Plant-O-Rama Celebrates 25th Anniversary Online with Star-Studded Garden Experts: Learn New Ways & Natural Solutions for a More Resilient Future

If there is any silver lining to this pandemic, it is that you, you, You, lucky plant lover, can attend one of the premier horticulture events of the year.
From the warm comfort of your screen.

While those of us in the profession rally to attend the annual symposium at this time on the calendar because it’s kinda’ ~ supposed to be a slower time of the year for us garden designers and horticulture pros.

We so look forward to Plant-O-Rama because we get to learn from some of the most outstanding experts, thought-leaders, and visionaries.

There is also the not-so-subtle joy that comes from being a part of this incredible plant community. The rarified bonhomie is like a breath of fresh air as in a normal world, we’d be gathering from all points, walking into Brooklyn Botanic Garden ~ delighted to witness the Japanese Hill and Pond Garden sporting its seasonal winter wardrobe glamour;

Farther along the path, we pause at the top of the steps to take in the majesty of the Magnolia garden - glistening with their winter jackets…


Then it would be up the grand staircase to register. Hugs, kisses. Coffee and tea and breakfast treats.
Lots of hearty hellos and getting down to business.

“Are you going to the morning lectures or the afternoon?”
Can’t wait to hear …
“I’ll meet you for lunch.”
See, one would choose to attend a morning or afternoon series of talks and the rest of the time to visit the vendors in the former glasshouse, now the Palm House and in the visitor’s center area where there are/were break-out sessions too.


While you will miss the walks in the gardens and all that one-on-one, look on the bright side. Bob Hyland, Plant O Rama’s founding father, will still preside.

PLANT-O-RAMA 2021
SPONSORED BY: METRO HORT GROUP
(From the information supplied by Metro Hort:) 

PLANT-O-RAMA is Metro Hort’s annual, 1-day Symposium, Trade Show & Jobs Fair for Horticulture Professionals, Enthusiasts, and...

VIRTUAL PLANT-O-RAMA - due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 25th ANNIVERSARY event is online; anyone can attend from outside the NYC-tri-state region. Event times are Eastern Standard.

It is the largest program of the year attracting gardeners, designers, arborists, and educators working in public parks, botanical gardens, and private Edens in the New York City Tri-State region.

SAVE THE DATE: Tuesday, January 26, 2021, for the first VIRTUAL PLANT-O-RAMA

$30 for EVERYONE: Metro Hort Group Members, NYC public gardens, NYC Parks & Recreation, Nonprofit horticultural groups and conservancies, etc.

NOTE: FREE ADMISSION for Full-Time Students in academic degree programs in horticulture, design, and environmental sciences.

Have a schedule conflict with Virtual Plant-O-Rama next Tuesday? You can still see most of it! Paid ticket holders can view recordings of all 6 speakers AND visit the 36 Trade Show booths after the event. (You won't get live interaction with the Exhibitors after Tuesday, but you can visit their informative booths for a long time after the event.)

CLICK HERE FOR DAY PASSES:

VIRTUAL PLANT-O-RAMA 2021 Tickets, Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 7:30 AM



Plant-O-Rama Schedule

Charles Yurgelevich, president, Metro Hort welcomes all and outlines the day’s events and speakers.

Adrian Benepe, 9:00am - 9:45am; Gardens and Parks in the Age of Climate Change & Pandemic: Challenges, Refuges, and Natural Solutions

Newly appointed President and CEO of Brooklyn Botanic Garden and former Commissioner of NYC Parks and Recreation (2002-2012), Adrian Benepe welcomes the 25th anniversary PLANT-O-RAMA. Brooklyn Botanic Garden has been our on-site host and Plant-O-Rama partner all these years (even now virtually). The pandemic has underscored the intrinsic human value of and need for public gardens, parks, and lands, but also laid bare many social and cultural injustices. The challenges are many as we search for solutions and move forward.

Signe Nielsen, 9:45am -10:30am; Little Island: A Refuge in the Storm

Signe Nielsen offers a sneak peek at the emerging landscape at Little Island (formerly called Pier 55), a new public pier park arising in the Hudson River. The pier’s unusual form, topography, and landscape are deeply influenced by climate-positive initiatives including raising the pier well above future sea level and storm surge, minimizing shade on marine life/aquatic species, using locally sourced materials, fabricators and labor, planting appropriately for climate change and high value to pollinators and birds. The new public park will be a refuge for New Yorkers to get exercise, be mentally restorative, and accommodate physical distancing while socializing outdoors.

Jennifer Jewell, 10:30am -11:15am; The Earth in Her Hands: Growing a More Resilient Future

Jennifer Jewell is creator and host of the award-winning public radio gardening program and podcast CULTIVATING PLACE: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden. Based on her recent book The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants, Jennifer talks to us about the profoundly positive impact women and their work have on the future of our world - aesthetically, environmentally, culturally, and economically - making them joyful, encouraging, and powerful role models, leaders, and inspirations for us all. Three of the women profiled in Jennifer’s book speak to us this year at Plant-O-Rama.

Leah Penniman, 1:00pm -1:45pm; Black Land Matters: Ending Racism & Injustice in our Food System & Gardens

Some of our most cherished sustainable farming practices - from organic agriculture to the farm cooperative and the CSA - have roots in African wisdom. Yet, discrimination and violence against African-American farmers has led to our decline from 14 percent of all growers in 1920 to less than 2 percent today, with a corresponding loss of over 14 million acres of land. Black communities suffer disproportionately from illnesses related to lack of access to fresh food and healthy natural ecosystems. Soul Fire Farm, cofounded by author, activist, and farmer Leah Penniman, is committed to ending racism and injustice in our food system.

Midori Shintani, 1:45pm - 2:15pm; Tokachi Millennium Forest: Gardening with Wild Nature

Tokachi Millennium Forest was originally established to offset carbon footprints by Tokachi News Paper Co. in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. Later on, the idea developed to share and preserve the remarkable natural environment for future generations. Midori Shintani introduces the story of this unique modern garden movement in Japan and shares how she and her garden team take care of the native forests and the cultivated garden areas. She discusses how her gardening methods root in the accumulated wisdom of ancient Japanese belief.

Margaret Roach, 2:15pm - 3:00pm; New Ways to Garden: Changing Practices for Professionals & Home Gardeners

Trends in plants and planting design have changed. Margaret Roach, creator of awaytogarden.com, former editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart Living, and 2020 New York Times garden columnist, discusses the most dramatic and important shifts in “best practices” for managing landscapes, residential gardens, and urban spaces. How do we better educate and sell services to clients? Here are 10 lessons Margaret has gleaned from interviewing experts in the field, from timing our garden cleanups to taking another look at patented cultivars. 

(As a side note, I have to add, I love this woman!  She's been so good to the plant community; so generous in terms of providing plant counsel and experiences. Thank you...) 

