2009 • ISSUE TWO | 1

2 | PUBLIC GARDEN

EditorMadeline Quigley American Public GardensAssociation (APGA)

Editorial Advisory BoardDavid Michener Chair, University ofMichigan Matthaei Botanical Gardensand Nichols Arboretum

Nancy Chambers Glass Garden,Rusk Institute

Catherine Eberbach University of Pittsburgh

Linda Eirhart Winterthur Museum & CountryEstate

Susan T. Greenstein Growing MindsConsulting

James P. Folsom Huntington BotanicalGardens

Virginia Hayes Ganna Walska Lotusland

Thomas Hecker Eco Botanic Designs

Karl Lauby The New York Botanical Garden

Carol Line Fernwood

Janet Marinelli Blue Crocus Publishing +Interpretation

Scot Medbury Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Donald A. Rakow Cornell Plantations

Lisa Wagner South Carolina BotanicalGarden

Guest Editor / Issue ReviewerThomas HeckerPresidentEco Botanic Designs

APGA Board of Directors

PRESIDENT

Nicola Ripley Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

VICE PRESIDENT

Paul B. Redman Longwood Gardens

PAST PRESIDENT

Christopher P. Dunn Harold L. LyonArboretum

TREASURER

Bill Lefevre Sarah P. Duke Gardens

SECRETARY

Barbara W. Faust Smithsonian Institution

DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE

Patrick Larkin Rancho Santa Ana BotanicGarden

Caroline Lewis Fairchild Tropical BotanicGarden

Luke Messinger The Dawes Arboretum

Wilf Nicholls MUN Botanical Garden

David M. Price Bok Tower Gardens

Jennifer Riley Chetwynd Rain BirdCorporation

Ken Shutz Desert Botanical Garden

PublicGarden

American Public GardensAssociation351 Longwood RoadKennett Square, PA 19348610.708.3011, Fax: 610.444.3594www.publicgardens.org

Volume 24, Number 2, 2009. Public Garden (ISSN 0885-3894) is published quarterly by the American Public Gardens Association (APGA), 351 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA19348. ©2009, American Public Gardens Association. All rights reserved. Public Garden is indexed in The Bibliography of Agriculture. Opinions expressed by contributors are notnecessarily those of APGA. Public Garden welcomes editorial submissions but assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. APGA The American PublicGardens Association serves North American public gardens and horticultural organizations by promoting professional development through its publications and meetings; advocatingthe interests of public gardens in political, corporate, foundation, and community arenas; and encouraging gardens to adhere to professional standards in their programs and operations.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscription is automatic for APGA members. For membership rates, call 610-708-3011. Non-member subscriptions are $40 a year. Residents of Canada and othercountries, add $10. CHANGE OF ADDRESS Send new address, zip code, moving date, and old address label to APGA, 351 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348.ADVERTISERS For information about advertising, contact Madeline Quigley, Director of Marketing, APGA, 610-708-3011, or mquigley@publicgardens.org.

Cover: “La Cabeza” by Niki. Niki de Saint Phalle Exhibit at Missouri Botanical Garden. Photo by Jennifer Meinhardt, Missouri Botanical Garden.

2009 • ISSUE TWO 3

DEPARTMENTS23 NAPCC Collection Profile

Montreal Botanical Garden’s NAPCCRose Species CollectionStéphane M. Bailleul and Claire LabergeThe Montreal garden’s botanist in charge of collections

management and rose garden curator share the history

of a remarkable collection that was officially recog-

nized by the North American Plant Collections

Consortium (NAPCC) in 2008.

25 Celebrating the Global GardenThe Missouri Botanical Garden: Greenfor 150 YearsJulie BierachTwo hundred years ago, a young Englishman exploring

his new homeland stumbled upon a remarkable piece

of land in the Missouri wilderness. As the saying goes,

“the rest is history.” Join Missouri Botanical Garden’s

public information officer as she reflects on this world-

renowned institution’s major anniversary milestone

and its emergence as a world leader in sustainability

and biological research.

