There's no Place Like Home. Explore the Promise of a Better 2021: How to Live the Good Life with Exterior Design, Gardens, Cocktail Culture

 

I am willing to bet that most of us wouldn’t argue that making those 2020 predictions at the start of last year never, ever imagined what was about to careen into our worlds… 

So you might find it a wee bit bold or a fool’s errand that I’m even considering sharing a Trend Predictor or Forecast for 2021.

And yet. 

My belief is that rather than all the recent mea culpas by the professional prognosticators who claim that heretofore we’ve all taken things like health, family, and home for granted, (and then go on to promote their products or services…)  I am convinced we all know that is emphatically not true. I double-dare anyone to prove that that was the case. 

We’ve long cherished our family and friends.

I suggest that instead, what we crave is the normalcy that comes with scheduled regimes.  When that’s upended, we’re at a collective loss.  

We need our routines. Our disciplines.  

Therefore, my first forecast for 2021 is we will relinquish the sense of self pity. Let’s stop whining about the life we had before coronavirus. Moreover, there are far, far too many of us who have lost family and friends to this covid. Let's honor them. And recognize there have been pandemics previously - throughout history. Isolating and staying at home this time is way more connected than any previous catastrophe. 

I say buck up. Learn from those who suffered in true isolation. 

No less than Nelson Mandela who endured the most egregious form of isolation, noted that there was “no end and no beginning; there is only one’s own mind which can begin to play tricks.”  I read that he established routines. His integrity demanded courtesy and manners. Plus, he found peace in his garden on Robben Island. 

Gandhi (who was also jailed in South Africa...) found solace in cooking. He organized to gain permission (for his fellow Indians) to cook their own food. Gandhi helped in that food preparation and cooking; and twice a day distributed the food. 

In addition, these moral icons read like there was no tomorrow.

There are countless others who have much to teach us. 

In this spirit of learning from the past rather than a fake nostalgia for a life that was “before pandemic,” I share what a pragmatic future can look like for those who still pursue an artful piece of the world that embraces my favorite genres: Gardens, Homegrown Food, Tablescapes, and Garden-to-Glass Cocktails. 

I've always appreciated the determination and optimism of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and refer often to her quote, “If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with… There’s no place like home.”

Come Explore the Promise of a Better 2021 

When you first read about “pods” did you think it was relatable to you? 

As a horticulturist, I just thought it was a fruit or seed case… Ha, ha (smile).

In this new world order, it refers to those in your immediate, “small, self-contained networks of people who limit their non-distanced social interaction to one another—in other words, they're the small group of people with whom you share air without using breath-control precautions such as masks” (!) 

Trends For 2021

• The Glory of Gardens as Home Entertainment Spaces

In the new Pandemic Portal of Hope, Entertaining in the socially distanced world we now inhabit with our global friends and family, I forecast that even more homeowners and renters, will create home-based Entertainment spaces outdoors.  

I’ve already designed a drive-in styled Garden Theater space.  

And GrillScape Gardens 

Why not home concert venues?  

You might enlist private bands or musicians -- or dancers - to host and entertain you and your guests: socially-distanced, of course. 

I can design garden rooms to amplify and embrace music. 

 

Think fairy lights.  Blankets, Pillows. Plants. Magic.

Outdoor Entertainment is doable most of the year, in most every temperate zone. 

As a garden designer, I’ve always created garden spaces for my clients that reflect their lifestyle, including outdoor kitchens, edible gardens, and fragrance gardens.  

I see even more of a desire for that in 2021. 

You don’t need an estate or even a suburban yard.  Rooftop gardens or terrace gardens with container or raised bed gardens work their magic too.

I saw that Pennoyer & Newman added a Parterre Planter Collection. Readers know I adore Virginia and her custom planters. I recommend them to my clients. 

The planters are recreated and cast from originals that accessorized the great gardens of the world.  There are many lightweight, beautiful planters in their collections that will add drama and enduring good looks to your terrade or rooftop or patio or pool area.  

I also recommend Brooklyn-based Opiary. I’ve reviewed and written about them previously. 

At the same time, there are many other sources. I see some good looking pots on Etsy. You can also make Hypertufa or cedar containers or ones using reclaimed wood. 

You can also support your local artists: look for a link in your online community. There are many folks who will create a container design in the medium of your choice: wood, ceramic, concrete (you can paint these pots as I have for clients), or re-purpose cans, jars, shoes, or wagons!

