a zookeeper at the Phoenix Zoo and progressing through various managerial roles at zoos and nonprofit organizations in the US. Kim’s commitment to conservation led her to the role of Chief Operating Officer at the International Crane Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving cranes and their ecosystems. Kim’s dedication extends to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, a place that held a special spot in her youth. Her love for gardening finds expression in her role as an avid cultivator of cacti, succulents, and vegetables.

Educational Breakout Sessions and Hands-On Workshops

Come get immersed in conservation and design. You will have fun while learning!

Several sessions are featured every day with some concurrency. There is something here for everyone! If you are not involved in the business meetings, then you can join in an educational breakout. Many of these sessions are included in the cost of registration; if a workshop has an additional fee, then that fee will be noted in its description. At the bottom of this page, you will find a list of suggested things to do on your own in the Tempe area. Take a look!

Educational Breakout: Adapting Seeds for a Warmer Climate & For Peat’s Sake with Susan Stoltz
Find It… Sunday, April 27 at 2:30pm – 3:30pm in the Main Ballroom Room (60 minutes) [AFGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with convention registration.

Susan’s interest is in regenerative gardening which began when she worked at the Phoenix Zoo teaching about ecosystems and wildlife. As an award winning children’s book author her books are sold and distributed internationally teaching about the same. She’s worked on adapting seeds to warmer climates and less water for the past 4 years and has a line of seeds just released with an educational curriculum that focuses on gardening as well as roles in the ecosystem and how they relate to our environment. Susan has been an avid gardener for the past 25 years and earned her Master Gardener Certification from the University of Arizona. She’s currently scheduled to begin the Cornell University Medicinal Plants Program. She’s also well known for eating chocolate cake for breakfast

Hands-On Workshop: Floral Design with Brent Leech, Arizona Flower Market
Find It… Sunday, April 27 at 2:30pm – 3:30pm in the Arizona Room (60 minutes) [AFGC Convention]
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Cost: $35 per person, limited to first 40 registrants
Cost covers all materials and tools.
*After the registration list is full, the waitlisted persons will be eligible for an auditing-only position

Educational Breakout: Making Herbal Teas with LeeAnn Aronson
Find It… Sunday, April 27th at 4:00pm – 5:00pm in Rio Salado Room (60 minutes) [AFGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with AFGC convention registration.

Lee Ann Aronson is a native of Phoenix, Arizona born b.a.c. (before air conditioning) and grew up loving her native Sonoran Desert plants. For fun, she volunteers in the demonstration garden with the Arizona Herb Association (and is their newsletter editor), at Reevis Mountain School in the Superstition wilderness and is a Maricopa County Master Gardener.

Join LeeAnn to explore a few of our useful wild Sonoran desert plants and their significant benefits as tea.

Educational Breakout: 25 Tips to Boost Membership with Robin Pokorski
Find It… Monday, April 28th at 9:30am – 10:30am in Main Ballroom (60 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with PRGC convention registration.

*Followed by an hour of roundtable discussion when every club is invited to share experiences and hear from other clubs.

Robin Pokorski joined Southern California Garden Club in the San Fernando Valley District in 1989. She has served garden club in many roles from club, to district to state to region. Robin is a parliamentarian and member of the National Association of Parliamentarians. Robin enjoys gardening in San Fernando including a thriving veggie garden and more than 75 rose bushes. Now Robin serves as the NGC Membership Chairman and hosts a monthly NGC Membership Monday zoom.

Join Robin to discuss how to grow a thriving garden club!

Hands-On Workshop: Build A Bee & Insect Hotel with Rosemary Wade
Find It… Monday, April 28th, at 10:30am – 11:30am in the Rio Salado Room (60 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Cost: $30 per person
Cost includes all materials and tools.

Very packable! Assembled this bee hotel measures 10.4in by 3.4in by 5.4in so would fit in a large suitcase. Or carry the unassembled kit to build at your home.