28 Book ReviewTim ThibaultA report on the pros and cons of the third edition of

the comprehensive pocket reference,Mabberley’s

Plant-book: A Portable Dictionary of Plants, their

Classification and Uses.

29 Book ReviewKelly OgrodnikAn examination of The Green Museum: A Primer on

Environmental Practice, which focuses on the inroads

made by the environmental sustainability movement

in the museum world.

31 Growing GreenerAnswers to Your QuestionsAbout SustainabilityJanet Marinelli

30 Advertisers Index

contentsPublicGarden

5 About This IssueThe Birds and the Bees andSex in the TreesThomas S. HeckerA plant-animal exhibit expert now helping others find

success in the field introduces this issue’s contributors

and the unique approaches being undertaken at

botanical gardens, zoos, and aquaria to create

rewarding and memorable plant-animal connections.

7 Aquascaping:Finding the “Sweet Spot”Charlene NashSeventeen years ago, the Tennessee Aquarium opened

its doors as the world’s largest freshwater aquarium.

Their aquarium horticulturist gives an inside look at

the highs and lows and immense challenges that come

with creating the elusive perfect underwater exhibit.

10 Considerations for aHorticulturist among Animals:Gardening in the National Aquarium InstituteThe senior horticulturist at the National Aquarium in

Baltimore shares the strategies and holistic approaches

that go into creating outstanding horticultural exhibits

while battling mischievous saboteurs.

12 Insectary Gardening atLotuslandVirginia HayesTodd Forrest and Karen DaubmannDelightful harmony emerges throughout acres of

grounds and gardens when a well-designed and well-

cared-for butterfly garden is in the mix. Lotusland’s

curator of the living collection offers her Garden’s

recipe for success.

THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC GARDENS ASSOCIATION | Vol 24, No 2 • 2009 23

17

PLANT-ANIMAL CONNECTIONS14 Bugs, Butterflies, and Botany at

the Cockrell Butterfly CenterNancy GriegPlants and insects (the “good,” the “bad,” and the

“ugly”) are engaging, inspiring, and educating guests

through exhibits and programs, web site blogs, and

community outreach at the Houston Museum’s

Cockrell Butterfly Center. The Center’s executive direc-

tor reflects on challenges, strategies, and successes.

17 Cutting-Edge Animal ImmersionExhibits at Cleveland BotanicalGardenCynthia DruckenbrodA passion for portraying ecosystems as realistically as

possible is reflected in the Cleveland Botanical

Garden’s intricate Costa Rica and Malagasy exhibits.

The director of horticulture takes us behind the scenes.

19 “MV Wildtype”: Acting Locallyon the Island of Martha’sVineyardTimothy BolandThe Polly Hill Arboretum’s executive director describes

strategies developed to spread the good news about

native plants to a community in order to counteract the

loss of precious local habitat and preserve an island’s

unique biological heritage for future generations.

11

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ABOU T TH I S I S SU E

Themission to connect people andplants has expanded over the yearsto include connections with

animals. Botanical gardens, zoos, aquaria,and museums have come a long way inintegrating a holistic approach to recreat-ing our natural world. Throughout mypublic garden career, which began atMissouri Botanical Garden’s ClimatronConservatory, I have focused on buildingoutstanding plant collections thatencompass animal dimensions like birdsand butterflies. How does one success-fully incorporate animals into educa-tional horticultural displays? In this issueof Public Garden, plant and animal pro-fessionals from some of North America’szoos, aquaria, and gardens share theirexperiences creating integrated plant-animal exhibits. You will see how a newfrontier of cutting edge concepts morphsbeautiful displays into rich ecologicalexhibits that have emerged as convergentexamples of this new paradigm. Throughtrial and error, we learn what makesan exhibit engaging and effective inproviding an authentic guest experienceon the interrelationships of the plant andanimal worlds.