Last year, I wanted to add something special to the three raised beds for Gina & Ted, a special garden design client, in time for their wedding.  

I was inspired by the two golden tractor tires, at the Paris Opera, titled Les Saturnales, that were used to create such an astonishing illusion. When describing the work, Claude Lévêque said, “They galvanise, for me, the organic and mechanic aspect of the symmetrical, ornamentally-charged architecture of the Palais Garnier, which is a call for performances.”

 

Moi aussi!  Garden Art has long been referred to as the “slowest of the performing arts.” 

Knowing Gina and Ted are committed recycle advocates, I figured they were game. 

I selected the tires, spray-painted them gold, and voila!  Three “rings” for the wedding. One topped with a “jewel” of an heirloom vase that is Ted’s Mother’s.  Creativity is liberating.  

Now, the tires are all-season planters. We all love what Gina and Ted have added to the look this past year.  Did I say cosmos, marigolds and more sunflowers? 

• Home is now the undisputed place where we dine and entertain.  

I’ll be looking to design more diverse outdoor garden rooms that feature cozy and relaxed entertainment centers; more seating.  

2021 will be the year you will want to add more quality outdoor seating to the various garden rooms, in addition to adding modular seating furniture that will allow you to distance and get cozy, depending on the Pod.  Munder-Skiles offers ravishingly beautiful garden furniture. 

 

Frontgate, Ballard Designs, and Wayfair, to name a few resources, will provide you with lots of options.  And ask your garden designer!  

You can also make pallet furniture    

And modularize as needed. 

When you create your outdoor Entertaining Garden Rooms, consider how these spaces can not only readily accommodate social distancing but how much you had been dreaming you wanted these looks and experiences. It’s not that you have to but that you want to create these home spaces.  Now, there’s no reason to put off the design. 

• Outdoor Dining. Upgrade from the picnic table. Unless it looks like this! (DIY Network)

(picky stitch)

Some other outdoor dining tables to consider with social distancing options: 

I’m thinking the best outdoor dining tables are those that are most adaptable. Ones that accommodate your Pod.  These squares, for example, can be socially-distanced and later ~ when the corona risk is diminished (we need that vaccine!) - you can put the fours together to make a big table for all your beloved guests. 

I so love dining tables with the water or garden feature in the center. I saw one at the Architectural Digest Show - remember when we could attend design shows? Gosh, all those people crowding the aisles. The shows surely fed into my innate curiosity and sense of adventure, discovering artisans and craftspeople dedicated to enhancing our lifestyle. But hey, they are still there! You can read my previous posts (and linked here) for more inspiration. Those designers need us more than ever. 

• The Outdoor Cocktail Lounge is the ultimate fantasy. This will trend. 

You can create your own Tiki Bar.  Or an English Pub. Or an Amalfi Coast inspired cocktail area

 

Or a French Bistro Look: 

(uptown acorn)

(houseandgarden.co.uk)

You can design a space that gives you a sense of getting away. A fantasy corner. 

Position your Outdoor cocktail lounge furniture in the garden if you have the space. If you’re short on the real estate, pot up some evergreens, topiaries, and/or some fragrant herbs to drive the illusion and fuel the imagination. 

• A trend that will continue to surge for 2021: for both outdoor and indoor mixology, is the snazzy, effervescenti Bar Cart. It serves as both the bar and the Happy Hour’s stylish focal point, adding glamour to the space. Keep it simple and elegant: stock your favorite spirits, mixing tools, glassware, ice bucket, and cocktail napkins. For a full how-to, visit my Garden Glamour post on How to Curate & Style a Home Bar Cart: The Essentials and the Glamorous Accessories.

   

 

• We can also look forward to increasingly sophisticated Outdoor Kitchen rooms that include such built-in modular features as a pizza oven, refrigerators, sinks, trash compactor, lighting, countertops, rotisseries, herb planters, and more.  The Outdoor Kitchens can include seating, a bar, big-screen TV, a spectacular sound system for concerts, a fire pit and outdoor heaters, to really expand your living space.  If you have to shelter-in-place, might as well make your home the resort you once traveled to, to get away from it all.  Now, you're getting it all, but no traveling. Just open the door and walk to paradise!  Again, if real estate is at a premium, you can make it work with fewer modular components; a table-top grill, a few potted herbs for grilling, and a few candles. Make the Magic... 