PLANT-O-RAMA TRADE SHOW

Outstanding Exhibitors, each with a Virtual booth; 9am-3pm


Atlantic Nurseries, Inc. - distinctive plants & products for 50 years


Bartlett Tree Experts - comprehensive tree care & planting


Barton Nursery Enterprises Inc. - quality landscape plants and products


Bayard Cutting Arboretum - Long Island, NY, public garden


Beds & Borders, Inc. - out-of the-ordinary annuals & perennials


Blondie’s Treehouse Inc. - design/build, green walls, interior plants


BIPOC Hort - professional support, educational advocacy group


Cape Lily - floral Design & garden travel


Capital Garden Products Ltd. - fiberglass garden pots & water features


Cavano’s Perennials, Inc. - fine container-grown perennials, grasses, ferns


Colorblends Wholesale Flowerbulbs - quality tulips, daffodils & specialty bulbs


Elevations Urban Landscape Design - artful fusion of horticulture & architecture


Garden and Structures Solutions, LLC - consulting for the green industry


Glover Perennials - specialty groundcovers & perennials


Hardscrabble Farms Inc. - trees & quality plants for landscapes


Issima - specialty nursery, under-cultivated, garden worthy plants


JC Ralston Arboretum - acclaimed landscape plant collections at NCSU


Janet Mavec Jewelry - exquisite jewelry inspired by nature


Kind Earth Growers - native perennials for ecological restoration


Madison Square Park Conservancy - urban park in NYC’s Flatiron and NoMad districts


Metro Hort Group – association of hort professionals in NYC tri-state region


New York Botanical Garden - premier 250-acre public garden in Bronx


New Growth Designs - exquisite lifelike flowers & greenery


New Moon Nursery - plugs & liners of North American native perennials/grasses


North Creek Nurseries - quality plugs & liners with focus on eastern U.S. natives


Organic Mechanics Soil Company - quality organic potting soil & amendments


PlantShed - premium flowers, indoor plants, botanical products


Pennoyer Newman - distinctive lightweight garden pots cast from estate originals


Rebecca Cole GROWS - garden, landscape, interior & floral design


Rooftop Drops - premier irrigation & landscape lighting for rooftops & balconies


Seibert & Rice - fine Italian terra cotta pots from Impruneta, Italy


The Trust for Governors Island - park, historic buildings, climate initiatives


Tintori Castings - custom structural & architectural planters


Town & Gardens Ltd - comprehensive garden design, build & maintenance


Wave Hill - Bronx public garden and cultural center on the Hudson River


Womanswork - garden and work gloves designed for women

“Zee” you at the Plant-O-Rama 2021 ~ the 25th Anniversary of this hallowed event celebrating all things botanical …

Metro Hort Group Elects New President: Charles M. Yurgalevitch, Ph.D

Charles M. Yurgalevitch, Newly Elected Metro Hort President 

Recently, Metro Hort Group Inc, the Mid-Atlantic association of horticulture professionals elected Charles M. Yurgalevitch, Ph.D. as its new president to lead the organization for a three-year term, the first such tenure in its history. Previously, Yurgalevitch served as Secretary on the Metro Hort Board Member since 2004.
By all counts, Yurgalevitch is the seventh president since the group was founded.

The brainchild of three professional horticulturists in 1986, Metro Hort launched its first meeting of “charter members” and established its Planning Board in 1987.

Soon to follow its incorporation as a 501 (c) in 1988, the Metro Hort Guest speaker series launched - and still held at winter meetings along with the seasonal field trips to all variety of horticultural venues including private gardens, parks, zoos, cemeteries, botanical gardens and nurseries. Workshops began in 1993 taught “by professionals, for professionals” on topics ranging from garden photography to rooftop gardening, pruning, CAD technology, and more. The signature horticultural trade show and symposium, Plant-O-Rama was launched in 1997.

During a recent interview, Yurgalevitch talked about his vision and upcoming agenda for Metro Hort moving forward.

In a macro sense, he is looking to lend Metro Hort’s expertise to help shape a community-wide agenda to influence greener, healthier, environmental attitudes and behaviours. “We can further establish Metro Hort’s leadership and its advocacy for sustainable practices in business and government,” Yurgalevitch explained. “We have a unique platform to affect a determined path to a plant-based, sustainable way of life, especially in a world that is increasingly urban. Plants and horticulture touch every vital element of our lives from food to water resources, pollution management, to architecture and art -- to the very air we breath,” he continued.

In turn, this outlook will increasingly appeal to the next generation - upcoming green professionals who seek to be vital members of Metro Hort.

Yurgalevitch has been a pioneer in leading younger, green industry professionals from his position as Director of the School of Professional Horticulture at The New York Botanical Garden and as the creator of the now annual, Green Industry Intern Field Day - affectionately referred to as “Hortie Hoopla.”

“We see burgeoning activists in our ranks who want to make changes in the way we interact with our parks and gardens, how we grow and harvest our food, how we safeguard our shores and wetlands and preserve the flora and fauna for future generations, especially in a world of climate chaos and science skeptics,” he added.

With a determined effort to develop “Plant Ambassadors,” Yurgalevitch will seek to challenge Metro Hort’s members and solicit new members with exciting, trailblazing programs and updated processes.

Membership goals also include an effort to revise, revamp, and refresh the organization’s web site and social media practices, including more visuals and video to engage its members and the wider, public community.

Already, the group has added a Local Events Calendar where anyone - members as well as non-members - can post horticultural events of interest, gratis.

The networking and educational talks and workshops and field trips will continue its tradition of excellence with the added objective of highlighting topics of import and interest - meaning those issues that are salient to today’s diverse and fast-moving culture, including aquaponics, technology in horticulture and design, plant propagation and care especially given today’s increasing dramatic climate swings, and visits to innovative and enterprising hort-based initiatives and businesses that are sure to spark learning and collaboration.

The group’s website provides its background description:


Metro Hort Group, Inc. is an association of horticulture professionals practicing in the New York City and tri-state region. Members are active in the worlds of public and private horticulture; we are landscape architects, designers, arborists, growers, educators, contractors, garden writers and every specialty in between. We create and deliver a greener New York. The professional sponsor meetings, lectures, workshops and field trips geared to common interests, with a focus on education, networking and socializing.

Metro Hort members gather to share ideas, information and employment opportunities. Each member receives a detailed listing in our online membership directory, an invaluable resource for horticulture professionals. Membership in Metro Hort Group offers the opportunity to stay connected in these challenging economic times.


To learn more about becoming a member of the Metro Hort Group, visit the membership page.

Metro Hort's Plant-O-Rama Recap: Glamorous Plants Premiere; Landscape Design featuring Dan Pearson

This was the best Plant-O-Rama ever. (Do I say that every year?)

Seriously, I’d argue, it was. I’ll be willing to wager there’d be few disagreements among the more than 1,000 attendees - the largest in the nearly quarter of a century that Plant-O-Rama has produced its peerless plant extravaganza, dedicated to horticulture in the New York metropolitan area; with implications for the world of horticulture.

