This Month’s Featured Speaker – Janet D. Smith
Janet D. Smith is one of the most prolific members of the Dallas County Master Gardener Program’s (DCMG) Speakers’ Bureau. Janet received her Master Gardener Certification in 2005 and subsequently joined the Speakers’ Bureau. She has expanded her areas of expertise since then and is now also a Master Naturalist (certified in 2011) as well as an avid student and member of the Native Plant Society. Janet is also certified in Rainwater Harvesting and has a National Earth-Kind® Certification.
Janet considers herself a recovering plantaholic. Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, and native plant training are her 12-step program. She is an outspoken advocate for growing native and adapted drought-tolerant plants that attract bees, butterflies, and birds. In her spare time, Janet serves as the DCMG Project Leader for the White Rock Demonstration Gardens, where the team has focused on native plants that, despite this summer’s unrelenting heat and dry spell, have survived and thrived with only minimal supplemental watering.
Continuous improvement is Janet’s mantra. It shows in the breadth of topics she presents for the Speakers’ Bureau and the constant tweaks she makes to ensure her presentations integrate the latest advances in agri-science. Janet is available to present on any of the following topics:
- All You Can Eat Buffet for Migrators
- Butterfly Gardening
- Easy Gardening with Native Plants
- How to Attract Butterflies and Hummingbirds
- Invite the Birds to Your Yard
- Inviting Nature Back Home with Native Plants
- Landscaping for the 21st Century
- Meet the Hummingbirds in Your Yard
- Miracles of Monarchs
- Monarchs: Disappearing Before Our Eyes
- Plants for Pollinators
- Sex in the Garden
- To Bee or Not To Bee
- Water-Conserving Landscaping Doesn’t Mean Rocks and Cacti
- Ya Gotta Love the Pollinators
- Year-Round Perennials for the Landscape
- The Right Plant for the Right Place
Janet’s awards and achievements include:
- Lifetime Achievement Award from President Obama
- Over 6,000 hours of Master Gardener service
- Dallas County Master Gardener Speaker of the Year, 2008
- Texas Master Gardener Volunteer of the Year, 2010
- Over 1,500 hours of Master Naturalist Service
- Native Landscape Certification – Level 4