            (See my Architectural Digest and Grillscape Gardens links above for more details.) 

• I see more outdoor Zen gardens for yoga, pilates, meditation

• Likewise there will be more Home and Garden Gyms and Exercise rooms 

• Another stay-at-home trend I forecast is more garden rooms dedicated to Pod-friendly sports, including Boules or Pétanque. We have this pretty silver set: 

It’s a fun sport for all ages and easy to stay socially-distanced while playing the game. 

 

Likewise, Horseshoes. There wasn’t a family summer party where the horseshoes weren’t set up and enjoyed over many rounds of beer and cigars. It was mainly the Dads who threw the horseshoes back then.  Smile… 

(Own the Yard)

No room for tossing the horseshoes? Go with a table top. (Highlights) 

• All these expanded home entertaining areas will inevitably lead to the need for more Garden accessories; statues, tuteurs, sundials, bird baths. And for Entertaining or serving outdoors: more sophisticated glassware, plates, and cutlery. Higher-end washable or compostable. Not one-time use products.  

• There will be more Community Gardens. In every locale. Folks who gather to nurture their shared gardens - at a social distance - also share recipes, conversations, support, and more.  

• Bird Watching  This is an ever-fascinating pastime. Last year during the pandemic, bird-watching increased ten-fold in some areas.  The number of bird species in a person’s surroundings correlates to happiness, according to a study reported in “Birdwatching.” Birds increase happiness! We’ve seen some exotic birds in our yards, including owls and eagles this past year. We love watching the blue jays and cardinals on our bird feeder and all the diverse avians who bathe in our bird bath. With its solar-powered fountain, it’s like having a spa shower for the birds. Ha. I signed up for the National Audubon Society’s mobile App. It’s a great resource.  Get yourself a good pair of binoculars and enjoy the show! You’ll be delighted watching the hi-jinks of the native and the migratory birds.  Which brings me to the next trend:

• Native Plants and Healing Plants. With more and expanded gardens ~ from terrace to backyards, you can enable a more sustainable environment. The National Audubon Society has a page that will link you to a Native Plant database to help feed the birds (and other pollinators) in your zip code.   Healing Plants are not only beautiful, but their medicinal powers will increase our physical and emotional health and well-being. If you sign up for the Garden Glamour blog, I’ll send you a free top-ten list of Healing Plants - for indoors or for in the garden. (The email subscription is right below my bio) 

• Plant Decor. More of us will use indoor and outdoor plants as part of decorating our homes and gardens.  Hot spicy colors will excite our senses while the cool blues and pinks will soothe us.  You can match your plants’ color palette to the room’s wall paint and furniture.  Likewise, outdoors in your newly expanded exterior design. While Pantone has named Ultimate Grey as one of their Colors of the year for 2021, I’m over most grey at this stage.  I’m more for the vibrancy and comfort of their Illuminating as “a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power.”  That sounds like a happy addition and one that will mix with soothing greens.

• Growing Edibles  Last year we saw a dramatic increase in folks wanting to grow their own food, especially lettuces, herbs, all kinds of vegetables, potatoes, and fruit. We grow a lot of garlic, arugula, peppers, and asparagus. That trend will continue unabated.  If you haven’t already ordered your seeds, hop to it. There will be shortages again this year.  

• I see an increase in DIY Home Products because they are safer and less irritating. We can readily make products such as laundry detergent, dishwashing, and body soaps; using vinegar to clean; and even Spray starch with scents. It’s utterly hilarious that I never owned an iron, yet the last few years I’ve taken to ironing our bedsheets, linen cocktail napkins and placemats because I crave that crisp look and scented experience. 

• It’s an easy recipe:   2-3 tablespoons cornstarch to six ounces of water. I add drops of lavender to mine for a restful, meditative scent. But you can mix in any of your favorite herbal scents.  Which leads me to another 2021 Forecast: 

• Aromatherapy. There’s an incredible benefit to using essential oils, including managing pain, improving sleep quality, and reducing stress and anxiety. I have different kinds of diffusers for use in a number of our rooms: bedroom, bathroom, office. The oils can also help fight bacteria and virus. That’s a good thing. 