Horticulture is one of the few careers whose professionals are ceaseless in pursuing more knowledge, more education -- the pros want to explore the latest plant discoveries and releases and plant design trends - all to improve and enhance a client’s garden beauty and health and to create landscapes that dreams are made of... Tracing evolving climate conditions, we learn about new drought-tolerant beauties, or plants that thrive in sunnier or shadier spaces; along shapes and textures that contour to smaller urban or suburban gardens - and then there’s new colors and fragrance plant gems that add the glamour to our gardens. It’s like the spring runway collections on view.

Officially, this was the 22nd annual Plant-O-Rama event. The day-long program hosted by Metro Hort was brimming with its plant ‘pillars” or foundation elements, including:

• Symposium 
• Breakout Sessions
• Trade Show
• Jobs Fair
• Silent Auction
• Book Sale 

Adding value and sizzle to the plant “pillars” or foundation of this horticulture tradition is what enfuses and distinguishes the marquee event for the area’s hortie hoi polloi.

There’s a running joke now about how every year there is a snow storm for Plant-O-Rama (POR) -- so much so that even if you were a meteorologist in training - you’d be safe in forecasting snow - no matter what the Farmer’s Almanac or the satellites were predicting!

POR is held annually at Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG), ever since Bob Hyland, who had recently served as BBG’s vice president for Horticulture there - hatched the concept and presented it to then BBG president, the venerable Judy Zuk. And I am forever grateful for Bob’s enduring garden design at BBG: Bluebell Wood. It’s an enchanting spring garden destination. And was the site for Dave Matthews’ Dream Girls video featuring Julie Roberts. It was fun managing this production one fine spring day when I worked at BBG.

This year, the newly installed president of Metro Hort, Charles Yurgalevitch, greeted the SRO morning audience, outlining the day’s agenda, along with touting the benefits of Metro Hort membership - including field trips to area gardens and parks, lectures, job postings, calendar of events, resources, and plant professional’s networking.

Charles Yurgalevitch, President of Metro Hort greets audience at Plant-O-Rama 

BBG’s president and CEO, Scott Medbury, welcomed the audience to the Garden, noted the annual snow that dusts the plants and marks the occasion -- and the Garden did indeed look breathtaking, I must add. Very Instagram-worthy:



Medbury invited all to tour the garden in its “winter white,” highlighting new and renovated gardens and described a new, woodland garden that will premiere in 2018, to be named for Elizabeth Scholz, BBG’s Director Emeritus, former president and at 97 - a beloved icon to all.


Bob Hyland,

POR’s father/founder, who now lives in a kind of plant paradise in Portland, Oregon where he designs gardens from his Contained Exuberance - wouldn’t miss the annual event for love or money. Well… Bob thanked all the important sponsors who make the event possible: Town & Gardens, Brooklyn Brewery, media sponsor: Heritage Radio Network - along with the full list of POR sponsors. Thank you.

With full fanfare - Bob then introduced the featured speaker, Dan Pearson the celebrated English garden designer, naturalist, and media personality.



This is why we got there early to enjoy a front row seat!


Featured Speaker - Dan Pearson

With a colorful presentation that was narrated by Dan in his light, British cadence, we were taken on chronological journey detailing the life - so far - of Dan’s horticultural transitions from a child who gardened with his father to today.

His first garden triumph was a yellow border he planted at his childhood home -- an early 1900’s cottage. “This was my first recorded garden plan,” explained Dan - showing a garden design drawing. “I used planting combinations to create space.” he said. This strategy seems to have become a core tenet of Dan’s landscape design throughout his illustrious career.

This charming anecdote demonstrated the garden designer possessed the gift at a very early age.



He continues to adhere to the belief that gardens are “places that recalibrate you - that make you sing.” How lovely.

Dan secured a scholarship at Wisely, the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) world-class garden to study horticulture. Here, and later traveling to such locales as Jerusalem or the Valley of the Flowers in the Himalayas, he explained was a true revelation seeing the gardens in natural setting. He showed images that he said “Draws itself back.”

From that home acre of a hedged garden to the world’s natural gardens was a journey that allowed Dan to explore, observe, learn and eventually, create a natural landscape design portfolio that has brought him worldwide acclaim.

At 17 years old, Dan was able to secure his first commission. His client was a French fashion designer with three gardens and a four-acre pallette. Here, he was able to implement a “No Boundaries” look, working a Borrowed Landscape design style with waves of plants - not unlike his garden travels showed him.

Dan also discovered how color changes mood. The “hot” colors of the color wheel could send pulses racing. As a proof point, Dan noted how Fast Food establishments use this body and mind alteration to augment their need for speed -- you get you in and out faster because the color is helping to generate a sense of urgency. Yikes. Not your Gramercy Tavern idea of dining…

Next, Dan shared his first garden designs for the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Classic designs.

It was there that he met a garden design client from Rome. She slipped travel tickets under his door -- and soon, he was roaring down an Appian highway with his chain smoking patron!

Here he worked with the landscape to create a naturalistic, wild garden on the 400 hectares filled with steps, walls, vistas - and plants.

I love the way he described that it wasn’t a garden “a toll” rather it was “small moods and atmospheres” -- a dramatic, fragrance-filled retreat.

Love the white floribundas wisteria near the house...


Back in the Britain, Dan worked on Maggie’s Center - a cancer care facility that was clearly close to his heart.

This project was a “restoration but looking forward” according to Dan. He was inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement as inspired by Gertrude Jekyll.

This was to be a healing garden - in the truest sense. He described how often, it takes the patients (members?) more than three attempts to just get in. The enormity of their cancer is just too overwhelming… The gardens have allowed them a serenity and “a way to look at time differently” as the plants are always changing - calibrating the times of the year - pulling people in to stop and see and experience the environment. The courtyards and ornamental and edible gardens are designed to heighten the transporting plant immersion and experience.

There is a rhythm to the gardens there that all appreciate.

What did the gardens here provide? “Hope.”


Next, Dan brought us to work he did in some public spaces. Sadly, the government budgets are being cut in Britain too. But he was delighted to have the opportunity to work on London’s Kings Cross Development and its pocket parks and squares -- employing his signature back-to-nature and the seasons style. He used a series of rills and a reference to old train lines to showcase a sense of place and a respect for the history there. “We got to work with really good plants; use really good horticulture practices in order to create the series of spaces,” Dan explained.



The next project was fueled with an ethereal respect for nature and the landscape.




Located in the Tokachi district in the Hokkaido prefecture of Japan -- close to Russia - where the temperatures can plummet -25 degrees possesses a haunting beauty.

Owned by a Japanese newspaper magnate, he approached Dan to collaborate on a series of landscapes and to create a reconnection to the natural world; to safeguard the trees who call the 400 hectares home. The team was charged with making an ecological park that would last for 1,000 years.

It’s a soft-sell education that appeals to multi generations.

Dan envisioned and then designed a series of spaces. Once again. While designing a look that appears like the clearings at the edge of the forest.

