November 2026

Nov. 1
Sunday
2:00 PM
2026

Delaware Valley Rhododendron Society Meeting, at Tyler Arboretum, 515 Painter Rd, Media, PA.

Will Ryan, Tyler Arboretum’s Director of Horticulture and Land Stewardship.

Location: Tyler Arboretum, 515 Painter Rd, Media, PA, in the Edible Garden Building.

Will Ryan, Tyler Arboretum's Director of Horticulture and Land Stewardship. Will came to Tyler two years ago with 25 years of experience in horticulture, plant ecology, natural areas management, and ecological restoration. He is widely regarded as an expert field botanist, in addition to being a well-rounded natural scientist.

Whether designing woodland, meadow, and wetland habitats; designing living collections, arboreta, and nurseries; or overseeing large-scale conservation initiatives and biological inventories, Will makes his passion for plants and the natural world shine. We have no doubt that Will’s experiences with academic institutions, environmental non-profits, and conservation landowners will herald a new and exciting future for Tyler!

On top of that, Will completed his Ph.D. under the guidance of Dr. Doug Tallamy and Tyler’s own Board member Dr. Roger Latham, with a focus on adaptive management strategies for globally rare serpentine barrens – like our own Pink Hill.

Nov. 15
Sunday
2026

Delaware Valley Rhododendron Society Banquet, St. Davids Golf Club, 845 Radnor Street Rd, Wayne, PA 19087. Cocktails and conviviality begin at noon, with a buffet luncheon beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Speaker:
  Ethan Kauffman, Director of Stoneleigh

Program:
    "The Diversity of Native Plants"

With a 150-year history as a private estate, Stoneleigh: a natural garden became one of the newest public gardens in the Philadelphia region in 2018. Informed by the growing understanding of the connectedness of all living things, a vision arose during the transition: to reimagine a historical landscape as an ecologically vibrant wonderland of native plants. Now 10 years into the transition, hundreds of varieties of new native plants are thriving in places once dominated by English ivy and pachysandra. Taking inspiration from the natural world, the garden amplifies the connection between cultivated landscapes and the wild plants around us.

Ethan Kauffman is the first director of Stoneleigh: a natural garden, where he has led the transition from a private estate to a public garden over the last 10 years. He developed his love of the natural world growing up in southeastern PA and cultivated his horticultural perspective over two decades of gardening in the South, including as director of Moore Farms Botanical Garden. Drawing on influences from both regions, he enjoys creating an experience at Stoneleigh that inspires others to garden for beauty, joy, and the health of our planet.

There will be no plant exchange at the banquet. That will be rescheduled.

You can download the invitation & registration form at: