Felder Rushing, a nationally known horticulturist, author and garden columnist, will be speaking at 7 p.m. Friday during Penn's Woods West Festival at Mercer High School auditorium. He also will speak at 11 a.m. Feb. 15, and will be available for book signing after each presentation.

Some of Rushing's garden concepts have been used in the Philadelphia Flower Show and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., as well as in Atlanta, Chicago and elsewhere. He co-designed the Kids Garden at Disney's EPCOT in Florida. Three of his eight gardening books have been award-winners, including Passalong Plants, which was named best-written garden book in the country by the Garden Writer's Association of America.

He is a longtime garden columnist, hosts a two-hour call-in radio program over 24 stations and has appeared on numerous TV programs. Hundreds of his articles have been published in magazines. Rushing, who has studied gardens in Europe and South America, is on the board of directors of the American Horticulture Society, the Writers Association of America, and National Youth Gardening Advisory Committee, and is the Southern contributing editor for Horticulture magazine.

Mr. Rushing is a horticulture educator with Mississippi State University Extension Service, with more than 20 years of experience. He is a 10th-generation Southern gardener whose cluttered cottage garden has been featured in Garden Design, House and Garden, Horticulture, A Man's Garden and more.

Tickets are available for $3 at Mercer County Cooperative Extension, Mercer Library, Mercer Chamber of Commerce, Mercer County Master Gardeners and at the door. Special arrangements have been made so that participants on Saturday may also choose to pay a separate admission fee to participate in the Penn's Woods West Festival or just purchase a ticket for the Rushing presentation.

For more information contact the Mercer County Cooperative Extension office at (724) 662-3141.