When my oldest son was four, heasked me how submerged aquatic plantsare pollinated. His question totallystumped the ecologist in me, but someprofessionals are working on creating justsuch underwater worlds, donning scubagear to grow plants in a CO2-infused envi-ronment. The Tennessee Aquarium is one

institution that has the incrediblechallenge of gardening underwater tocreate beautiful living stages and back-drops for fish. Proficiently overcominganother challenging environment,Baltimore’s National Aquarium mixesparrots and plants. Though not ideal formaintaining flawless displays of plantspecimens, this is nonetheless an essentialinteraction for the recreation of anauthentic Australian rainforest. TheAquarium’s other Amazon-themed conser-vatory also enjoys great success with anherbivorous sloth lurking in its treetops.Even the Aquarium’s mini habitats housebreeding collections of poison dart frogs,which depend almost exclusively on livebromeliads to complete their life cycle.

Humans are not immune to the inter-dependence of animals and plants. Didyou know that you can thank a pollinatorfor two out of every three bites of foodthat you eat? Most people don’t know thatmany plants depend on pollinators to pro-duce and disperse their fruit or seeds, andthat is why institutions such as Lotuslandin Santa Barbara go out of their way tocreate pollinator gardens. Though

Sundberg's Day Gecko, Phelsumasundbergii obtaining pollen frommale inflorescence of Coc deMer, Lodoicea maldivica.

Blue Poison Frog, Dendrobates azureus inNeoregelia bromeliad.

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 5

Gichvc

TheBirdsBees...

...andSex in theTrees

and the

THOMAS HECKER

Lotusland is known for its whimsical dis-plays and collections of rare plants repre-senting cycads, succulents, and cacti, theyalso have areas they purposely leave in anatural state to encourage the visitation ofnative pollinators including insects.Another great reason to encourage benefi-cial insects is that they keep collectionshealthy and pest free. Demonstration gar-dens like these show visitors how they canpreserve or enhance beneficial plant-animalinteractions in their own outdoor spaces.

Even an institution’s organizationalleadership can guide efforts to becomemore integrative. Museums such asArizona’s Sonoran Desert Museum beganhaving botanist directors several decadesago—a trend later followed by such institu-tions as Houston’s Cockrell ButterflyCenter. When visiting these institutions,one senses that the plants are more than abackdrop for animals. Clearly the integra-tion of plants into animal exhibits is inte-gral to educating the public on subjects likeecology and co-evolution. Plant-animalinteractions are represented so well atCleveland Botanical Garden that some visi-tors may leave wondering whether theywere at a zoo or a botanical garden. TheGarden’s adept utilization of plants thathave evolved to be pollinated by birds

allows visitors to observeevolution in action. TheGarden’s staff has createdsuch a complete ecosystemthat even appropriate antspecies, including leaf-cut-ting ants, live in the plants.

Having created suchsophisticated ecologicalexamples of the interrela-tionship of living things,the above institutions haveblurred lines to create agreater understanding ofinterdependence in theweb of life. But, whatabout zoos? They are alsousing plant-animal interac-tions to tell stories aboutthe importance of biodi-versity. Jacksonville Zoo,which recently added thewords “and Gardens” to its

name, has witnessed tremendous publicinterest in blossoming plants thanks totheir relatively new exhibit, “AfricanBlooms,” where African fauna meetsAfrican flora. This type of exhibit can bedescribed as biogeographic. A world-classzoo, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, hasnow laid the foundation to create separatestand-alone gardens without animals, thusputting them on course to becoming abona fide botanical garden.

Moving now from wildlife to wildflow-ers, a small botanical garden on Martha’sVineyard known as Polly Hill Arboretum ison a mission to protect wildlife corridorsby encouraging botanical byways throughthe propagation and planting of localgenotypes (indigenous plants to theimmediate area). This collective endeavorundertaken with the support of neighbor-ing homeowners plants native species andcollaborates with local agencies and insti-tutions to create long-term strategic plansfor new wildlife habitats. Planting forwildlife is just as important to thezoological world, as incorporating wildlifeinto plant displays is to those working inthe horticultural realm.

