The 2018 ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO begins this Friday in Philadelphia! In addition to the events planned for PPN Live, each Professional Practice Network (PPN) leadership team also reviews the annual meeting education program to highlight sessions relevant to their practice areas. With more than 130 courses, allowing attendees to earn up to 24 professional development hours (PDH), it is an extensive program to explore, and you can do so through the meeting website and mobile app by title, speaker, topic area, and PDH type (LA CES/HSW, LA CES/non-HSW, AIA, AICP, CMAA, FL, GBCI CE, GBCI SITES, ISA, NY, etc.).

Below, we run through the first half of these education highlights (stay tuned for sessions picked by ASLA’s 10 other PPNs this Thursday):

• Campus Planning & Design
• Children’s Outdoor Environments
• Design-Build
• Digital Technology
• Ecology & Restoration
• Education & Practice
• Environmental Justice
• Healthcare & Therapeutic Design
• Historic Preservation
• Housing & Community Design

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The 2018 ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in Philadelphia this month offers many opportunities to learn and network during the largest gathering of landscape architects in the world. In addition to education sessions, field sessions, and workshops, ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) offer two more ways to earn professional development hours (PDH), right on the EXPO floor:

• New this year, there will be four Professional Practice Network (PPN) sessions for PDH, taking place in PPN Live on the EXPO floor on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21
• Eight PPN EXPO Tours on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21.

PPN Meetings for PDH

International Practice PPN Meeting
Rethinking Landscape Interventions During Urban Renewal of Chinese Cities
Saturday, October 20, 9:15 – 10:15 am
1.0 PDH LA CES / HSW

Unleashed urban sprawl propelled by rapid economic development has caused many issues in China during the past 40 years. With growing public awareness and global vision on the environmental quality, social justice, and cultural heritage in China, as well as the ever strict control on land uses across the country, many cities are refocusing on the developed areas and promoting urban renewal efforts. Case studies will be used to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the recent urban renewal efforts in China through the lens of governance, urban planning, and landscape design.

Speakers:

• Dou Zhang, PLA, ASLA, Sasaki Associates;
• Ming-Jen Hsueh, ASLA, Sasaki Associates;
• Yufan Zhu, Tsinghua University

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There will be many opportunities to learn, network, and celebrate during the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in Philadelphia later this month. In addition to the 130+ education sessions, field sessions, workshops, and special events, be sure to add PPN Live to your annual meeting plans.

Through PPN Live, you can network with colleagues from all 20 ASLA Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) throughout the annual meeting weekend, right on the EXPO floor. PPN membership is not required to attend that PPN’s meeting or the PPN EXPO tours—all are welcome! Already a member of one PPN, but curious about another? Or not sure which PPN to choose (all ASLA members receive one PPN membership for free)? You are welcome to attend as many PPN events as you like!

The schedule of PPN meetings is below, followed by descriptions of what’s planned for each:

Saturday, October 20

9:15 – 10:00 am

• Education & Practice, PPN Lounge
• Healthcare & Therapeutic Design, Dilworth Park Meeting Room
• Housing & Community Design, PPN Lounge

9:15 – 10:15 am

• International Practice – 1.0 LA CES PDH, Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room

10:00 – 10:45 am

• Women in Landscape Architecture, Fairmount Park Stage

12:45 – 1:30 pm

• Transportation, Dilworth Park Meeting Room
• Water Conservation, PPN Lounge

12:45 – 1:45 pm

• Sustainable Design & Development – 1.0 LA CES PDH, Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room

1:30 – 2:15 pm

• Ecology & Restoration, Fairmount Park Stage

Sunday, October 21

9:15 – 10:00 am

• Historic Preservation, PPN Lounge
• Planting Design, Dilworth Park Meeting Room

9:15 – 10:15 am

• Children’s Outdoor Environments / Parks & Recreation – 1.0 LA CES PDH, Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room
  

10:00 – 10:45 am

• Campus Planning & Design / Landscape—Land Use Planning, Fairmount Park Stage

12:45 – 1:30 pm

• Digital Technology, Dilworth Park Meeting Room
• Residential Landscape Architecture / Design-Build, PPN Lounge

12:45 – 1:45 pm

• Environmental Justice – 1.0 LA CES PDH, Rittenhouse Square Meeting Room

1:30 – 2:15 pm

• Urban Design, Fairmount Park Stage

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The 2018 ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO offers many opportunities to learn and network during the largest gathering of landscape architects in the world. This Friday, September 14, is the Advanced Rate deadline—take advantage of discounted rates for registration, housing, workshops, special events, JobLink LIVE, and more!

