Speaker bios:

• Philippe Gallandat 

  • Philippe Gallandat was born and schooled in Switzerland. He grew up in horticultural surroundings and attended Agricultural and Horticultural school, specializing in Landscape Architecture. He owns Swiss Gardens, a landscape design and horticulture consulting firm. Philippe has appeared on local television and radio and he lectures to various garden clubs and trade shows. He is a regular speaker at the Minnesota State Fair “Dirt Stage”. He has received several awards, notably the St Paul 2006 Golden Bloom Award for Art in the Garden and in 2011 the Minnesota State Horticulture Society has given him the Joseph Priley Award for Excellence in Community Beautification for the Kathleen Corrigan Memorial Garden at the Red Pine Elementary school of Eagan.

• Peter Henry 

  • Peter Henry has been a life-long advocate for sustaining ecological health through local food, gardening and farming systems. An educator in secondary and post-secondary institutions for over 20 years, Mr. Henry became a late-in-life farmer/rancher over the last decades, transitioning six farms in Polk County, Wisconsin to organic food production. In 2019, Mr. Henry purchased Dragonfly Gardens near Amery and has intensified his focus on Native plants, perennial agriculture, soil health and local food systems. Co-founder of the Farm Table Foundation in 2014, Mr. Henry’s latest endeavors have included nutrient dense hay production at Magic Oaks, his 140-acre ranch, and the opening of Bloom Micro Cafe, a local food outlet adjacent to Dragonfly Gardens. Dragonfly has become a regional leader in Native plant production, growing many dozens of species from seed and developing large Native demonstration gardens where visitors can self educate and purchase habitat specific, curated flats. He continues to grow, plant and manage Native plantings and orchards at Magic Oaks and Dragonfly, learning how best to achieve abundance that furthers habitat health and resilience in an era of climate instability. He lives at Magic Oaks with his wife and business partner Alison, where they continue raising three children, their dogs, cats and chickens, building soil health and resilience, educating the public, supporting local food systems and providing high quality plant and forage for local markets. He is the author of Becoming Mr. Henry (2005), a book about public education in an era of standardized education, a recipient of an Honorarium from his alma mater Carleton College, and a winner of the English Prize from Minnesota’s English Journal.

• Gail Hudson

  • Gail Hudson is a multiple Emmy® award- winning journalist: a writer, photographer and video producer with a Master’s degree in Horticulture from the University of Minnesota. She writes and photographs gardens for Northern Gardener Magazine, several national publications such as The American Gardener and Greenhouse Grower magazine. She is a professional speaker about numerous garden topics. She’s also a Garden Coach and Landscape Designer for homeowners in the Twin Cities metro area and out-of-state.

• Kait Ryan

  • Kait Ryan holds a B.S. in Environmental Horticulture from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and her professional experience is focused on public horticulture management. She managed the garden and grounds at Chihuly Garden & Glass and the Space Needle in Seattle, WA before returning to Minnesota to work in public horticulture with the Minneapolis Park Board. In her current role as Horticulture Manager, Kait is active in integrated pest management strategies, formal garden and landscape design, installation, and maintenance, horticulture trends, and public engagement. She is passionate about creating access to horticulture and sparking public interest in the natural world. Horticulture allows her the opportunity to provide memories of a lifetime, one leaf at a time.