• Homemade Bitters and Simple Syrups. Along with the spike (!) in at-home craft cocktails due to covid, there will follow an increase in making our own simple syrups and bitters. You can customizel the taste you want in your drinks and - if you’re growing all those herbs and spices - why not mix up your own essential elements that make a great cocktail. It’s an artful project that makes your Happy Hour all the more delightful. Cheers to that. 

• Tablescapes Even if we are not entertaining the way we used to and prefer ~ with family and friends, I recommend dressing up your table decor for a holiday, for the season, or when your mood wants a change. Initially, when the stay-at-home started, I wasn’t feeling it…. Then, after some time, I couldn’t resist making our diminished world more glamorous. I think we need to create pretty, inviting tablescapes more than ever.  Make every meal an event. It’s theater!  Inspired by nature or things you have in your jewelry box or on your bookshelves, approach your tablescape like you are telling a story. Layer in items that bring you joy: candles, flowers, souvenirs from past trips, photos. Re-purpose items. It’s fun! Then set the table. And revel in your personal dining experience. 

• Volunteering.  I have to believe that volunteering for local organizations will increase. Not only do some folks have more time, but clearly they see the need to help those who’ve had a bad go of this epidemic... Whether it’s helping seniors, donating food, running errands, teaching, look up what you can do within your community. It will make you feel good and strengthen the fabric of our society.  

Now, get out there and live.   Enjoy this new world and its obstacles and challenges. 

Let’s see how many of these 2021 forecasts come to be in this year filled with hope.  

And thank you for reading my blog. I am most grateful.  If you don’t already subscribe, please enter your email and it will be sent to you. And/or share with a friend. 

There's no place like home...

Cheers to you and a bit of glamour for 2021.

The New York Botanical Garden Winter Lecture Series kicked off with Kirstenbosch: The Most Beautiful Garden in Africa

It was the first of the very popular New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) Winter Garden Lecture Series and there was palpable plant anticipation pulsing by the looks of the arriving audience – many whom I recognized as horticulture and botany staff from area botanical gardens.

They were not there to see special guest Sigourney Weaver. (who looked fabulous, by the way.)

No, these plant people were there for Professor Brian J. Huntley, the internationally respected conservationist with nearly 50 years of “field research and management experience in many African ecosystems, from the sub-Antarctica to the equator.”

His biography is most impressive – and in fact, that is just how Gregory Long, president of The New York Botanical Garden, introduced Huntley, saying “He’s the most prestigious we’ve had here as a speaker.”

Long went on to point out he’d even had some of the Garden’s tropical plants placed on stage to honor Huntley and his native South Africa. 

Huntley was the director of Kirstenbosch http://www.sanbi.org/gardens/kirstenbosch

and other major conservation and sustainability initiatives including the lead on the Savanna Ecosystems Project, institutional development for The National Botanical Institute, the South African Biodiversity Institute and a consultant for the UN on conservation projects.

Plus, Huntley possesses that charming South African accent so I could listen to him read the phone book (Google “phone book" if that is an alien concept!)

To hear Huntley talk about plants with wit and wisdom was a kind of “hort heaven.” 

My only tangible experience with South African plants is to see them in the Conservatories of the New York botanic gardens, most often in the warm temperate houses. Especially at Brooklyn Botanic Garden where I was honored to have worked for many years.  Elizabeth Scholtz, past president and Director Emeritus who not that long ago celebrated 50 years at BBG, is a South African national, born in Pretoria in 1921 and joined the staff of BBG in 1960. 

I have had the distinct privilege to have worked with Betty Scholtz and cherish every moment in her office and mine, soaking up her stories and experience.

At the book signing after the lecture, I asked Huntley why Betty wasn’t present and he said they had indeed invited Ms. Scholtz but due to some health issues and the winter weather, she couldn’t make it.  Our loss…

Kirstenbosch

The plants Huntley showed were extraordinary. More than a few elicited gasps and oohs from the audience.  

And remember, the attendees were plant professionals.  Not a jaded soul in the lot, though.

The drama of the plants’ color, shape and sheer diversity is truly heart-stopping magnificence and unequaled. 

An accomplished speaker – Huntley told me his on a road trip to help raise awareness and funds – and his presentation reflected his sophisticated story telling.

His plant story was about Kirstenbosch – South Africa’s resplendent botanic garden.

It is undoubtedly nature’s story.

But there is also suspense and intrigue and redemption provided by the human element that is key to the South African narrative.