The meeting offers more than 130 courses, allowing attendees to earn up to 24 professional development hours (PDH). Learning opportunities taking place throughout the meeting include:

• 118 education sessions Friday-Monday, October 19-22
• Sixteen field sessions on Friday, October 19
• Six workshops on Friday, October 19
• Two general sessions on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21
• Four Professional Practice Network (PPN) sessions for PDH, taking place in PPN Live on the EXPO floor on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21
• Eight PPN EXPO Tours on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21
• Select Learning Labs on the EXPO floor

While access to the education sessions, general sessions, and EXPO education offerings are included in your meeting registration, field sessions and workshops are ticketed events. Purchase today: prices increase with the Advanced deadline.

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10-Minute Walk Learning Series: Equity in Parks and Recreation Live Q&A
August 30, 2018 at 1:00 PM (EST)

On Thursday, August 30, the National Recreation & Park Association is hosting a live virtual Q&A session as part of the 10-Minute Walk Learning Series. During the Q&A, you will have a chance to ask your peers about their success on topics related to the 10-Minute Walk Campaign, a nationwide movement to ensure there’s a great park within a 10-minute walk of every person, in every neighborhood, in every city across America. The discussion focus is equity, including prioritization models, design, community activation, and more.

Speakers:

• Joy Kuebler, ASLA, PLA – Joy Kuebler Landscape Architect, PC
• Pam Linn, FASLA, PLA – Milwaukee Public Schools Department of Recreation and Community Services
• Som Subedi – City of Portland Parks and Recreation
• Allison Colman – National Recreation and Park Association

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Mark your calendars for two upcoming opportunities to earn professional development hours (PDH) with ASLA’s Student & Emerging Professional SPOTLIGHT mini-series. Each is a two-part presentation, providing access to forward-thinking topics and discussions.

Earlier this year, four emerging professionals were selected to work with Professional Practice Network (PPN) mentors in creating presentations for the SPOTLIGHT mini-series. This program provides valuable mentorship through design critique, effective communication guidance, and building relationships with industry professionals. We’re proud of the work these emerging professionals have put forth, making a name for themselves among their peers, and look forward to their continued volunteer work and leadership with ASLA.

Please join us for the upcoming SPOTLIGHT mini-series presentations Transforming Landscape Through Culture: Dance Principles & Archival Sources as Design Inspiration on August 21 and Adaptation Strategies: Infrastructure Flexibility for Resilient Communities and Autonomous Vehicles on August 28.

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Please help ASLA national ensure that we develop continuing education content that supports your individual interests and needs by completing a short survey. ASLA is interested in hearing from licensed and non-licensed professionals. Please share your feedback by Tuesday, July 17.ASLA provides a number of ways for landscape architects to earn professional development hours (PDH) through the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System™ (LA CES™). Professional development hours (PDH) is the term that ASLA and LA CES use to describe how much credit a course carries.

ASLA’s in-person offerings include the: 

• Annual Meeting and EXPO
• Landscape Architecture Magazine Lecture Series hosted at the ASLA Center for Landscape Architecture.

ASLA’s online offerings include:

• Live webinars hosted by the Professional Practice Networks
• Recorded online presentations
• Peer reviewed Landscape Architecture Technical Information Series (LATIS) papers

Check out additional resources on ASLA’s Professional Development webpage, such as an up-to-date list of conferences for landscape architects focused on a variety of practice areas.

The ASLA 2019-2020 Federal and State Legislative Priorities Survey will help determine ASLA’s federal legislative agenda for the upcoming 116th Congress and shape your Chapter’s state legislative activities.

All members of ASLA are invited to share their input through this short 11-question survey. May 31 is the deadline for responses.

ASLA achieved critical legislative successes last year, including working with chapters to successfully stave off state attacks on licensure, upgrade state licensure laws, and achieve licensure in the District of Columbia. On the federal side, ASLA helped to pass legislation to support the National Park Service, promote green infrastructure in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects, and protect and preserve the Land and Water Conservation Fund. ASLA Government Affairs also continues its fight against proposed environmental and climate change rollbacks in federal law.

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by Kristopher Pritchard, Accreditation & Education Programs Manager, ASLA

The Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) invites comments on its proposed revisions to the LAAB Accreditation Standards. LAAB last approved revisions to the standards in 2016 as part of its periodic review of its standards. LAAB conducts a formal, comprehensive review of the accreditation standards every five years (page 4, LAAB Accreditation Procedures). The proposed revisions are posted on the LAAB website under LAAB News & Actions.

