From Sept. 23 to 25, participants will explore innovative approaches to designing and operating conservatories and greenhouses and exchange ideas about reimagining public garden spaces. One of the key conversations, he says, will be about how to enhance the garden landscape and elevate the horticultural experience for visitors. Famed for its gorgeous traditional displays that include the Himalayan blue poppy, the gardens are also the site of the International Garden Festival, the largest contemporary garden festival in North America. Reford, director of the International Garden Festival, will present on the topic Dialogue and Disruption — When a Public Garden Embraces Contemporary Landscapes. “Cormier believed that gardens should be more provocative, more imaginative and colourful, and indeed made from something other than just plants.”The Blue Stick Garden, created by Cormier for the inaugural edition of the International Garden Festival, was a conceptual garden that was a pixellated metamorphosis of the Himalayan blue poppy.