<table height="396" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;text-align:start"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" style="margin:0px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;font-size:18pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,128,0);font-size:22pt"><b><span style="font-family:'book Antiqua',Palatino">Rhody Native</span><span style="font-family:'book Antiqua',Palatino"> Propagation Workshop Series </span></b></span><span style="font-family:'book Antiqua',Palatino;font-size:11pt"><b><span style="color:rgb(0,128,0)"> </span>  </b></span><span align="center" style="font-size:18pt"><b>  </b></span> <span style="font-size:11pt"><br>
<br><p align="left" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt">This workshop series is offered free of charge to nursery and green industry professionals by the University of Rhode Island, in cooperation with the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association and the Rhode Island Natural History Survey through a Northeast SARE grant. These workshops showcase a collection of industry best practices, and are intended for nurseries and garden centers interested in diversifying to natives or training employees in native plant propagation, design and marketing.  Growers that attend all workshops will be eligible for seed donations through the Rhody Native Initiative.</p>
<p align="left" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt"> </p><p align="left" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt">
<strong><em>Pre-registration is required as space is limited. Preference will be given to growers and green industry professional. Call <a href="tel:%28401%29%20874-2900" value="+14018742900" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">(401) 874-2900</a> or e-mail<a href="mailto:outreach@uri.edu" shape="rect" target="_blank" style="color:blue">outreach@uri.edu</a> to register.</em></strong></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt"><em> </em></p><p align="left" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt">
<em>Questions? Contact Vanessa Venturini at <a href="tel:%28401%29%20874-7142" value="+14018747142" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">(401) 874-7142</a> or <a href="mailto:vanessa@uri.edu" shape="rect" target="_blank" style="color:blue">vanessa@uri.edu</a></em></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt"><em> </em></p><p align="left" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt">
<em>For more info visit the URI Outreach Center website <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001fuBfgbtICdrkzIBvx3z4xLPnfzbCejusNmBAajCCYP2PP1zQrThAd0nAnOBv6cfSxP4R0CAsbrPl66Dn8hA3AYEG5Vgy7tDa1yNOfOCtTHT4_k7DWq0_tA==" shape="rect" target="_blank" style="color:blue">www.uri.edu/cels/ceoc</a></em></p>
</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><a name="139d489b4ea0a5bc_LETTER.BLOCK3" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"></a><table height="255" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;text-align:start">
<tbody><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" style="margin:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><div align="left" style="font-family:'book antiqua',palatino;color:rgb(0,128,0);font-size:16pt"><b>Workshop 1: Designing with Natives </b></div>
<img name="139d489b4ea0a5bc_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.689" width="-4" vspace="5" border="0" alt="stone design-catherine weaver" align="right" height="-5" hspace="5" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0); font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 21px; "><div align="left" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">
<span style="color:rgb(0,128,0);font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt">Open to the Public</span></div><div align="left" style="font-family:'book antiqua',palatino;color:rgb(0,128,0);font-size:16pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,Palatino"> </span></div>
<div align="left" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:'book antiqua',palatino;color:rgb(0,128,0);font-size:21px"><div style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Thursday, October 18th 6-8pm </div><div style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Location: URI Kingston Campus CBLS Auditorium</div><div style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Speakers: Karen Beck, Commonwealth Engineers & Consultants Inc.;</div><div style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Catherine Weaver, Tupelo Gardenworks; Vanessa Venturini, URI</div><div style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Designing with natives for residential, municipal and habitat restoration projects.</div></span></div><div align="left" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:'book antiqua',palatino;color:rgb(0,128,0);font-size:21px"><b> </b></span></div>
<div align="left" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:'book antiqua',palatino;color:rgb(0,128,0);font-size:21px"><b>Workshop 2: Field ID and Seed Collection </b></span></div>
<br><div style="font-size:12pt"><span size="3" face="Georgia, Palatino" style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino">Saturday, October 20th 9am-12pm & 1pm-4pm</span><br></div><div align="left"><div align="right" style="text-align:right;font-size:12pt">
<div align="justify" style="text-align:justify;font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,Palatino">Location: TBD</div><img height="234" vspace="5" border="0" name="139d489b4ea0a5bc_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.685" hspace="5" width="175" align="right" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(0, 25, 128); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><div align="justify" style="text-align:justify;font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,Palatino">
<span style="font-size:12pt">Speaker: Hope Leeson, RI Natural History Survey </span></div><div align="justify" style="text-align:justify;font-size:12pt;font-family:Georgia,Palatino">Native plant and field identification and seed collection </div>
<p style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px"> </p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px"> </p><p align="left" style="text-align:left;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;color:rgb(0,25,128);font-size:16pt;font-family:Georgia,Palatino">
<strong style="font-size:16pt;color:rgb(0,128,0);font-family:'book antiqua',palatino">Workshop 3: Propagation Methods</strong></p><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"> </p><p align="left" style="text-align:left;font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">
Wednesday, October 24th 4:30-7pm</p><p align="left" style="text-align:left;font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">Location: Clark Farms, Matunuck, RI</p><p align="left" style="text-align:left;font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">
Speakers: Nick Castrataro, URI; Hope Leeson, RIHNS;</p><p align="left" style="text-align:left;font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">Dr. Brian Maynard, URI; Thomasina Taylor, Blue Moon </p>
<p align="left" style="text-align:left;font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">Farm Perennials; Peter Van Berkum, Van Berkum Nursery</p><div align="left" style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt;text-align:left">
Hands-on methodologies including seed cleaning, and stratification,</div></div><div align="left" style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino;font-size:12pt"><span style="font-size:12pt">stem cutting, growing mediums and practices.</span></div>
<div align="left"><br></div><div><img name="139d489b4ea0a5bc_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.690" width="181" vspace="5" border="0" alt="propagation pic " align="right" height="217" hspace="5" style="border: 1px dashed black; "></div><div>
<br><p align="left" style="margin-top:0px;font-family:'book antiqua',palatino;margin-bottom:0px;color:rgb(0,25,128);font-size:16pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,128,0)"><strong>Workshop 4: Marketing Native Plants</strong></span></p>
<p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px"><span color="#008000" style="color:rgb(0,128,0)">Open to the public</span></p><p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">
<span color="#008000" style="color:rgb(0,128,0)"> </span></p><p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">Thursday, November 8th 6-8pm</p><p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">
Location: CBLS Auditorium, URI Kingston Campus</p><div style="font-family:Georgia,Palatino"><span style="font-size:12pt">Speakers: Billie Best, Project Native; Steve Castorani, </span></div><p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">
North Creek Nurseries, Inc. and American Beauties Native Plants; </p><p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">Ken Ayars, RIDEM Division of Agriculture</p><p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">
Native plant marketing and point of sales display </p><p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">for nurseries and garden centers. Discussion of opportunities </p>
<p align="left" style="font-size:12pt;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Georgia,Palatino;margin-top:0px">and resources for growers.</p></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Vanessa Venturini<br>
<br>Environmental Education Coordinator<br>URI Learning Landscape Program <br><br>URI Outreach Center<br>Kathleen M. Mallon Building<br>3 East Alumni Ave.<br>Kingston, RI 02881<br>(401) 874-7142 (tel); (401) 874-2259 (fax)<br>
<a href="http://www.uri.edu/cels/ceoc/" target="_blank">www.uri.edu/cels/ceoc/</a><br>