LAAB currently accredits first professional programs at the bachelor’s and master’s level in the United States and its territories. Of these programs, all are traditional programs housed within universities and colleges throughout the United States. While some courses within a few programs are offered via distance education, there are no LAAB-accredited programs that currently offer a large portion or all of their curriculum online. However, as more students enroll in online courses and programs during their time in higher education, the demand for an LAAB accredited online program will likely grow. About 5.8 million students were enrolled in at least one distance learning course in a U.S. institution in fall 2014—up 3.9 percent from the previous fall, according to Online Report Card: Tracking Online Education in the United States, an annual report by the Babson Survey Research Group. Additionally, a majority of calls received at ASLA regarding landscape architecture education involves the availability of online programs.

Therefore, LAAB has undertaken the process to review its standards relative to the delivery of online courses in landscape architecture. This review began in February 2017 and its timeline is included below.

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The ASLA 2018 Online Learning Student & Emerging Professional SPOTLIGHT mini-series call for proposals is now open! This initiative gives YOU the opportunity to work with a Professional Practice Network (PPN) mentor in creating a presentation for ASLA’s Online Learning series. Do you have eye-opening research to share with the profession, or an inclination to do a little design exploration over the summer? Here’s your chance!

ASLA members with the following membership types may apply:

Student Member
Student Affiliate Member
Associate Member
Full Member – Emerging Professional

The call for proposals is now open and will close on Friday, May 25, 2018.

TO SUBMIT AN ONLINE PROPOSAL:

1. Visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/spotlight2018
2. Provide a presentation description – including title, short description (150 words), outline, and three learning objectives for the presentation.
3. Submit a portfolio giving ASLA and PPN mentors the opportunity to get to know you and your work (maximum five sheets at 8.5”x11”).

Selected participants will be notified in June. At this time, you will be introduced to your PPN mentor and the collaboration begins! Presentations will take place in August.

Check out the 2017 SPOTLIGHT presentations for inspiration!

Transitional Landscapes presented by Elyana Javaheri, Associate ASLA
Tactical Mycelium presented by Bridget Ayers Looby, Associate ASLA, SITES AP
PPN Mentors:
David Cutter, ASLA, Campus Planning & Design PPN
Laura Tenny, ASLA, Campus Planning & Design PPN
Kenneth Hurst, ASLA, Children’s Outdoor Environments PPN

Tropical TalkStory: Hardwood Hammocks presented by Tricia Keffer, Student ASLA
Aloha Art presented by Rachel Katzman, Associate ASLA
PPN Mentors:
Emily O’Mahoney, ASLA, Women in Landscape Architecture PPN
Kristina Snyder, ASLA, Women in Landscape Architecture PPN

Questions? Please email us at propractice@asla.org.

Thirty-five of the 120 education sessions that took place during the 2017 ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in Los Angeles were recorded and are now available to view on the ASLA Online Learning website, learn.asla.org. Topics covered range from climate adaptation and habitat design to radical water conservation and residential design.

ASLA Online Learning presentations provide information on new and evolving practices and developments in design. These distance learning opportunities are also a convenient way to earn the professional development hours (PDH) needed to meet state licensure requirements. PDH are approved by the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System™ (LA CES™) and can be earned after viewing a presentation by completing and passing a self-study exam. Be sure to check state mandatory continuing education requirements to ensure that LA CES courses are compatible with your state requirements.

More than 175 recorded presentations are available for on-demand viewing, including:

• ASLA annual meeting education session recordings from 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013,
• The Professional Practice Network (PPN) Online Learning series,
• The Student & Emerging Professionals SPOTLIGHT mini-series,
• Sustainable SITES Initiative™ (SITES®) Education, and
• Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) Prep.

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In February, the New Partners for Smart Growth (NPSG) conference, the nation’s largest smart growth and sustainability event, was held in San Francisco, CA. As a promotional sponsor, ASLA led the sixth annual Parklets Initiative along with the Local Government Commission (LGC). The interactive installations were created by design and planning firms as well as local non-profit organizations. The parklets were located adjacent to the conference session rooms, and provided an opportunity for attendees to carry over the dynamic interactive sessions into the common space, where they could network with colleagues and engage in dialogue around smart growth implementation. The programming elements of the parklets included urban forest products, creative placemaking though public transit stops, complete street design components, and participation-based urban planning tools.

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ASLA will host the 2018 Diversity Summit from June 22-24 at the ASLA Center for Landscape Architecture in Washington, D.C. The six new professionals from the 2017 Diversity SuperSummit have been invited back, and ASLA is looking to invite six new participants to add valuable input to discussions and resource development. The goals of the 2018 Diversity Summit are to review benchmarks prioritized from the 2017 Diversity SuperSummit and create opportunities for participants to research and workshop resources for ASLA’s career discovery and diversity program.

