The Science of Plant Sociability with Dr. Jared Barnes
September 16 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Struggling to make native plantings look intentional instead of chaotic? The secret often isn’t which native species you choose. It’s how you arrange them. In this session, Dr. Jared will unpack sociability, a concept from plant ecology that classifies species by how they naturally cluster and spread in the wild — from solitary growers to sprawling colonies. You’ll learn where sociability comes from in native plant communities, how to read it in the species you already grow, and how to use it as a practical design tool to build native plantings that feel like they belong in the landscape, not planted on top of it.
About Dr. Jared Barnes
Dr. Jared Barnes teaches horticulture as an associate professor at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. His work includes perennial plants and the ecology and cultivation of designed plant communities. He holds a Ph.D. in horticultural science from North Carolina State University.
Beyond the classroom, he shares gardening knowledge through his plant·ed newsletter, The Plantastic Podcast, and his website, Meristem.