FORREST KEELING Fall Field Day
Rooted in Natives
Design Once. Perform for Decades.
September 17, 2026
For decades, native plants have been valued for their beauty, habitat benefits, and ecological importance. Today, they are increasingly recognized for something more: their capacity to deliver measurable outcomes.
Join nationally recognized experts at Forrest Keeling Nursery’s 2026 Fall Field Day to explore how native plants serve as living infrastructure—improving water quality, supporting biodiversity, reducing heat, sequestering carbon, strengthening restoration projects, creating new economic opportunities, and building more resilient communities.
Registration is FREE, Advance registration will be required.
Who SHould Attend
This Field Day is designed for:
- conservation professionals
- landscape architects
- planners
- urban foresters
- restoration practitioners
- growers
- municipal leaders
- developers
- land managers
2026 Fall Field Day Keynote: Kelly Norris
Forrest Keeling Nursery is honored to welcome Kelly Norris as keynote speaker for the 2026 Fall Field Day, “Rooted in Natives — Design Once. Perform for Decades,” on September 17 at our Elsberry, Missouri nursery.
A nationally recognized plantsman, designer, and author, Norris is known for his work at the intersection of ecology, horticulture, and design. His approach—often described as “new naturalism”—draws from native plant communities to create landscapes that are both ecologically functional and deeply expressive of place.
His keynote, “Rooted in Natives: Designing Living Landscapes for a Resilient Future,” will explore how native plant systems shape landscapes that are resilient, adaptive, and enduring—supporting wildlife, strengthening communities, and redefining what performance means in the built environment.
photo credit: Austin Hyler Day
This presentation sets the stage for a full day of learning designed for professionals across the green industry. From urban forestry and agroforestry to restoration and nursery production, the program moves from big-picture vision to real-world application, concluding with a capstone session on Native Plants as Urban Infrastructure.
Ecology → Performance → Measurement → Value → Action
- Kelly Norris — Ecology
- Shane McQuillan — Performance
- Zack Miller — Measurement
- Chung-Ho Lin — Value
- Nadia Navarrete-Tindall — Stewardship & Opportunity
- Kim Lovelace & Judy Good — Action
As always, Fall Field Day is built around practical insight and usable takeaways, offering attendees not just ideas, but approaches they can implement in their own work.
We are excited to have Kelly with us and look forward to a day of meaningful conversation, connection, and forward-thinking exploration of native landscapes.
What You’ll Take Away
A new framework for evaluating landscapes based on measurable outcomes rather than appearance alone.
Practical tools to:
- Improve restoration success and project reliability
- Design landscapes that perform for decades
- Understand the measurable benefits of native trees and plant communities
- Evaluate long-term ecological and economic value
- Explore emerging opportunities in carbon markets, mitigation, agroforestry, and ecosystem services
- Make better plant selection, specification, and management decisions
Cypress Grove Happy Hour & Peer Networking
Close the day with informal networking among peers, speakers, and Forrest Keeling staff in a relaxed outdoor setting.
Nursery Production Tours
Guided tours through Forrest Keeling’s production systems will highlight:
• Native tree and shrub propagation
• Container and bare-root production
• Quality control, grading, and handling
• Matching plant genetics and form to application
See how production decisions translate into field performance, survivability, and project reliability.