He gently manipulated the native plants there: Forget Me Nots, Primula, a kind of skunk cabbage and persicarias.

He designed a landscape plan that included 18 plant combinations. The strongest plants take hold and are then the gardener can steer & direct the plants.

He created and worked with plant drifts in the glade and lots of ornamental grasses.






Along with Midori, the onsite horticulture lead on the landscape, Dan created a space that leads out through planting areas via a series of waves. “Children seem to disappear or to go over the edge.” Dan laughed as he described how parents watching their children from inside react with alarm at seeing what they think is their children dropping away - then run out to retrieve them - and then they too drop away.”

He added, “It gets people into landscape.”

They are making a difference - changing way people think - about landscapes and horticulture with design.

“We’ve created a dreamy feeling. Visitors can get lost in the immersive, natural landscape,” said Dan, pointing out how here again, color creates a mood.

Speaking of dreamy - before showing us a few images of his own country house in England -- which is very much dreamy -- he showed a massive project restoring and designing for the future of Lowther Castle and Gardens that’s been nestled in the Lake District since the 1700’s.

Peppered with a family history that rivals a film narrative, but grounds that boast Capability Brown elements too, this is an incredible garden story that includes some magic, lots of discoveries, and personalities. He’s been working on this scale since September, 2016, taken in bite sized, 2 year project pieces.

He said he doesn’t tend to use specimen plants but here it worked -- stately trees that set off the oak benches in the courtyard that’s used for events such as Halloween or Guy Fawkes.

Here's a time-sped video of the planting in the courtyard:

And creating parterres as tapestry.


Those walls are an incredible gift of a backdrop.

Also, Himalayan poppies are special things with high Horticulture value seen in the high windows as aperture.

He’s also creates a rose garden with a maize to move through - using a rose as the blueprint for the paths to lead you through.









I love that he designed the benches with legs as thorns.




His own place is 20 acres in Peckham, near Bath.

“It has Incredible soil!” he shared with glee. Of course he has incredible soil. What luck…

He created series of landfalls here, the first was an edible garden.

Again, he uses the borrowed view to design his garden rooms.

“I’m in tune with the seasons. With the environment, here. I can experiment with plants and designs.Not on client.”

It’s a living portfolio.

You can follow along on his Blog, Dig Delve.

And you get order his book, Natural Selection. I got my autographed copy for my home library.

More from Plant-O-Rama

Underused Plants of Interest

This was a breakout session hosted by Jim Glover, Glover Perennials and Joyann Cirigliano, Atlantic Nurseries. (What a happy hortie name: Joyann!)


Jim was a very good speaker - I liked his honest and pragmatic - and passionate delivery. “Some aren’t so great!” and “These are good performers” appealed to me and the audience of working gardeners.

A few of Jim’s stars included: Primula sieboldii ‘Fuji Snow’ that is a good choice for hot, humid summers.

He also showed ‘Drag Queen,’ ‘Seneca Star’ and ‘Musashino’.

Jim pointed out a number of great Ferns - that are great companions too for Platycodons for the ephemeral spring gardens. The Bellflowers are excellent cut flowers and hardy to Zone 4, he noted.

There were so many great plants Jim showed and described.

Here’s a partial list:

Geum triflorum - a spring-blooming reddish pink herbaceous plant - the Native ‘Prairie Smoke’ that is astonishingly pretty in pink.

I will surely use this in border garden designs this year.

Deer resistant Zone 3

Zizia aptera 'Alexanders'



Heart shaped leaf big yellow umbles . May - July attract pollinators

Full sun - some shade

Zone 4. Three-feet tall natives - and they self sow. So be careful.

Jim said they work well in Rain Gardens or a Meadow -- as they are best with a plant interplay.


Monarda bradburiana, Bee Balm.

May- July. Exceedingly drought tolerant pinkish, small 12-18-inch tall; doesn’t take over. Blushed copper on new growth. Beautiful seed head fall to winter.

Love this. Will joyfully pursue using this beauty.

Astrantia major 'Abbey Road'

(Photo:NetPS Plant Finder)

Pink Masterwort pin cushion to white to purple 2-3 ft tall Versatile. June to August bloom prefers light shade

Attracts pollinators.

White Giant and Roma are gorgeous bloomers in the same family.

Spirea alba MeadowSweet is a July to August bloomer that grows 3-4 ft and is “Super versatile” according to Jim. Because of its moisture requirements, it’s a top recommendation for Rain Gardens. It has a dry flower stem in a chestnut brown with native burnt orange fall foliage

Deer resistant pollinator.

Chamaecrista fasciculata, Partridge Pea: Self sows! - Be careful. Yellow blooms July and August. The pea pods are 2 feet tall. Attracts pollinators = Jim showed us an unbelievable congregation of bees and butterflies in one place.

Native, deer resistant.

Jim suggested to sprinkle seeds in the garden for following season- no gaps - and you will get a tapestry affect. I say, “be careful.”

Fargesia robusta - Clumping bamboo 10ft tall best privacy screening. Evergreen wide 6-8 foot wide. Takes pruning.

Solidago - Goldenrod: drought and deer resistant

Leucosceptrum japonicum - Fall bottle bush

Selaginella braunii is an arborvitae - looks like a fern - with a bronze winter foliage

Joyanne’s suggestion for Woody Plants

First off, Joyann claimed she’s an Ecosystem Specialist but not “Native Nazi.” Rather, she follows the pollinators as a way to explain her love for certain woody plants and trees.

Quercus alba - white oak. Her favorite. “We need resistant cultivars” she admonished.

Paper Birch - Prairie Dreams stress tolerant Zone 6-3, Single or multi stem

Sweet Gum Tulip Poplar - 'Little Volunteer' - 30 feet or less

Nyssa sylvatica, Red RageⓇ - Wildfire Black Tupelo - single stem that birds adore.
'Sheri’s Cloud' - variegated clone of a black gum. Medium sized tree with green leaves and a creamy white variegation that turns to pink then bright red in autumn!

Picea - orientalis golden tipped spruce yellow foliage that gets better as it ages.

Abies koreana - Indigo blue pine cones, silver color

Pinus strobus ‘Angel Falls’ weeper with a mini twist waterfall branches

Cryptomeria japonica ‘Gyokuryu’ that has green foliage growing in pretty sprays. (cryptomeria means “hidden parts!”)

Cercis ‘Pink Pom Poms’ is a new fruitless redbud!

Cotinus coggygria 'Velveteeny' - a royal purple Smoke Bush that stays red all summer. Gotta have it!




Crepe Myrtle Ebony Series- flowers seem to glow against the almost black foliage.




Ilex crenata ‘Jersey Jewels’ - dwarf shrub holly.

Ilex Crenata 'Drops of Gold'



Thuja 'Ember Waves' plicata, has bright gold foliage that matures to chartreuse, and in winter, it turns deep gold with orange tips. Thuja plicata has a ripcord like grass and is compact.