A bee/insect hotel supports the natural habitat of the useful creatures in your garden. Wild bees use this hotel as a nesting place in the spring and summer and as refuge in the autumn and winter. The bees pollinate the blossoms of fruit and vegetable plants in the surrounding area and thus, make an important contribution towards a more successful harvest.

Please join the workshop and learn more about these important creatures and their needs while building a hotel.

Hands-On Workshop: “Make and Take” Petite Floral Design Workshop with Mickie and Kathie
Find It… Monday, April 28th at 2:30pm – 5:00pm in Rio Salado Room (2 hours) [PRGC Convention]
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Cost: $30 per person, limited to 40 registrants
Cost includes all materials and tools.

Plan to impress yourself!
This is an opportunity to “MAKE”a container from a recycled item.
Followed by “BASIC TRAINING ” in floral design.
You will leave with a very impressive fresh floral design to “TAKE” with you.

Note that registrants will be divided into 2 workgroups of 20 people each. The first workgroup will begin at 2:30pm. Tentatively, the second workgroup will begin around 4pm following the PR Board meeting. These times will be confirmed with registrants prior to April 1st.

Educational Session: Wild At Art – The Adventures and Art of Dyana Hesson
Find It… Monday, April 28th at 2:30pm – 3:30pm in University Room (60 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with convention registration.

*Followed by time for questions and a book signing for “The Art of Wildflowers”

Botanical artist Dyana Hesson loves a good adventure. “I simply can’t get enough of Arizona; its sun on my face, its dirt under my feet, its colors on my pallet. The Grand Canyon state has been generous with inspiration for my 33 years as an artist, and I’m just getting started. There’s always more to explore around the next bend.” Dyana found her gift of painting in an art class in college. Dyana’s latest book The Art of Wildflowers was recently published by Arizona Highways. She is currently working on a series she calls “Wild Arizona” for the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum which opens in the fall of 2025.

You can see more of her work at Bonner David galleries in Scottsdale, Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe.
Learn more about Dyana Hesson’s art and books on her website.

Educational Breakout: Beginner’s Guide to Harvesting and Saving Seeds with Kim Rosenlof
Find It… Monday, April 28th at 4:15pm – 5:00pm in the Main Ballroom (45 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with PRGC convention registration.

Are you spending more on plants than on shoes? Do the cashiers in the garden department at big box stores know you by name? Do you wish you could grow flowers and vegetables more economically from seed or contribute to your garden club’s seed swap? If so, join Master Gardener Kim Rosenlof for a beginner’s level session on harvesting and saving seeds from various types of flowers, herbs and vegetables. Kim will talk about different types of seeds, tips and tricks for collecting seeds from popular plants, and methods for storing and preserving seeds. She’ll also lead you in a hands-on origami seed packet folding exercise that will enable you to collect seeds “in the wild” as long as you have a square piece of paper.

Line Dancing: Beginner’s Instruction to Basic Group Moves with Fran Dewar
Find It… Monday, April 28th at 7:30pm – 9:00pm in the Main Ballroom (90 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with PRGC convention registration.

Join us on the dance floor after dinner and let’s have fun dancing! Enjoy the creativity, fun and movement. Fran has been teaching many forms of dance over 30 years. She specializes in teaching older adults. Coming from a functional fitness background, she teaches you how to dance with proper movement to help prevent injury, help maintain bone health, develop coordination, works on balance and muscle tone. Fran will be accompanied by several of her regulars to assist us on the dance floor as we change directions (called walls in line dance speak).

Roundtable Discussion: Club Officers Networking
Find It… Tuesday, April 29th at 8:30am – 9:45am in Main Ballroom (75 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with PRGC convention registration.

EVERYONE IS INVITED! Come learn and share about how Executive Officers in Garden Clubs run their organization. Across all 8 states in the Pacific Region Garden Clubs, we have a lot in common and come to support each other. Your past experiences are invaluable to new officers. Hear from others about what works. Ask questions. Bring business cards to handout to all your new friends.