To cover the expansive history of the country and its gardens that celebrated its centenary last year (2013) Huntley told the audience his talk would consist of three Episodes, along with important moments for bio diversity. He would also offer parallels with our North American experience.

Huntley said there are distinct, different stories to tell about each century, starting in the 18^th Century. Episode 1: 1771-1815, Episode 2: 1895-1935 and Episode 3: 1990-2014.

I love garden history so I settled in for what promised to be tales of plant adventure, flora bravado, horticultural treasures, botanical exploration -- lubricated by the powerful, influential and inspired naturalists.

The Huntley talk didn’t disappoint.

It all started with the “discovery” of flora Capensis (commonly called Cape Sundew) I have to put the quote qualifiers on because I continue to find it rather arrogant that something was only found when the European white men came upon something ignoring that native peoples had been enjoying the “discovery” for quite some time, thank you very much J

When the Dutch pulled a ship in for water and Huntley says, they ended up in the “hottest, hot-spot” for biodiversity on the continent of Africa. “ The Kogelberg mountain area is stunning – and is ground zero of the Cape Floral Kingdom there.

Floral Kingdom is not some fanciful name bestowed by a real estate-inspired sales opportunist.

I have learned from Professor Huntley’s lavishly documented, illustrated picture book and education tome: Kirstenbosch: the most beautiful garden in Africa xxx that is now autographed by him – that there are in fact, six Floral Kingdoms in the world recognized by botanists.

They are:

1. Boreal in North America, Greenland what looks like Russia / China

2. Palaeotropic in central Africa

3. Neotropic in South America

4. Australasian

5. Antarctic

6. Cape

What is remarkable about the South African Cape Floral Kingdom – separate from the plants, of course, is that every another Floral Kingdom is very big – make that HUGE land mass. 

As in continents or cross-continents.

The significance of Cape in the Floral Kingdom list is that in relative terms, it’s a very small area.

Surely god and Mother Nature blessed this place for a reason, don’t you agree?

By way of comparison, The Cape Floral Kingdom has 16 times the species density of the Boreal Plant Kingdom where we live. 

Plus, more than 68 percent of the Cape’s flora is found nowhere else on the planet. 

In terms of a timeline, Huntley pointed out with a humorous jab of one upmanship, that Leendert Cornelissen, a carpenter and sawyer, formerly of the Dutch East India Company, secured the rights to the land that would become Kirstenbosch: the first botanic garden in South Africa in 1657 – a whopping 72 years before Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia –the oldest botanic garden in North America that opened in 1728 on the banks of the Schuylkill River. http://www.bartramsgarden.org

(I feel like I must be the only hort fan who didn’t know about Bartram’s Garden. Why is this?  I must visit Bartram’s Garden this garden season.)

It is horticultural humor to learn that the career of Kirstenbosch’s first “curator” and burger councilor ended when he was accused of every day “behaving in a more and more debauched manner, by drinking, celebrating, fighting, brawling, swearing, etc…”

Noted next was Paul Hermann, the first professional botanist to visit the Cape, which he did on his way to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1672.

Hermann’s work ended up on Linnaeus’ desk years later and the father of taxonomy is quoted rhapsodizing how it was that Hermann had seen in a few days more African plants than all the botanists previously had seen anywhere.  “Oh Lord, how many, rare and wonderful were the plants that presented themselves to Hermann’s eyes!” enthused Linnaeus. 

Huntley put it simply: “The Cape is the birthplace of South African botany.”

William Burchell, is celebrated in the history of Kirstenbosch as the most prolific collector in South Africa in the early 19^th century—about the same time as Lewis Clark were making their explorations of North America.  Burchell is credited with collecting, more than 63,000 plant, animal and geological specimens to his credit.

South Africa must’ve been some party in those early years.  

Huntley told a story about a collector from Kew, James Bowie charged with securing floral wealth from the Cape for the gardens in England was noted for “getting pleasure and slaking” presumably a bit too often.

Huntley continued with portraits and profiles of other plant adventurers, botanists who contributed to the first Episode of Kirstenbosch.

I didn’t want Episode 1 to end. 

I'm fascinated by this period of horticulture for several reasons: the mix of the foibles of man and their outsized personalities, garden history, the recognition that plants mattered so much: affording great wealth and beauty. And the excitement of the plant adventurers and discovery.