Spirea japonica Candy CornⓇ with leaves that are orange to yellow. I’ve never been a fan of what I consider a “too-common” shrub but this baby is pretty glamorous.


Same goes for Blue KazooⓇ another hearty but now pretty with its cool blue foliage.


New blue berries: Bluecrop blueberry with two harvests - self-pollinating and works in colder climates.

Plus, vines and ground covers, two new Knockout Roses (a peachy coral and pink floriflorious): and new small hydrangeas and more.

Plants are so glamorous...

Some of the highlights from the Trade Show included: Womanswork.  I purchased two pair of garden gloves - one pair is an Arm Saver - that thumb-to-elbow protection often needed when working with some tough plants.
I also learned our beloved and respected horticulturist and author, Ruth Clausen, has an "Ask Ruth" column featured on the Womanswork website.  No better authority than Dear Ruth.  Kudos!

I also highlight my friends at Pennoyer Newman whose antique and handcrafted resin pots, containers, and sculpture I recommend and use for my clients. I love Virginia and team so much that I bid on the pot they provided POR for the Silent Auction - and won!  (I just need to figure out how to get it home from BBG!) 
I also loved seeing Siebert and Rice - the leading American importer of handmade terracotta planters and urns from Italy.
There was the Structural Fiberglass Planters by Tintori Castings that caught my eye. I like their grey, lightweight planters that work so well for rooftops and places where weight is an issue. A kind of skinny pot!

The Horticultural Associates are a grower's resource for the landscape artist. 

New York Botanical Garden's "Hortie Hoopla!" Turns Five

The number five is good -- we all wave a “high five” when we are saying congratulations in a physically demonstrable way, don’t we?

I researched the significance of the number five and found that “People with the lucky number five/5 usually tend to pursue freedom.

They do not like to be bounded by their surroundings or other people.

They judge or enjoy things with their senses…”


Well if all that doesn’t more or less describe the Hortie Hoopla attendees’ spirit, I don’t know what does.

Freedom and celebrating nature and the environment with all of our senses is truly a hallmark of those who choose to make horticulture their career.


This Wednesday, July 19, 2017, marks the fifth anniversary of The New York Botanical Garden’s (NYBG) Annual Green Industry Intern Field Day -- or as it’s affectionately referred to: Hortie Hoopla, and hosted by NYBG’s School of Professional Horticulture (SoPH).



(Karen Washington speaking at last year’s Hortie Hoopla.)

The brainchild of Charles Yurgalevitch Director, School of Professional Horticulture, NYBG, and inspired by the rather prescient feature that successful author and horticulturist Ken Druse wrote for Rodale Press in 2013 where Ken introduced us to “The Next Generation” - six young horticulturists, emblematic of the Emergent professionals who are the future of American gardening, Hortie Hoopla has grown to become the seminal event for the future of professional horticulture.

Of the original six, several have spoken at past Hortie Hoopla events - I especially love that Kelly Norris! Here I am last year showing Kelly the spelling of my name so he could autograph his book, Plants with Style for me.






Me, Kelly, and Ken. Happy Plant People.




Kelly Norris speaking at 2016 Hortie Hoopla at NYBG


Brie Arthur is really on a successful roll - this firecracker of a plantswoman is now a first-time author with her just-released book, The Foodscape Revolution, (can't wait to get my autographed copy) published by St. Lynn’s Press; she is the recipient of the American Horticultural Society’s (AHS) first-ever “Emerging Horticultural Professional.”

 

The AHS clearly took a cue from Hortie Hoopla. High-Fives to that!

Brie is also the Keynote speaker at this year’s Hortie Hoopla. Again, High Fives all ‘round.

According to Charles, this year’s Green Industry Intern Field Day has a whopping pre-registration of nearly 250 attendees; over 175 of whom are interns or seasonals. “Further, the event has grown to be regional - attracting attendees from a broader geographic base than the original city or tri-state core audience,” explained Charles. “We’re hosting young professionals from as far away as North Carolina and Massachusetts,” he added, with great pride.

If you are a an intern or seasonal and haven’t yet registered, you can still do so - SoPH and Charles’ team make an exception for you.

Here are the details for Hortie Hoopla's schedule:

5th Annual NYC-area Green Industry Intern Field Day - Hortie Hoopla 5

When: Wednesday, July 19, 2017 @ NYBG

2900 Southern Boulevard

Bronx, NY 10458-5126


Time: 11 a.m.–dusk

Join NYBG for its annual event for interns and seasonal employees involved in the green industry.

This free industry-sponsored event features remarks from top horticulturists around the Tri-State Area.

Plus this being a magical kind of garden, you may discover a special surprise - or two - on this very remarkable day.

View the Garden’s collections and talk with the Garden’s Horticulture curators, test your plant ID skills with a contest, and wrap up the day with food and refreshments, games, and prizes. Nice!

The School of Professional Horticulture is very proud to host Brienne Arthur as the 2017 keynote speaker.

In addition to being a first-time author, Brie helps lead the national suburban foodscape movement -- a model of community development that incorporates sustainable, local food production.

To Register: RSVP with the name and email address of each person attending, and the name of your organization to Eric Lieberman at 718.817.8580 or elieberman@nybg.org.

Space is limited to one supervisory staff member per group of interns.

Arrive early to view the breathtaking works of art created by world-renowned artist Dale Chihuly in his first major garden exhibition in New York in more than ten years.

Program of Events

• 11 a.m.— Early Registration

• Lunch on Your Own (Pine Tree Café open all afternoon)

• 12:30–3 p.m.—Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall

Welcome: 

• Todd Forrest, Arthur Ross Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections

“My Stories”/Featured Speakers:

• Francisco Davila—Prospect Park Alliance Arboriculture Supervisor

• Louis Bauer—Director of Horticulture, Wave Hill

• Melanie Sifton—Vice President for Horticulture, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

• Rashid Poulson—Horticulture Supervisor, Brooklyn Bridge Park

• Francisca Coelho—Vivian and Edward Merrin Vice President for Glasshouses and Exhibitions, New York Botanical Garden

Presentation: 

• Ken Druse, author/photographer

Keynote Address: 

• Brienne Arthur, author of The Foodscape Revolution 

3–5 p.m.—Visit the Collections at NYBG, including, 

The Thain Family Forest, 

Native Plant Garden, and 

Green Materials Recycling Center (new composting facility), & Hands-on composting demonstrations

Plant ID contest (ongoing)

5 p.m. to dusk—Food and refreshments, fun, games, and prizes in the Clay Family Picnic Pavilion

Food and drink generously provided by:

Floral Landscape Services

Etain Health

Landcraft Environments, Ltd.

Mario Bulfamante & Sons

Bartlett Tree Experts

NY State Arborists Association

Riverside Park Conservancy

The Bronx Brewery (I love this craft beer!)

Thank you, sponsors.

If you are a green industry professional - or want to become one -- this event is for you. See you at the Garden.