Eligibility & Deadline

If you are a landscape architecture professional of color in the United States with at least two years of professional experience and are interested in applying, please complete the 2018 ASLA Diversity Summit Call for Letters of Interest by Wednesday, March 7.

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Updates have been rolled out for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Stormwater Calculator (SWC), including a Low Impact Development (LID) cost estimation module and mobile web application version that can be used on both mobile devices and desktop computers.

A Safe and Sustainable Water Resources Research Program webinar on January 31 introduced these new features and demonstrated example applications. The presentation, by U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) landscape architect Jason Bernagros, will be made available as a recording, and the next free webinar in the series is scheduled for February 28, 2018 on “Village Blue Project: Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring in the Baltimore Harbor.”

EPA developed the SWC to help support local, state, and national stormwater management objectives and regulatory efforts to reduce runoff through infiltration and retention using green infrastructure practices as low impact development controls. It is designed to be used by anyone interested in reducing runoff from a property, including landscape architects, urban planners, developers, and homeowners.

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Across the country, parks professionals, planners and community organizations have been using arts and culture as a means to address important community development goals in a practice known as creative placemaking.

City Parks Alliance (CPA) and the Trust for Public Land (TPL) are partnering to bring placemaking skills and strategies to you through a PARKXCHANGE City Workshop on Creative Placemaking, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2017, CPA and TPL released The Field Guide for Creative Placemaking and Parks, a book that serves as a ‘how-to’ for implementing park-based creative placemaking and highlights successful park placemaking case studies. 

These organizations are now partnering to bring those skills and innovative strategies to you through our PARKXCHANGE City Workshops. CPA and TPL will be selecting two U.S. cities to host a creative placemaking workshop, a day-long workshop with guest speakers, interactive case studies, and creative placemaking skill-building. Submissions are due February 28, 2018.

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In early January, ASLA participated in the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders’ Show® (IBS) as part of Design & Construction Week® (DCW) in Orlando, FL. Working with local members to increase awareness of the landscape architecture profession among an audience of large national builders, small local builders, architects, and designers, ASLA exhibited on the trade show floor among more than 80,000 attendees and 1,500 exhibitors. Todd Bonnett, ASLA, and Dean Hill, ASLA, along with ASLA staff, fielded questions by conference attendees regarding professional services provided by landscape architects. Todd also promoted the importance of working with a landscape architect through the Plan Review Session, during which attendees had the opportunity to sign up for a review with landscape architects, architects, planners, and interior designers to study housing plans and discuss creative ideas to better meet the needs of today’s home buyers and builders. Continue reading →

January is jam-packed with important deadlines at ASLA—see below for a roundup of opportunities closing in the next two weeks. Help to ensure your voice is heard, that you and your colleagues are recognized for your work and leadership, and your practice area is represented!

Council of Fellows Nominations
Deadline: Friday, January 26, 2018, 11:59 p.m. PST

Any ASLA member may recommend an eligible candidate for nomination for the ASLA Council of Fellows (COF). There are four nomination categories: Works, Leadership/Management, Knowledge, and Service. More information on these categories, plus guidelines, forms, and templates for submission, can be found on the COF website.

The candidate must:

• Be a current ASLA Full Member or International Member in good standing.
• Have achieved at least 10 continuous years of Full or International membership at the time of nomination.
• Have demonstrated exceptional contributions over an extended period of time.
• Have made a significant positive impact on the public and the profession beyond their local area.
• Have received national recognition for those contributions from multiple sources.

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In the first annual PPN survey back in January 2013, members of ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) were surveyed about their favorite spaces, with questions on the most innovative projects, the best small but mighty spaces, and favorite designed spaces, among others. In 2014, the PPN survey focused on career paths in landscape architecture. Members shared how they first discovered landscape architecture, their favorite cities and regions to work in, and how they keep up with design trends, to name just a few of the topics covered. The next survey’s theme was creativity and what makes for inspired design in landscape architecture, covering everything from where landscape architects go to feel inspired to finding the next big thing.

For 2016, we opened the survey-making process to our PPN leadership, asking each group to contribute one question that would then be shared with all 10,000+ collective PPN members. The key themes, trends, and responses to the survey were originally highlighted in the PPN News section of LAND, and we are sharing that information again here on The Field in case you missed any PPN updates.

Below are a few of the questions included in the 2016 survey. In future posts, we’ll pull out unique responses, summarize trends, and highlight the most popular answers from PPN members.

