I enjoy Bryce Lane whenever he speaks at the local arboretum. Very funny and enthusiastic about gardening. In fact I would say that he is my favorite speaker. I have no contact info but he should be contact-able through NC State.

Last year the local Arb (JC Raulston Arboretum) had this man do a presentation about a famous plant explorer. He did the whole thing dressed as the man with old props and a slide show. It wasn't super hollywood slick but I was charmed by the way it came together. I wish someone would write a one woman play about Elizabeth Lawrence and peform it at public gardens. Anyway, I can't remember the guys name, the explorers name, the programs name (lot of help I am!) but I believe he was associated with either the bot garden in Charlotte or a university in Charlotte.

Most of the other public speakers I've seen were not that impressive.

The "period piece" you are referring to is about Michaux and is done by Charlie Williams, who is a research librarian in Charlotte. He also did one a few years ago about the Bartrams, and I liked that one even more. I have tried to get him to do Bartrams again, but so far, no luck. I even went out to the Bartram homeplace in Phillie shortly after I heard his talk. It inspired me to go there!

B. Lane does quite a bit with MG, so I also know him,too...am trying to find some new names to explore. I do appreciate your input and hope others will have some opinions. Sometimes when you live in one area you are not aware of the talent and knowledge in surrounding areas. It also helps me to hear other opinions since I sometimes get so focused on native plants that I fail to think about people who are expert in other areas. Thanks again for posting.

Another tactic you might consider is to contact the hort dept at any major university and see if any of the grad students or faculty would come and do a presentation on the research they are conducting (that applies to the home garden). All of them have to present papers at conferences and give seminars in their departments so any practice with public speaking would help them improve and some of the research is pretty interesting.