Green Industry Intern Field Day III, at The New York Botanical Garden proclaims Hort Revolution is here; Hort Careers Growing

Charles Yurgalevitch, Director, NYBG School of Professional Horticulture, welcomes all to
Green Industry Intern Field Day III

 The day was already a seasonal gift by the time Metro North’s doors glided open at The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). Ribbons of New York City-area Horticulture interns - or “Green Industry” interns - as the moniker has been rebooted -- were streaming into the Garden, along with plant, food, and culture enthusiasts keen to experience the Frida Kahlo exhibit and the Wednesday Greenmarket hosted by NYBG.  


I too bristled with excitement.  There is the unmitigated pride that goes along with being a part of - and a huge supporter of The New York Botanical Garden Hosts 'Hortie Hoopla .../Green Industry Field Day.  I’ve contributed, attended, and reported on all three Hortie Hoopla events, I’m happy to say.  Plus this year, I have the distinct point of honor to see “my” School of Professional Horticulture (SoPH) students as role models and guides for the Green Industry intern guests.  See, I’ve had the privilege to teach the SoPH students the last two semesters.  They are incredible. The future of Horticulture is unmistakably ascendent with these dedicated students at the helm of a new Horticulture.  They recognize it’s a plant-centric world confounded with climate change and yet at the same time, see a renewed dedication to protecting and invigorating our environment, stewardship, and sustainability.  Make no mistake, they hold the keys to our future. And that they hail from around the globe and come to NYBG for the best in horticulture education and hands-on training only amplifies the “green” gravitas.

Proof that the adage, “Knowledge is Power” resonates - this year’s Green Industry interns and the SoPH students were ready to soak up all the information and experience of the day.  After all, they are be poised to lead the world.  

But then, that’s my love letter to the students every week…

The weather for Green Industry Field Day the last two years was oppressive.  While we horticulturists and gardeners are a hearty lot - touring the NYBG gardens to bask in their beauty and participate in the Hoopla’s Plant ID “contest” which is a kind of “Huckle-Buckle-Beanstalk” meets brain game - the humidity and high heat, needless to say, rendered most to a weaker point.  Not so, this year!  Everything was garden nirvana.  

The morning’s feature talks were superlative.

Charles Yurgalevitch, NYBG’s Director, School of Professional Horticulture, and the acknowledged “maestro” behind this respected, professional educational and networking event, welcomed the attendees and reviewed the elements of the power-packed day.

Up first was Todd Forrest, NYBG’s Arthur Ross Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections.   Forrest - (don’t get started on the name/career affiliation thing! Todd was even the lead on the Garden’s old-growth 50+ acre forest earlier in his NYBG career) and kicked off the day with just the right mix of his own career experience and green industry internships.

Forrest noted that if “endless learning” is top-of-mind appealing or attractive in a job - then there is no better choice than horticulture.  Forrest added that learning practical, helpful information that can be shared is what he loves about being in Public Horticulture.  “It’s an awesome thing to me -- working in public hort for 25 years; 18 here at NYBG.”

He added, “There’s a perspective on the value of public horticulture in a changing world.”

He joked to interns - thanking them for “taking vow of poverty” in pursuing their chosen field and profession.  

I didn’t laugh too much… We must change this.  Professional Horticulturists do real, valuable, honored work.  Top-tier landscape architects make outstanding money so why shouldn’t more elements of professional horticulture pay as good as other important, significant, and artful careers? More on this subject in another post.  

What do you think?

Forrest concluded by saluting the interns and students saying, “Good for you.  You get to work your butts off in a variety of battled circumstances, including, pests and weather.”  

Charles noted every NYC borough was represented, as well as upstate, Long Island, Pennsylvania, and the Garden State.  He said, “The common denominator is our love of working with plants.”  Charles described the day’s high standard of horticulture, garden visits, and career information.  He also thanked the sponsors, as noted in my last post: The 3rd Annual, NYBG NYC-Area, Green Industries Intern … as the day can’t be produced without  their generous support.  

Featured Speakers

Karen Daubmann -  Associate Vice President of Exhibitions and Public Engagement, spoke first. Daubmann described how she and her team produce four to five major exhibitions per year, plus another six. The exhibitions promote visitations, new visitors, and encourage membership. Daubmann described her job menu of writing for the website, for catalogs, and for exhibition copy.  

She and her team work four years in advance of a major exhibit.  Tantalizing, was her description of how she traveled to Mexico to research the plants and the Kahlo home and museum in order to inform the Frida Kahlo special event now on display throughout NYBG.  

Daubmann went on to describe her own intern experiences, including one in Rhode Island doing research, counting taxus roots, and being happy to be outside. She also interned at Walt Disney World building topiaries in the middle of the night.  “Disney knew that atmosphere affects visitor experience.”  She added she didn’t want to be inside drafting - she wanted to work in public display gardens.  She advised the attendees to get and give real-world experience. “See what it takes.“   Daubmann added, “Pay attention to schedules and the work on a daily basis.  And talk to each other,”  she advised. “Everyone has a different journey in horticulture. Learn where you’ve come from.”  

Rebecca McMackin - Director of Horticulture for the award-winning Brooklyn Bridge Park  - surprisingly, said she was never an intern. Rebecca went on to describe her eclectic background of school and work experiences - that seriously could be wholeheartedly characterized as a rather, personalized internship, of sorts. She said, “Hort attracts eccentrics.  We’re almost all romantics.”  No argument here.  I believe horticulturists and plant lovers are touched by special angels and nature warriors...  

Rebecca said, “Gardening for me was applied science - no statistics -- and I never get bored.” She further cracked up the eager intern and student audience with her recollections of working in Brooklyn and the NYC Parks Department, saying, “Plastic is part of the city’s soil.”  Further, as an urban parks hort worker, “‘We had to destroy inappropriate, anatomically-configured snow sculptures, and poo things therein…” Today, she and her rock star- arborist-now-husband whom she met in the park, recently celebrated the birth of their first child. She described her hort-park work as crazy (as crazy as those squirrel people!) but also “sooo rewarding.”  She added, “We are people’s  last hope for biodiversity and they love you.”  Rebecca encouraged the up-and-comers to attend as many lectures as they can, especially those available from Metro Hort Group and the Torrey Botanical Society  Takeaway?  Rebecca, the cute and energetic hort leader concluded by saying, “Even on the worst days it’s a dream job.”

Heather Liljengren - Supervising Seed Collector/Field Taxonomist, Greenbelt Native Plant Center said she is a lover of seeds.   Her dream hort internship was studying tropical plants in Hawaii for three months.  There were almost audible smiles in the audience as a kind of demonstrated “hort envy…”

Heather described how she worked with the scientists on the edible taro plants and the endangered plants.  She admonished the interns and students to be mindful of what her instructor, Dr. David Bernie, told her: “Do something that matters. Do something that contributes to the natural world.”   She shared how the Hawaiian natives descried the “manos” as coming to suck the power of the land and how it informed her. She knew then she wanted “to give back.”  And she discovered a way to give back through ethnobotany and research conservation.