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Since 2015, ASLA’s Emerging Professionals Committee has organized more than a dozen Ask Me Anything online events, streamed via Facebook Live and available for viewing on ASLA’s Facebook page. For each AMA, participants can submit questions to the invited guest, giving those new to landscape architecture a chance to have their burning questions about the field answered by a range of practitioners, from mid-career professionals to established firm owners.

The Emerging Professionals Committee advises ASLA on Associate, Student, and Student Affiliate Member programs and services; facilitates communication with and among all emerging professional groups; communicates with faculty and chapters about ASLA programs and benefits pertaining to students and Associate Members; and promotes, encourages, and assists ASLA chapter leaders to increase professional interaction with emerging professionals.

Until the next live event, here’s a look back at past AMAs.

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To kick off 2018, we are taking a look at what ASLA members had to say about the state of the landscape architecture profession today. For the Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) survey on creativity and what makes for inspired designs in landscape architecture, we posed a very tough last question to our members: How does the profession today stack up against historical achievements in landscape architecture?

Surprisingly few people skipped this final question, and we were rewarded with extended, thoughtful responses and candid assessments of the profession. While many opinions differed and some answers directly contradicted one another, an overall sense of where landscape architects excel and where the profession doesn’t quite measure up can be gleaned. As one member put it, these are “Exciting times!!!” indeed.

Below are ASLA members’ thoughts on areas where landscape architecture is doing well, and where there are opportunities for growth and improvement.

On the Bright Side

“Beauty is being combined with environmental impact.”

“Better diversity and community engagement.”

“Better than ever—greater relevance to more areas of need and less stuffy than always working for the top 1% (most historical landscapes are relics of such practice).”

“Each era has profound challenges for landscape architects and we are currently in a period where the distinctive skills of the landscape architect, trained in designing with living systems and materials, has found its voice and is addressing the great problems of our time. This will be a very clear period of history to teach in the coming years and I hope we will continue to have extraordinary achievements to show as examples.”

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ASLA’s 20 Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) provide opportunities for professionals interested in the same areas of practice to exchange information, learn about current practices and research, and network with each other—both online and in person at the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO.

In 2017, the PPNs created 99 posts for The Field blog and 12 Online Learning presentations. Thank you to those who shared experiences on The Field and shared their expertise as Online Learning presenters! These opportunities are open to all ASLA members, and we hope to grow our group of PPN contributors in 2018.

Below, we highlight the top five Field posts and best-attended Online Learning presentations of the year, but be sure to check out the full PPN: 2017 IN REVIEW for additional information, including:

• PPN Live at the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO,
• PPN volunteer and leadership opportunities, and
• the ASLA Online Learning Student & Emerging Professional SPOTLIGHT mini-series.

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ASLA is now accepting proposals for the 2018 Annual Meeting and EXPO education program, taking place October 19-22, 2018 in Philadelphia. If you are interested in presenting and sharing your knowledge with the landscape architecture profession, we encourage you to submit a proposal through our online submission site.

The goal of the annual meeting education program is to provide professional development opportunities which address the diversity of practice types in the profession. Help to ensure your voice is heard and your practice area is represented by submitting a proposal!

In order to successfully submit a presentation for consideration, the following items are needed for each presentation: speaker names with a biography, a session title, marketing statement, learning objectives, outline, and sources. Submissions should speak to panel diversity and audience engagement. Additionally, all presenters must sign the speaker terms and agreement prior to the January 31 submission deadline.

Please visit the submission site for detailed information, including speaker policies, tactical tips, sample submission materials, and a timeline of the selection process.

ASLA members are invited to log in to the online system using their unique ASLA ID.

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With winter weather fast approaching, December is a good time to take a look back at ASLA’s Professional Practice Network (PPN) members’ favorite plants to add interest in all seasons. Highlighted below are responses that appeared more than once. While some members noted that their answer depended on the location, many others had a tough time picking just one answer:

“Don’t have a single favorite plant. Plants belong in communities.”

“I love all plants—they all have their place. No favorites.”

“The one that catches my eye on a walk on any day.”

“Trees that evoke an emotional response or help build memories.”

Here are a few ways our members keep their planting designs visually engaging throughout the year. The most popular picks, each mentioned five or more times:

• Dogwoods, including Red Twig, Red Osier, and June Snow™
• Oakleaf Hydrangea
• Amelanchier (Serviceberry), including Shadblow and Autumn Brilliance
• Ornamental grasses, including Schizachyrium scoparium (Little bluestem), Muhlenbergia capillaris, and Muhlenbergia lindheimeri

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