Finally what all institutions—includingbotanical gardens, zoos, aquariums, and

museums— have in common is their col-lective effort to create outstanding collec-tions. In this issue, we will explore onesuch outstanding example—the rose col-lection at the Montréal Botanical Garden.It would be impossible to have in a collec-tion all the taxa in this genus called Rosa,but Montréal Botanical Garden has taken apractical approach by collecting and docu-menting all of the known species. Theirefforts guide and inspire others to creategreat collections such as those housed atthe Missouri Botanical Garden. Thisrenowned botanical garden—celebratingits historic 150th anniversary this year—thrives today under the leadership of Dr.Peter Raven. Fortunately for the world, theGarden’s founder, Henry Shaw, had theforesight and philanthropic power to sowthe seeds for what has become one theworld’s most important educational insti-tutions. It is fitting that many of this publi-cation’s readers attended the Annual APGAConference at Missouri Botanical Garden,and were personally able to experience itssplendid plant collections and theClimatron—one of the United States’finest examples of an integrated plant-animal exhibit.We hope you will enjoy abehind-the-scenes look at the ingredientsthat go into making these exhibits sowonderfully successful.

Thomas Hecker is president of EcoBotanicDesigns, Inc., a consulting firm specializingin botanical gardens and conservatories.Thomas created his first plant-animal inter-active display for a sixth-grade school project,and later as a teenager, he built a two-thou-sand-square-foot aviary in his parents’Tampa backyard. After earning degrees inhorticulture and environmental studies, hewent on to become a tropical horticulturistat the Missouri Botanical Garden’sClimatron Conservatory, director of theMagic Wings Conservatory and Insectariumat the North Carolina Museum of Life andScience, and the founding director of horti-culture for Naples Botanical Garden. Youcan reach Thomas atwww.ecobotanicdesigns.com.

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ABOU T TH I S I S SU E

Thomas Hecker and Beeper(photo courtesy ofNaples Daily News).

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 7

Those of us in the planted aquariumworld have a saying, “Set up a tankfor plants and the fish thrive; set

up a tank for fish and the plants willnot.” At the Tennessee Aquarium, this isour rule for success, though, of course,aquarists, those who maintain aquari-ums, are an additional variable that canbe harder to regulate than light and car-bon dioxide. At times success has eludedus, with some tanks becoming wildlymore beautiful and lush than you couldimagine, and others languishing underthe same parameters.

The Tennessee Aquarium opened in1992 and is still the world’s largest freshwa-ter aquarium. Aquatic plantings wereincorporated in our exhibits from the verybeginning, starting with our MississippiDelta exhibit. Comprising two large living

forests and many side exhibits wheremore than nine thousand animals live innatural habitats, the Aquarium has conser-vation and research programs along with ahost of educational resources for studentsand educators.

In April 1992, just before Aquarium’sgrand opening, the aquatic plants whichhad been ordered by the design contractorarrived for planting. Pinky-sized Iris plantswere specified for a planter located threefeet underwater! The remaining plants inthe order were not much better consider-ing the type of planters created for them inthe concrete “mud bank” of the exhibit. Idecided that my only choice was to fly toNew Orleans, rent a truck, and begin buy-ing and collecting. Fortunately Louisianaregularly clears its roadside ditches becauseof the lush growth of natives, many of

which were on our plant list. The machin-ery operators were amazed that peoplefrom Tennessee would come all the way toLouisiana to dig out their “weeds,” andwere glad to allow me to do so.

I purchased the rest of the plantsneeded and dug huge clumps of Iris from anative plant nursery in Lafayette. Theexhibit looked more like a real swamp whenI got the truckload of plants in place beforethe opening. This experience showed methe difference mature native plants make tothe authenticity of an exhibit setting. Istarted growing plants as well as collectingand purchasing them all over Florida,Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia forcycling in and out of the exhibit. Each cycleentailed a lot of work—off-site growing andhauling plants into the building, not tomention all the potting and dividing for

1.

