Horticulturist, former director at Des Moines Botanical Gardens to speak at Cedar Rapids Garden Club fundraiser June 22

Award-winning horticulturist, author Kelly Norris of Iowa will be the guest speaker at the Cedar Rapids Garden Club’s fundraiser June 22 at the Monarch Research’s events center.

Norris’ latest book, “New Naturalism: Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden,” focuses on the intersection between horticulture and ecology.

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As he does in his book, Norris will encourage attendees to “plant the world a more beautiful, functional place,” according to the news release.

“My goal is to inspire you to achieve something beautiful and functional. Gardens can be both reservoirs of ecological goodness, even merely interventions with the wild, and beautiful works of art.

“We need millions of people planting differently for a planetary purpose, even if that’s one thoughtful decision at a time.”

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Norris’ message resonates with the plant native theme championed by both Cedar Rapids Garden Club and the Des Moines Founders Garden Club, “Native plants are essential for healthy, diverse, and sustainable ecosystems and are critical for cleaning air, filtering water, and stabilizing soils,” according to a news release.

Naturalistic gardens increase biodiversity, provide refuge for wildlife and are an essential keystone for reconnecting the human world to the natural one.

“Bringing attention to the importance of native plants remains a key message for our club. We are excited to hear Kelly share how he puts this concept into practice in his own Iowa home and other landscape installations,” said Kathy Smith, present of the Cedar Rapids Garden Club.

Norris has written three additional books, “Iowa Gardener’s Travel Guide” (2008),“ A Guide to Bearded Irises: Cultivating the Rainbow for Beginners and Enthusiasts” (2012; winner of the 2013 American Horticultural Society Book Award), and “Plants With Style” (2015).

His garden designs and installations have been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, Fine Gardening and Garden Design. Norris also presents plants for sale on QVC’s Cottage Farms Direct and lectures widely to personal gardeners and industry professionals.

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For eight years, Norris served as director of horticulture and education at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in horticulture from Iowa State University.

He has earned recognition from a variety of organizations, including three awards from Iowa State Horticultural Society (2009-2011) for his service and contributions to horticulture in Iowa; early career and young professional awards from the Perennial Plant Association (2011), GardenComm (2018) and the American Horticultural Society (2018); a Zone Horticulture Commendation from the Garden Club of America (2018); the Iowa Author Award for Special Interest Writing (2013), the youngest Iowan to be recognized in the history of the awards program; and a fellowship from the Chanticleer Foundation (2015) for his curatorial and plant exploration work at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden.

All proceeds from the Juen 22 fundraiser will support the Garden’s Club current and future civic projects. In the last 10 years, the Garden Club has invested more than $250,000 in community efforts. In the past two years, the club has supported:

The Cedar Rapids Garden Club was founded in 1927 and is an affiliate of the Garden Club of America, which has 200 clubs and 18,000 members in 40 states. CRGC has 40 active and 19 legacy members and a twofold mission: first, to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening for both members and the public, and second, to restore, improve and protect the quality of the environment.

Tickets are $150 at. Before and after the dinner, Norris will sign his books, which will be available for purchase.