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Profile

Tony Spencer is the Canadian writer, digital creator and planting designer known as The New Perennialist. He is recognized and published internationally in the world of naturalistic garden design. Known for his award-winning blog, he also hosts The New Perennialist Talks, a webinar series featuring influential design innovators in the genre.

In 2020, he won a top Landscape Design Honor Award from the US-based Perennial Plant Association (PPA) and in 2023, he was named PPA Garden Media Promoter of the year. Day to day, Tony is a puckish ringleader for the naturalistic movement on social media with over 75k followers on his various channels. He travels extensively to gardens and symposiums in his primary role as a communicator, documenter and sharer of ideas for this movement.

That’s the official stuff. On a personal note, I encourage you to freely explore my blog – now over ten-years old and loaded with useful and inspiring free content. Start by searching the archives or select a Talk to more deeply explore this most sublime form of new garden expression – attuned to the greater rhythms of all forms of life.

Follow The New Perennialist on Instagram or the Facebook group Dutch Dreams for my most current content.

The New Perennialist: Talks & Presentations 2024

My latest presentations on the themes of Wildscaping and naturalistic design have earned serious kudos and rave reviews from all over the garden universe. I aim to create a visual story experience that is nearly as special as the gardens themselves. I’ve delivered both live and virtual talks to horticultural clubs, symposia, and conferences for international audiences ranging from landscape professionals to everyday home gardeners.

I’m now booking both live and virtual gigs for 2024 with engagements already scheduled for the US, Italy, and here in Canada. Please email for details about my topics, speaker fees, expectations and avails.

Upcoming engagements:

Recent highlights: International Talks

  • Garden Masterclass: Thursday Chat with Nöel Kingsbury and Annie Guilfoyle, UK
  • Guest Seminar: University of Gloucestershire  –Department of Landscape Architecture, UK
  • Guest Seminar: University of Florence Department of Landscape Architecture, Florence, Italy
  • Webinar: Translating the New Perennial Pond Garden, Hokkaido, Japan

USA

  • Keynote: 2024 Native Plant & Sustainability Conference, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Keynote: 2023 Impact Conference – Illinois Landscape Contractors Association, Chicago, Illinois
  • Keynote: 2023 Planting like Nature: Detroit Michigan
  • Northern Green Expo, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Winter Symposium: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, Virginia
  • Bellevue Botanical Garden, Bellevue, Washington
  • Greater Rochester Perennial Society, New York State
  • Michigan Garden Club, Michigan

Canada

  • 2023 Perennial Plant Association Conference, Niagara Falls
  • OALA (Ontario Association of Landscape Architects), Toronto, Ontario
  • Victoria Horticultural Society Reading Weekend, British Columbia
  • The 2022 Planting Symposium: Landscape Ontario
  • Landscape Alberta Green Industry Show & Conference
  • Alberta Horticultural Association
  • Ontario Horticultural Association (various local groups and chapters)
  • Canada Blooms, Toronto, Ontario
  • Toronto Botanical Garden: presentations and teaching workshops
  • The Garden Clubs of Montreal, Westmount and Dorval in Québec

Home Garden Tours and Open Days 2024

I receive many requests to visit my gardens here at the log house on Elder Hill  and  experience this kind of wilder-designed garden for themselves.

Please contact me to ask about scheduling a garden group visit in 2024. Or stay tuned to my Instagram account for alerts about occasional small guided tours for garden friends and followers throughout the season.

I also selectively take on professional planting design projects for people keen to create something creative, deep and different in their own private garden worlds.