2.

Aquascaping

Discovery Hall Sunfish

CHARLENE NASH Finding the “Sweet SpotAQUASCAPING

Discovery Hall Sunfish

8 | PUBLIC GARDEN

Aquascaping

weeks after a collecting trip. Animal pres-sure was intense at times—ducks, turtles,alligators, and the Purple Gallinule wouldshred the plants, sometimes within twenty-four hours after placement. Seventy-fivegorgeous mature water lilies would disap-pear in less than forty-eight hours, but theexhibit’s visual effect was stunning whilethey lasted. The animals’ destructivenessand insufficient light to support the growthof full-sun aquatics and perennials gradu-ally forced us to move away from constantplant changes. Planting is now done spar-ingly for temporary color using toughshrubs or Iris in bloom.

Aquarium underwater gardening wasthe next logical step in trying to keep thehabitats in the galleries looking natural.Compared with “charismatic megaverte-brates,” a few fish surely would not be aproblem. Although fish can live in thetanks without plants, the habitat andhealth of tanks is much improved by theaddition of living plants which are leftunlabeled to keep the look natural.

Our first challenge was getting staff tounderstand the need to modify fish popu-lations and feeding practices. Fish can bevoracious plant eaters which can spell dis-aster in a planted tank. Along with choos-ing the correct species, fish numbers andsizes need to be in balance with the size ofthe tank and the number of plants. Plantsare the filter and do an excellent job ofcleaning the water, keeping problem nutri-ents such as nitrates and ammonia incheck unless the tank is overpopulated.

Light is the engine that drives the plantlife and it has to be intense enough toreach the bottom of the tank. Shallowtanks can use T-5 fluorescent bulbs orpower compact fluorescents, but largertanks require metal halide bulbs. If higherlight levels are not possible, more shade-tolerant tropical species such as Anubiasare used. In our Discovery Hall gallery, thenative plants seem to require more lightand have been more difficult to grow.

Carbon dioxide is added to the plantedtanks to increase plant growth which helpsthe plants compete with any algae present.The carbon dioxide isn’t as important in

low light tanks, and I have taken it out ofmost tanks and gone to a more “natural”tank setup. The weekly maintenance(water changes) is not as extreme, and valve“accidents” that flood fish with carbondioxide are eliminated. The cost of fifty-pound cylinders is also a consideration.

One of our first big undertakings in theearly nineties was the 16,000-gallonReelfoot Lake tank. Eight new 400-wattmetal halide bulbs were installed and car-bon dioxide lines were set up, but the exist-ing gravel had to stay. The smooth gravelwith the epoxy coating just did not supportplant roots. This was probably becausethere was no capacity for ion exchange, andthe organic sediment in the substrate didnot seem to help. Constant replanting wasnecessary until finally just a token plantingevery few months was done. Animal pres-sure was extreme in this tank—turtles andlarge fish were adept at moving gravel anduprooting plants. The population wasmodified, but that did not change the envi-ronment enough to grow plants.

Another seven hundred gallon tank,Backwaters, was totally renovated usingSeachem’s Flourish substrate for aquaticplants, three 400-watt metal halide bulbs,and a carbon dioxide delivery system. Thistank was planted originally withVallisneria, Echinodorus cordifolius,Ludwigia repens, and a dwarf nativeSagittaria. Year after year, this little tankperformed very well with regular waterchanges, weekly fertilization, and algaeappearing then receding. After a few years,it hit what I call the “sweet spot”—thewater was pristine with no algae, no issues,and fast plant growth. The Vallisneriagrew so well we actually thinned it in thistank to plant in the Reelfoot tank.Backwaters no longer needed anything andlooked beautiful all the time. Then theaquarists decided the tank needed morefish and a plant thinning. They addedabout two hundred little shiners andpulled out half the Vallisneria at one time.This type of disturbance spells disaster fora planted tank. Proper protocol wouldhave been to add fish in small numbersevery few days and pull no plants until the

tank had acclimated to all the fish. Or, bet-ter yet, modify the numbers! The tank haslooked pretty rugged ever since and proba-bly will never get back to the “sweet spot.”

