Gardens & Tonic: A Collector’s Garden: When Gardening Becomes An Obsession

Gardeners tend to be natural collectors. Success and intrigue with a new plant makes us want more of the similar or something completely different.

Join horticulturist Riz Reyes, for a brief history of plant exploration and learn about the different types of collectors and their specialties. As a Pacific Northwest gardener, he will share some examples of so-called “collector’s plants” in his region and introduce you to a few growers you might recognize!

Gardens & Tonic is a series of virtual presentations about plant-related topics, including adventures, art, and garden design. Join us to explore the world of plants from a new perspective. NEW THIS YEAR: Participants will receive a curated recipe for a botanical beverage to make and enjoy during each presentation.

Presentations are generally 30 to 45 minutes with time at the end for questions and answers.

Registration is free, but required to receive the beverage recipes and Zoom webinar and recording links.

Register Now

Program Details

• Registration is free, but required to receive the Zoom webinar and recording links.
• The webinar link will be included in the confirmation email received after registering online.
• This webinar will be recorded and available for 2 weeks after the presentation.
• Recording link will be provided 2 days after the webinar.
• Participants must download Zoom.
• Email us if you have accessibility needs for this program.
• For more information, review our program and event policies or call the Scott Arboretum office at 610-328-8025. 

Help keep these virtual programs free! If you would like to help fund the Gardens & Tonic series, we invite you to donate online or with a check for your desired amount to: the Associates of the Scott Arboretum with a note on the memo line “For G&T series.” Thank you!

About the Presenter 

Riz Reyes is a Filipino-American horticulturist based in the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised in the Philippines, he was exposed to plants, fruits and flowers from an early age and learned to garden when his family moved to the United States in 1989 when he was seven years old. Riz grew up to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Horticulture and Urban Forestry from the University of Washington where he also worked as a horticulturist at the UW Botanic Garden’s Center for Urban Horticulture.

In 2019, he was awarded the “Emerging Horticultural Professional Award” from the American Horticultural Society. In March 2022, Riz became a published author for his first children’s book titled “Grow”, a children’s non-fiction picture book illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows, highlighting “heroic plants that we can all grow and maybe even look up to”. Riz currently works as the Assistant Director of Heronswood Garden in Kingston, WA and continues to run his own horticultural enterprise called RHR Horticulture where he continues to lecture, consult and take on side projects as a floral design enthusiast.