However, Huntley had to move ahead to Episode 2 and the narrative continued.

Episode 2 1895-1935

The story of Kirstenbosch officially gets underway in February, 1911 when Henry Harold Welch Pearson, professor of Botany at the South African College with a passion for cycads, and ultimately the founder of Kirstenbosch, set out with his botanical comrades “to look for a site for a new botanical garden.” Their search took them up the lane that ended at the “avenue of Moreton Bay Figs and Camphor trees planted by Cecil Rhodes in 1898 which he bequeathed to the nation after his death in 1902.

Huntley’s book quotes Pearson exclaiming, “’This is the place.’  The rest is history.”

Huntley pointed out that Pearson could’ve worked anywhere in the world – he was very well respected and knowledgeable, the inference being that South Africa was gifted with a top-tier horticulturist who also was an outsize promoter of what a botanical garden should be, having published a seminal work on the topic in 1910. 

Pearson appointed the Kew-trained Jimmy Mathews as the first Curator of Kirstenbosch. He served the Garden for 23 years, most notably helping to formulate the look of the garden. 

It is written that Pearson and Mathews sensitivity to the concept of Genius Loci or the “spirit of the place” allowed them to let the landscape speak for itself. The “natural sweeps of lawns, wooded glades, flowering beds and mountain vistas” were allowed to dominate the garden’s master plan. 

His team hewed the rock from the site. In a nod to Pearson’s love of cycads, he created the Collection above the Dell with a focal point for the cycads and gymnosperms.

Today, there is a gymnosperm in situ – that is more than 2,000 years old! 

Robert Compton is credited with taking the Kirstenbosch garden from concept to reality.

He served as Director of the National Botanic Garden, Kirstenbosch from 1919 to 1953.

Huntley tiptoed around the garden design issue.

While acknowledging he was speaking to an audience filled with landscape designers, he said Compton advanced the strategy that there would be NO design process at Kirstenbosch. 

He thought the grandeur and diversity of its setting make any sort of improvement seem foolish, according to Huntley.

Indeed. 

Episode 3 1990-2014

This era is focused on Sustainability, Conservations Science and African Connections.

Huntley ‘joked’ that when he was appointed the Director of Kirstenbosch, it was a big year – that he was fortunate to have luck and timing on his side.

There were macro trends he could take advantage of.

As the adage goes, “Fortune favors the prepared.”

So it was for Huntley.

There were strategic opportunities he seized.

And then there was luck…

Huntley was appointed CEO of the National Botanical Institute NBI) in January 1990.

On February 11, 1990 the day Nelson Mandela was freed from prison after 27 years in captivity. 

I have written about Mandela’s love of gardens and how gardening in the Robben Island prison gave him comfort and focus. (And a place to hide his memoir.)  http://gardenglamour-duchessdesigns.blogspot.com/2013/12/nelson-mandela-master-gardener.html

Officially, Mandela visited Kirstenbosch in 1996. He first visited the garden as a student.

Huntley told us a story about how it came about that they named a special plant after the first President of the South African democracy.

Huntley said the Ambassador to Italy called, telling them that the Italians were going to name a plant in Mandela’s honor.  But the native South African plant they were considering was more of a weed.

Huntley laughed recalling that he instructed that the South African Ambassador should tell the Italians that if they named that plant, there would be an international incident!

Alternatively, Huntley and his team set about to quickly identify an appropriate plant.

A staff botanist suggested the bird-of-paradise Strelitzia reginae a South African native plant – that is also a stunning beauty and a fitting tribute to Nelson Mandela. 

It was agreed. 

Renamed ‘Mandela’s Gold’ the plant and botanical illustration was presented to Mandela on a special Garden visit, August 21, 1996.  

‘Mandela’s Gold’ is also the logo of the NBI.

Huntley convened a meeting of his fellow botanists, hosting their first meeting at Kirstenbosch in 1992 to plan a co-op project to build regional capacity in plant taxonomy and herbarium management and became known as SABONET (South African Botanical Diversity Network)

Today, they’ve been able to update their native species checklist to more than 50,000.

In terms of Conservation, Huntley stated they must revisit or return to their history and the pioneering botanists who sought to collect, preserve and respect the plant kingdom.

“Our vegetation is the richest in the world,” he said. “Yet so much of it is being swept out of existence altogether unless provisions are made for their preservation.”

