Grasses are an integral component of naturalistic plantings, the garden style popularized by New York City’s High Line and the “Dutch Wave.” But with names like Schizachyrium, Spodiopogon, and Hakonechloa, they can be bewildering to even experienced gardeners. Join plantsman Robert Clyde Anderson on Saturday, June 7, from 1 to 4 p.m., for an overview of the most useful and beautiful species and cultivars for our climate, with an emphasis on their ecological value, distinguishing characteristics, and design possibilities. This three-hour session will include an illustrated lecture, handouts, and an on-site walkabout on the BBG grounds, as well as time for questions and shared experiences.

Robert Clyde Anderson is a garden designer, consultant and writer who found his way to the Hudson Valley after a New York City career in illustration and book design. A native of Louisiana and a lifelong gardener, he has designed and maintained gardens in Columbia County as well as working in area nurseries, most recently at Pondside Nursery in Hudson for five years and before that, at Loomis Creek Nursery in Claverack for eight years. Robert makes his home in Stuyvesant, where he maintains a two-acre "laboratory" garden that includes shrub borders, a sunny, terraced xeric garden, a shady, wooded streamside area, a moist meadow planting, a kitchen garden, and a small flock of chickens.