Heather said she also knew she needed one year of practical experience.  She moved to New York without a job, pointing out that was a big leap of faith. But she knew she wanted to be in Gotham. Despite working a series of rather mundane jobs such as watering plants for an interior-scaping company. “And I had a college degree,” she added with humor.  A break came when she got another internship at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  For nine months she worked with the curators, gardeners, and scientists. In a stroke of botanical magic working with the BBG scientists she was able to go the the Pine Barrens.  

As an aside, I did this too.  It is indeed a revelation and life-changing experience.  

While working at the Pine Barrens, Heather met a women collecting seeds.  

Heather had her “aha” moment.  

She asked this woman - who it turns out, was working for the Greenbelt Native Plant Seed Saving initiative about her job.  Heather looked at her with a sense of wonderment.  

She asked, “Can I follow you for a ‘Day in the Life’ kind of experience?”  Of course.

Heather concluded by saying, “Be a force in the natural world.  Be more connected to the landscape.  This is an exciting and growing industry. Find your niche!”

Jason Sheets - Brooklyn/Queens Regional Director, New York Restoration Project NYRP  said he started his horticultural  career “In a pile of trash.”  

That got the audience’s attention.  

Jason went on to say he really started his love of plants in Guatemala - at a women’s cooperative, cultivating herbs and medicinal plants in a deep jungle. Jason described how he contracted dengue fever there yet was cured by the locals using native leaves that he drank and that were placed on his chest.

I later suggested he contact the Gates Foundation Commits More than $500 Million to ... - because the Foundation has been working on a solution to dengue fever.  Jason’s story of success needs to be shared and promoted, don’t you agree?  

After his healing and recovery, Jason said he returned in good health - back to “the concrete jungle.”  

He acknowledged “dating himself” saying he found his first job via the Village Voice.  This job posting led to his work with the New York  Restoration Project - the effective, happy, Bette Midler-founded organization.  And it must be pointed out - the NYRP is the only organization Mayor Rudy Giuliani backed away from!  He says he got the Mafia, longshoreman, but not the gardeners…

Jason described how he started working in High Bridge in the Inwood section of Washington Heights.  “There was  no maintenance there for 25 years,” he said.   

The situation such as it was sounded indeed bleak: trash, stripped cars, diapers... There were also “red neck pheasants and vomit.” What a landscape.  

Jason’s observations fueled his desire for horticulture.  Further, he zoned in on restoration work -- unearthing walkways and pathways - doing ecological restoration work.

Jason knew he’d be connected to the earth and wanted to be in an urban environment.  After all, he grew up in New York City.  After NYRP acquired 51 parks and subsequently became an LLC working in a private/public partnership, the organization called him back to create field operations.  He soon found himself in small parks building communities of volunteers who want to be involved in their neighborhoods.  He said he learned on the job by working with landscape architects, gardeners, attending the plethora of hort lectures available to New Yorkers, as well as doing his own esearch.  He still enjoys working outdoors and having the ability to touch other people's’ lives.  He said, “I’ve been blessed - I have a great work - in a great city. And I’m always learning.   Do what you want to do.  Follow what you want to do.”  Jason added, “Watch the plants - visit botanic gardens - follow the four seasons.”

Tom Smaar - the soon-to-be-departed Director of Horticulture at the almost too-popular High Line  said “There is a revolution going on now in horticulture that is very exciting.”  

Given his impressive horticultural pedigree, it was somewhat of a surprise to hear him say he started out not liking plants.  He grew up an “Army brat,” living with his family in Hawaii, Georgia (world-class plant places) but he didn’t pay attention to plants.  “Things started clicking in high school in Pennsylvania,” he said. He had a pet dog and woods there.  Seems natural then that he started learning plants at that time; in that place.

“My first Latin word was “hepatica,” he recalled.  In school, he pursued environmental studies.  His first internship was a kind of cautionary tale. According to Tom, his first application was a non-starter. “They rejected me,” he joked.  But another candidate dropped out and well, one thing led to another and ultimately - to that internship - at no less than the revered Longwood Gardens.  And he got hired as an employee.  Tom advised, “Take advantage of the internship - - get into it - ask about it.”  

Tom highlighted his work experience in Seattle, as an estate manager, and at the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston.  In both green worlds, he was rather thrust into situations, er, opportunities -- where he had to hire teams, manage budgets - such as they were.   For the benefit of the horticulture students and interns in attendance, he pointed out that the relationship to plants is, of course, important, but in public gardens especially, it’s the relationship to people too.  And he very much likes that.  “People enjoy a park - or the botanic garden - they’re in the moment,” he noted.  He added, “Horticulture is amazing - there are sooo many things you can do. We impact people’s lives.” Tom advised the hort students and interns to “Seek their dreams.”  

Charles then introduced Ken Druse (About Ken:) naturalist, award-winning garden writer, author of more than 20 books, photographer, and host of the weekly radio program, Ken Druse REAL DIRT.  Ken’s latest book The Natural Shade Garden: Ken Druse: 9780517580172 is a robust - hands-on, information-packed tome, and probably his most important contribution to the next generation of horticulturists, especially Ken’s emphasis on “climate change.”

Ken possesses an inimitable speaking style.  He is a world-class garden leader and lecturer.  And he has an enviable skill for targeting his audience.  Here, at the Green Industry Intern/Hortie Hoopla, he blended a potent combination of stimulating experience, academic information, humor, and yes, his admitted cynicism.

“Recognize the value of good horticulture,”  Ken proclaimed.

He launched his presentation with the query, “What is a garden?”  Via funny, yet all-too-real advertising, YouTube Videos, and on-site/in-situ images, Ken showed how the business and world of horticulture has a public relations problem.  From the commercial for powerful jet - blowers that screech and blow relentlessly in suburbia to the proliferation of the curious mulch “volcanos” punctuating the landscapes.  

Ken also decried the HGTV view that a “garden gets done.” (Us garden lovers are in on the joke here. See, a garden is never truly “done.” Rather it evolves. Besides, in proper English - only food gets “done.”)  

Ken admonished the interns to think “It’s a garden ‘task’ vs. ‘work.’  It’s not a chore!”  Then there were the images from the big box stores that cluster garden plants with the chemicals and poisons that eradicate the pollinators or anything that’s crawling, flying, or otherwise not invited to the landscape and garden.  

“They promote a garden like it’s Christmas lights,” Ken  bemoaned while referring to the garden plants’ resident SKU’s now sharing real estate with other “home decor.”  Yikes.  If one needed any more proof that the age of the Collector is over, look no more.  

