Shrouded In Light: Naturalistic Planting Inspired by Wild Shrublands

Name: Shrouded In Light: Naturalistic Planting Inspired by Wild Shrublands
Start: 2026-02-12T10:00:00-07:00
End: 2026-02-12T12:30:00-07:00
Location: 725 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505-7516, United States

Schedule

Thu Feb 12 2026 at 10:00 am to 12:30 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

725 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505-7516, United States | Santa Fe, NM

Advance Registration Recommended
Join us as guest speakers Kevin Philip Williams and Michael Guidi of the Denver Botanic Gardens and authors of Shrouded in Light: Naturalistic Planting Inspired by Wild Shrublands (Filbert Press, 2024) as they invite you to work, live and play with shrubs. They will guide the session to explore a glorious spectrum of wild shrublands, and discover the philosophies and design strategies behind translating these magnificent plant communities into your home garden.
Shrublands exist all around us, thriving in almost any environmental condition, from the desiccating sunshine of the endless sagebrush steppe to the deep, private shade of moist forests. These diverse and inspiring ecosystems serve as perfect models for our gardens. Beyond their inherent beauty, they provide nurturing habitats, demonstrate resilience in the face of a changing climate, and offer a challenge to conventional garden-making through their intense aesthetics and obscured intentions.
Date: Thursday February 12th
Time: 10:00am – 12:30pm
Location: Udall Conference Room, 725 Camino Lejo Santa Fe 87505 (Second floor)
Cost:
Member $28
No-Yet-Member $35

10:00am -11:15am: Presentation by Kevin and Michael (Udall, second floor)
11:15am – 11:30am: Everyone will walk or drive to the Garden (From Udall to main Garden entrance)
11:30am – 12:30pm: Kevin and Michael will lead a guided walk through the Botanical Garden. (715 Camino Lejo)

About the presenters:
Kevin Philip Williams is a naturalistic gardener who collaborates with active and passive materials to create dynamic and challenging worlds. His unique style combines bioregional plant palettes, a hardcore punk ethos, and post-human aesthetics to craft wild and captivating spaces. Kevin’s extensive work with Denver Botanic Gardens has led to the creation of celebrated public gardens throughout the city. Kevin was a Gardener on The High Line in Manhattan and studied as a Horticulture Intern at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He holds a MS degree in Public Horticulture from the Longwood Graduate Program at the University of Delaware and a BA degree in The History and Philosophy of Science from Bard College.

Michael Guidi is an ecologist and horticulture researcher who is passionate about naturalistic plantings that embody the flexibility and resiliency of wild systems. His work draws inspiration from liminal urban spaces and wild areas alike. Preferring common and weedy plants to the rare and precious, Michael is a proponent of dynamic, self-sustaining gardens and green infrastructure as alternatives to static high-maintenance landscaping. His research links ecological theory with horticultural techniques and designs to broaden the definition of gardens and gardening. Michael worked as a field biologist before joining the Denver Botanic Gardens horticulture department. He holds a MS degree in Ecology from the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University and a BS degree in Biology from Ithaca College.