Hand-outs will be available for all clubs about officer positions, parliamentary procedures, membership drives and more.

Hands-On Workshop: Multi-Fruit Grafting Techniques Workshop with Steve Sheard
Find It… Tuesday, April 29th at 8:30am – 9:45am in Rio Salado Room (90 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Cost: $20 per person, limited to 15 registrants
Cost includes all materials and tools.

Steve Sheard will share his 20+ years of experience leading you through the steps of a cleft graft, the most common graft used on fruit trees. You will create a single tomato/potato plant that will produce both tomatoes and potatoes! Everything will be provided including a growing root-stock, scion wood, knives and tape.

Steve Sheard and his family moved to Tempe Arizona in December 1980 and found the valley had the ideal climate to grow many of the fruit trees that he grew up with in Zimbabwe. He started grafting on roses and then branched out into fruit trees. Steve has created a three-flavor lemon tree for his son and has an orange tree that produces a bumper crop of limes. His pomegranate tree has three different types of fruit on it! Steve is a Master Consulting Rosarian with the American Rose Society, a member of the Arizona chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers and a member of Tempe Garden Club.

Educational Breakout: Using Color Theory in Design with Sue Mogan
Find It… Tuesday, April 29th at 2:30pm – 3:30pm in the University Room (90 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with PRGC convention registration.

Sue Mogan served as the president of the Tempe Garden Club from 2020 to 2024 and earned her Master Gardener certificate in 2023. She is also a graduate of Northern Illinois University (NIU), where she earned a degree in graphic design with a focus on color theory. Born in Illinois, Sue has lived in several states, including Alaska, and has settled in Arizona. Her love for gardening has been a constant throughout her life. She has grown flowers and vegetables in every state she has called home, a testament to her passion for cultivating beauty and sustainability. Even after stepping down as president, she remains an active member of the Tempe Garden Club’s board and continues to nurture her love of gardening in her personal garden plot.

Educational Breakout: Low Water Use Gardening with Liz Lonetti
Find It… Tuesday, April 29th at 2:30pm – 3:30pm in Main Ballroom (60 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with PRGC convention registration.

Learn the pros and cons of the most commonly used low water gardening techniques from high-tech to low-tech. Liz Lonetti shares her experience adapting these techniques for sustainably growing vegetables in the desert.

Liz Lonetti is a champion of sustainable, low-water gardening in the desert Southwest. As the outgoing president of the Arizona Herb Association, she has spent over a decade educating and inspiring gardeners to embrace eco-friendly practices, including the use of native plants and innovative irrigation techniques like ollas and wicking beds. With a background in construction and urban planning, Liz combines practical experience with a passion for fostering vibrant, resilient landscapes.

Educational Breakout: Learn About Date-Palm Harvesting and Palm Pollination with Deborah Thirkhill
Find It… Tuesday, April 29th at 3:45 pm – 4:45 pm in Rio Salado Room (45 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
Included at no additional cost with PRGC convention registration.

The Arboretum at Arizona State University has the largest date palm collection of any public garden in the country. Its date-palm collection is comprised of more than 50 varieties, including more common varieties such as Medjool, Black Sphinx, Khadrawy, Zahidi, Honey and Halaway, and a number of rare varieties such as Peggy Ann, Deglet Beida, Bentamoda and Taj. Read more about the ASU cultivar list here.

Hands-On Workshop: Build A Bee & Insect Hotel with Rosemary Wade
Find It… Tuesday, April 29th, at 3:45pm – 4:45pm in the University Room (60 minutes) [PRGC Convention]
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED! Cost: $30 per person
Cost includes all materials and tools.

Very packable! Assembled this bee hotel measures 10.4in by 3.4in by 5.4in so would fit in a large suitcase. Or carry the unassembled kit to build at your home.

Please join the workshop and learn more about these important creatures and their needs while building a hotel.

Have more free time? Here is a list of things to do on your own.