Ken went on to showcase the romanticism and passion for building plant collections.  He told a probably as-yet uninitiated audience about the process avid plant lovers went through to acquire rare and new plants - so that the audience could see horticulture through the optics of the plant kingdom’s proud and esteemed history.  There is/was excitement and reverence for the plants. He described, for example, how a collector had to get the new Hosta.  And people would clamor to visit collections in order to see and witness the plants. “Would people buy ‘weird’ plants, today?” Ken pondered… Then, sadly, answered his own question, showing Heronswood Nursery that was considered one of the world’s finest nurseries offering rare and unusual plant varieties, that was originally established by the naturalist,  Daniel J. Hinkley.  It was sold to Burpee then somewhat promptly, closed.  A Horticulture loss and a real tragedy -- and not just for plant lovers…

Ken also showed Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) new visitor center, commenting that he’s  not sure about this as a gateway to bringing those visitors into the garden to engage with the plants.  He thinks it might just set up a scenario or situation where visitors will view the video orientation and leave it at that.  Not go out into the garden, comfortable with the fact that they’ve seen the best of what the garden has to offer...   

He does admire the strategy of the High Line - whereby the design encourages visitors with a way to get close - “to stop and notice - engage and encounter the plants.”

Ken continued, pointing out another changing business element of horticulture that the audience needs to consider.  Independent nurseries, along with plant collectors, are disappearing.  (I was thinking this is not unlike independent book stores.) He showed a Kia dealership where his local nursery used to be. But rather than fret their loss he explained what nurseries should be. Bring in the excitement of plants, unique plants, and plants that tell a story.  

Then Ken focused on that pesky, An Inconvenient Truth: Climate Change.  He showed residences in California.  That the once “Golden State” is rendered to almost biblical disasters is so incredibly heartbreaking.  There is the saying, “As California goes, so goes the nation.” But please, dear Mother Nature, not in this case…  

Ken pointed out the need to limit fuel around the house if one lives in forest fire prone areas.  Plant succulents not roses. (Think, “right plant/right place.)  He showed the queen of designing with these drought-tolerant beauties, our friend, Debra Lee Baldwin.  And not two days before, I was telling my friend, Joni and her son Kyle who were in Gotham from Los Angeles to “ditch the lawn and design with agaves and succulents!  Ken noted the great loss of land in LA with approximately one football field’s worth every hour.  “They drain the wetlands and build casinos.  They could restore the wetlands - but it would cost something like $13 billion.” He added “...That  was about equal to two weeks spending on the war in Iraq.”   Further, closer to home, he advised we need to make wetland buffers in the New York, tri-state area.  Ominously, he said, “Superstorm Sandy can happen again.”  

Solid career advise from Ken Druse to next generation of Hort Professionals at Hortie Hoopla III

Ken concluded by pointing out the increasing plethora of jobs available in horticulture, showing page after page of opportunities; providing a list of recommendations. From Metro Hort Group to Emergent, The Facebook social media connection for Young Nursery Professionals

The Keynote Speaker was the irrepressible Jared Barnes, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Horticulture, S.F. Austin State University.

His exuberant talk was titled “Keep Growing! An Abbreviated Anatomy of Cultivating Yourself and the Craft of Horticulture.”  

The first image was Jared at five years old - in the garden with his grandfather -  tending and clearly enjoying their homegrown corn & tomatoes.  Jared’s horticulture career was clearly an early launch.  He was a Master Gardener at 15-years old and a featured profile in Ken Druse’s seminal series in “Organic Gardening:” Next Generation 2.0 and in large part, the foundation or basis for the Green Industry Field Day.  

He described his first internship at the The North Carolina Arboretum.

Jared challenged the attendees to talk among themselves and come up with an answer to “What are three ways plants inspires us?”  In 45 seconds.  Some of the answers:  “Plants are beautiful.  Sexy.  NYC street trees. Plants are like children.”  All great replies.

Plants teach us about relationships, Jared pointed out.  

Look at 10 ways plants can inspire us. The conceit of the presentation was how Jared linked the plant behavior with human expression.

1. Terraform  - Plants can change the environment they are growing in. For example Pioneer Plants create change. Legumes change the soil.  So too grad and undergrad students at NC State.  He brought them together -- and in the process, transformed the work environment.
2. Bloom in the shadows  - He showed heartstopping whitewater falls in NC and nearby - in the dense shade things can grow.  There are trilliums by the thousands.  “We have to get down on our hands and knees to see, they are so small.  But there is no ‘Imposter Syndrome’ - or self doubt.”   He admonished the audience not to harbor self doubt or a sense of failure or wallow in the shadows. “Do you think the trilliums are saying that?  No!    Find a niche and do it well.  One day - you’ll be one of the giants.”
3. Produce rings - He showed a tree’s primary and secondary growth  each year. Likewise, he suggested the interns and students be observant and record their thoughts and images.  “Take note - keep a journal of ideas, quotes, inspiration. Whether on paper” - he showed his journal - “Or digital i.e. “Evernote or Trello App or on smartphone -- you can capture ideas,” Jared said.  “Gardening needs journaling - keep track.”
   
4. Failure becomes Compost - In nature, a discarded something becomes something better.  Nature is forever changing. So too, our failures shouldn’t inhibit us. We can learn from them. Do better.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Explore the earth -  pretty much what plants do even if they are mostly sedentary.  He showed a strangler fig image - where the plant still manages to explore the earth.  He congratulated the audience for being at the Garden for the event - learning and exploring and encouraged them to get the most out of their internships.
6. Make secondary products - plants are extraordinary at doing this.  They have lipids, sugars, etc. to aid in their survival and growth. His example was the leaves changing color in the autumn. We humans need to engage in primary and secondary pursuits or hobbies, including cooking, drinking, sports.  
7. Embrace Dormancy - Plants in temperate and tropics experience this.  “We humans don’t embrace dormancy enough”  He encouraged the audience to sleep and take vacations.
8. Be a Symbiant and not a parasite.  Jared’s hort eg is the symbiosis of the pea plant and nodules in the soil -- mutually beneficial.  For humans, he said, think how we can connect and help our environment -- where we work and live and..  Think how you can invest in your network - help others.  Don’t sap energy off other people. Don’t use social media to just “Like” Facebook posts.  Form friendships - connect with others and  help others in horticulture.
9. Propagate - John Bartram and William “discovered” the Tree of the Month - Franklinia or Franklin Tree (Franklinia … in 1765 Franklinia but was never seen again in the wild.  We have Franklinia today because they reached out and preserved it.  He said we need to think about how we can reach out and preserve.  Sow enthusiasm. Perpetuate clones. Graft interests. We need to teach kids about plants, too.  
10. Keep Growing - Plants keep developing; blooming.  People too. Keep thinking how to grow - via lectures, books. Ultimately - show initiative.  
    

Speakers: (L-R) Yurgalevitch, Sheets, Smaar, McMackin, Liljengren, Daubmann, Druse, Barnes

Following a catered lunch accompanied by career talks and conversations,

the interns were grouped and escorted for their tours of the New York Botanical Garden.  Evening afforded them the opportunity to network amid the charm and beauty of NYBG’s Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden and enjoy bbq supper, Bronx Beer, and a very special day of Green memories and education.