Using ICUN criteria, they have analyzed more than 20,000 indigenous species to learn that 65% are endangered and in the Cape Floral Kingdom, 13% are endangered with more than 26% under threat.

In a curious twist of what might be termed “boomerang horticulture,” the native Erica verticullatae was collected for emperor Franz Josef and remains in cultivation in Vienna and is part of the Gene Book there. In the intervening year, the plant became extinct in South Africa mainly due to the loss of the plant’s natural pollinators.

Now, Erica has come home.  The NBI has gotten seed from Vienna and is propagating the heather again in South Africa. 

Huntley described how Pearson, the founder of Kirstsenbosch, often remarked that he’d see their native plants in the window boxes throughout the capitals of European cities yet back home, no one used or displayed the natives. 

Native South Africans sought out the exotic plants from distant locales. 

While I find this disturbing, I also don’t think it is uncommon. 

It's a sad but true fact that people all too often want what is rare – in many areas of collecting and displaying – from cars to clothes to food to plants. 

Exotics seem to offer excitement in the way a rare gem does.

Plus the owners find the imported plants provide a certain amount of bragging rights.  From the time of early plant explorers to today, one can crow about their rare plants.

The sadder irony is that the native plants may all too soon be the rare “exotic” and even import not just in South Africa but globally. 

Far too many nurseries and big corporate plant breeders are leading us to a mono-culture of far too few choices and selections because they find it efficient and profitable.  Just like in the edibles/food world…

But there is Inspiration and Education.

Huntley noted the Botanic gardens series of books that helps gardeners and plant lovers to better know about their native plants.

One can also visit their website: www.plantzafrica.com

This is the South African National Biodiversity Institute  (SANBI) sponsored hub for plants and vegetation of South Africa.

It’s like a travelogue or a Star Trek/Plant Trek – because the plants shown here, especially the Plants of the Week, are so extraordinary and beautiful and fascinating to learn about.

Caution: One can readily get lost going down the rabbit hole of plant discovery on this site! 

I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Erica recurvate or Drooping round headed heath – it looks like a clutch of baby hummingbirds.

It is a critically endangered heath…. 

Enjoy the history, the botanical art and the conservation and propagation notes for the wowsy plants here.

The Educational element of the Kirstenbosch recognized they needed to extend their reach to the citizens and not just the traditional middle-class, white, middle age population.

Therefore, in the 1990’s the Garden started a vigorous program to bring school children to visit and to link an environmental, green program to the school’s curriculum.

Huntley shared a charming anecdote about Nelson Mandela’s visit at the Garden to speak to the school children. 

He observed Mandela had written his own talk – in long hand - no speechwriters. This so impressed Huntley, that a man of Mandela’s stature deemed this topic and this place so important and special and that he wrote from his heart…

Mandela captivated his audience with his recollections of his garden in prison at Robben Island and the importance of gardens…

  

Huntley went on to review the research work there which is most impressive – and the financials as it relates to the Garden. 

The take away on this last point is that botanic gardens are cultural beacons – they are places where we can visit and build enduring, lifetime relationships.

They offer insight into the mysterious, exotic, fascinating, inspiring, and beautiful world of plants.

We haven’t scratched the surface of what we can learn from the plant kingdom.

We need plants and we don’t know them.

We are just discovering how plants communicate. 

Just because we don’t yet speak “plant” shouldn’t mean we don’t try to learn of their world and ways.

More on this dynamic soon…

Botanic gardens also provide community, food news, children’s programs, education, cross cultural experiences with other fine arts including the dance, music, and sculpture.

Huntley said Kirstenbosch launched an outdoor concert series that draws thousands of fans to the Garden for an experience close to heaven.

Check your local botanic gardens to discover a rigorous, enchanting schedule of harmonic garden art, fine art, education and community.

Next up in the Winter Garden Lecture Series is Kim Wilkie, landscape architect, who will talk about sculpting landforms and his love of mud!

NYBG hosts Wilkie, Thursday, February 20, 2014 10 am to noon.

www.nybg.org/adulted or call 800-322-nybg (6924)

Each lecture is $31/$35 (Member/Non-member)

Or you can purchase the series.

See you at the Garden.

 

Brian Huntley with me, & he is autographing my copy of Kirstenbosch The Most Beautiful Garden in Africa