MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University’s 56th annual Edward C. Martin Design Symposium on Oct. 19 will focus on how landscapes can best fit their environment.

The symposium will be held in the Bost Center on MSU’s main campus in Starkville from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. The cost for preregistration is $20 by Oct. 14 and $25 the day of the event. A downloadable brochure is available at http://www.lalc.msstate.edu. Under “Coming Events,” click on the “Edward C. Martin Design Symposium” link. The event is sponsored by MSU’s Department of Landscape Architecture and the Garden Clubs of Mississippi Inc.

The first presentation, “Landscapes in a Different Light” by Robert Brzuszek of the MSU Department of Landscape Architecture, begins at 9:15 a.m. Brzuszek will present photos of Mississippi gardens and discuss how the images best reflect the places in which people live.

At 9:45 a.m., Timothy Schauwecker, associate professor in the landscape architecture department and co-editor of Blackland Prairies of the Gulf Coastal Plain, will present projects that weave ecology and plants into gardens to reflect local landscapes.

This year’s featured speaker, Carol Franklin, a founding principal of Andropogon Associates in Philadelphia, Pa., will present “The Spirit of Place” at 11:00 a.m. Franklin is an internationally-known landscape architect with more than 40 years of experience in designing nationally award-winning gardens. She has lectured around the world about American traditions in art, landscape and architecture. In her presentation, she will provide examples of sustainable landscapes.

Contact Debbie Whitfield at (662) 325-4554 or dww12@lalc.msstate.edu for more information.

Writer: Karen Templeton