Speaking Programs
FRESH START HERBS - JONESVILLE MICHIGAN
Susan Betz is pleased to present these topics to garden groups and audiences upon request. All are available virtually!
To learn more & reserve your time, please contact Susan.
Herb Program Topics
Herbal Houseplants, Grow Beautiful Herbs Indoors, For Flavor, Fragrance, and Fun!
Herbs make surprisingly wonderful houseplants — and growing them indoors has never been easier. In this lively presentation, Susan Betz introduces gardeners to the best herb varieties for indoor spaces, including compact cultivars bred specifically for containers and grow-light gardens. Whether you’re working with a sunny windowsill or a dedicated indoor growing area, you’ll discover how to select, grow, harvest, and use homegrown herbs year-round. Susan shares practical care tips alongside creative ideas for using your harvest — from culinary creations and herbal teas to handmade crafts and natural household products. Perfect for urban gardeners, apartment dwellers, and anyone eager to bring the herb garden inside.
A Green Revival: Cultivating Gardens For People, Place and Plants
What makes a garden truly great? In this thought-provoking presentation, Susan makes the case for gardens designed in genuine partnership with the natural world — rooted in regional climate, responsive to local ecology, and rich in meaning for the people who tend them. Moving beyond trends and templates, she explores the principles behind landscapes that support wildlife, engage the senses, and reflect a deep respect for place. Whether you garden on a balcony or a back forty, this talk will shift the way you think about what a garden can be and do. Handout included.
What the Land Knows: A Phenology Field Guide to Reading Your Local World
“Anyone in close sympathy with flower and tree and shrub and has a general acquaintance with Nature’s moods could tell the time of year without any reference to a calendar” -Gertrude Jekyll, Home, and Garden, Magazine 1900
The land is always speaking — phenology is the practice of learning to listen. In this richly layered keynote, Susan Betz invites audiences to rediscover an ancient and deeply practical skill: reading the seasonal rhythms of the living world around them. Drawing on her Five Lenses of Phenological Observation — Sharp Eyes, Pattern, Purpose, Place, and Earth Logic — Susan guides attendees through the year’s unfolding story, from winter’s quiet signals to spring’s cascade of biological events, summer’s subtle pivot, and autumn’s long goodbye. Woven throughout are connections to traditional ecological knowledge, citizen science, and the very real ways phenological literacy can transform how we garden, steward land, and respond to climate change. Attendees leave with a new way of seeing — and the tools to begin their own record of place.
Catch the Enchantment: Growing and Using Scented Geraniums
Imagine geraniums that smell of roses, nutmeg, peppermint, lemon, or lime — each one a little aromatic world of its own. Scented-leaf Pelargoniums have captivated gardeners for centuries, and for good reason: they are beautiful, versatile, and remarkably easy to grow both indoors and out. In this presentation, Susan explores the rich history and surprising diversity of these beloved plants, from their distinctive leaf forms and textures to their many practical uses. Whether you’re a cook, a crafter, or simply a lover of fragrant foliage, you’ll discover how to grow, harvest, and enjoy scented geraniums in bouquets, teas, culinary creations, and handmade goods. Handout provided.
Neighboring With Nature: Native Herbs for Purpose and Pleasure
Native plants are the original multitaskers — and in this hands-on presentation, Susan introduces them through the practical, sensory lens of the herbalist. Species highlighted have past or present value in the kitchen, the home, or the garden, bringing a new dimension to familiar landscape plants. Susan walks attendees through specific natives suited to a range of garden situations — rock gardens, path edges, beds and borders, roadsides — with guidance on sourcing, siting, and seasonal care. Plants from the Herb Society of America’s Notable Native Herbs collection are featured throughout. Attendees receive a handout with plant lists, sourcing resources, and recipes.
People, Plants and Pollinators - The Herbal Connection
Bees, butterflies, beetles, and birds — the wild visitors that sustain our gardens and food supply — need more from us than a patch of coneflowers. In this presentation, Susan reveals the surprising and often overlooked role that herbs play in supporting pollinators and beneficial insects through the seasons. From the architecture of herb flowers to the chemistry of aromatic foliage, she explores why herbs are among the most ecologically valuable plants you can grow. Attendees discover which herbs attract the most beneficial visitors at each stage of the growing season, and leave with a practical planting guide for building a herb-rich habitat garden that nourishes wildlife and people alike.
Susan would love to speak with your group!
Email her at michiganherbs007@me.com to get started!
Additional programs
From Garden to Table and Beyond: Growing, Harvesting, and Using Herbs with Purpose
Herbs have sustained, healed, scented, and inspired human lives for thousands of years — and in your own garden, that story is still unfolding. In this richly layered presentation, Susan Betz traces the journey of the herb from soil to table, medicine chest, teacup, and craft basket. Drawing on decades of growing experience and a deep love of ethnobotany, she shares the cultural and historical threads that connect us to these plants while offering thoroughly practical guidance on growing, harvesting at peak potency, and putting your herbs to work in everyday life. From culinary techniques and healing teas to home fragrance and handmade crafts, attendees leave inspired and equipped — whether they’re tending their first herb pot or their fortieth garden bed.
Guardians of the Garden: The Art and Science of Herb and Flower Companion Planting
Bees, butterflies, beetles, and birds — the wild visitors that sustain our gardens and food supply — need more from us than a patch of coneflowers. In this presentation, Susan reveals the surprising and often overlooked role that herbs play in supporting pollinators and beneficial insects through the seasons. From the architecture of herb flowers to the chemistry of aromatic foliage, she explores why herbs are among the most ecologically valuable plants you can grow. Attendees discover which herbs attract the most beneficial visitors at each stage of the growing season, and leave with a practical planting guide for building a herb-rich habitat garden that nourishes wildlife and people alike.
“Excellent Presenter.”
Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison Wisconsin
Susan Betz was not only an exceptional speaker for our Membership Appreciation Week Herb Celebration, she was also an outstanding partner. She engaged in all aspects of planning, brought fresh ideas to the discussion, and enhanced her own planned presentation in a number of ways to suit our audience. Her presentation was friendly, informative, and engaging. She has tremendous knowledge and is generous with her time and talent. Thanks to her the celebration was a big success!
– Eva Stefanski, Horticultural Librarian, Olbrich Botanical Gardens