Free Spring Lecture: ‘Horticultural Futurism,’ featuring Thomas Rainer, a leading voice in ecological landscape design

Landscape architect Thomas Rainer, a leading authority in ecological landscape design, will deliver PMG’s 2025 Spring Lecture, “Horticultural Futurism: Designing a Plant-Centric Future.” The 6:30 p.m. lecture will be preceded by a public open house beginning at 5:30 p.m. in The Center at Belvedere’s Rose and Pollinator Demonstration Gardens.

As climate change and mass extinctions reshape our environment, traditional horticulture falls short—too carbon-intensive, too resource-heavy, too high-maintenance, according to Rainer. In this visionary session, you will discover how to create thriving plant systems that mimic nature’s aesthetics and resilience, transforming wild inspirations into sophisticated, biodiverse landscapes.

Rainer is a principal of the Arlington-based firm Phyto Studio and has produced signature designs at landmark locations such as the U.S. Capitol grounds, Toronto Botanical Garden, and The New York Botanical Garden. He also has designed more than 125 residential gardens stretching from Maine to Florida, merging ecology with horticulture to create dynamic, high-impact landscapes.

With his colleague Claudia West he co-authored Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes, published by Timber Press. It lays out design principles that combine both the wild and the cultivated to create resilient plant communities that will thrive and provide vital ecological services in urban and suburban environments.

Drawing on his firm’s cutting-edge public and botanical garden projects, Rainer will redefine for us how we design, install, and sustain plant systems.

To register for this free program, visit https://thecentercville.org/calendar/rsvp/136614.