Two other attempts, the Nicaraguatank and the Tropical Asian Rivers, heldgreat promise. Asian plants seemed easy todeal with, and the tank was only about athousand gallons with good lighting,although it was heavily populated with fishthat might be omnivorous. Above thetank, I set up several large “window” boxesconnected together, planted with tropicalsand plumbed for a flow-through plant fil-tration system to make sure extra organicswere taken out. The landscape design waslovely with all the new plants, but it didnot take us long to discover our “problemchildren.” Lettuce was added at the water-line every morning to dissuade fish fromeating the plants. The fish behavior wasmodified somewhat but not enough tokeep the landscape going, so after a yearthat project was abandoned.

The new Nicaragua tank was land-scaped for fun using the Dutch style withabout five different species, but the land-scape did not survive the fish predationand was never attempted again. TheDutch style is a more controlled landscapedesign with color and textural contrastsand is somewhat manicured rather thanleft as a wilder, more natural composition.

In spring 2002, the Discovery Hallexhibit was opened showcasing the frogs,sunfish, and stream fish of the Southeast.This was a good opportunity to have sev-eral aquatic landscape displays of thenative flora. From the very beginning,these tanks were set up for plants. Thecolor temperature of the lighting shows offthe coloration of the fish along with thebright green plants, creating a much moreexciting exhibit habitat for the visitor. Theplants provide a background that reallyshows off the fish to best advantage.Visitors seem to be attracted to the lushgreen exhibits without really knowing why.We do not get a lot of feedback, but everynow and then, we hear a big “wow!”. Theplants should win the best supportingactor award at the Aquarium.

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 9

As of this writing, I have five tanks inthe Discovery Hall gallery, two in theTennessee River Gallery, and five in myoffice for a total of twelve planted tanks.All, but one, are doing well, and, in some,the growth could almost be described aslush. It is the one that is languishing thatkeeps me going in search of the key to that“sweet spot.”

Charlene Nash is a senior horticulturist atthe Tennessee Aquarium can be reachedat ECN@tnaqua.org. She came to theaquarium several months before it openedin May of 1992.

Planting the Asian Tank

Reelfoot Lake with Paddlefish Reelfoot Lake with Paddlefish"

TheNational Aquarium inBaltimore, Maryland, has fourquite different mixed-species

exhibits: “Amazon River Forest,” “SouthAmerican Upland Tropical Rain Forest,”“Hidden Life” (microhabitats showingreptiles and amphibians in tropicalAmerican rainforests), and “AnimalPlanet Australia: Wild Extremes”—awalk-through re-creation of anAustralian Northern Territory rivergorge. The latter three offer horticultur-ists the most challenges.

Visitors to the upland rainforest exhibitand the Australian exhibit might observethat the plants in the rainforest appear toflourish more than those in the Australianexhibit. One obvious reason is that the hot,humid upland rainforest supports moreplant species than a hot, dry river gorge inAustralia’s Northern Territory. But anotherreason for the difference is the animal resi-dents, especially the birds. The twenty-five-year-old upland rainforest exhibit ishome to thirty-four birds that representsixteen species, while the three-year-old

Australian river gorge houses approxi-mately 250 birds, representing twenty-seven species. Surprisingly, the plants inthe upland rainforest exhibit are not beingdamaged by the mammals within it—thegolden lion tamarins and two-toed sloth.Two birds, the older Sun Conures, actuallycause the most harm. When they nest,they dig into the hairy meristem of a fanpalm, often causing entire fronds to fall tothe floor. To prevent the destruction ofthis large palm, which would be impossibleto replace, the Sun Conures must be

Gardening in theNationalAquariumInstitute

CHRISTA PARTAIN

Playing innocent –the Rain Forest’sdestructive sun conure

Considerations for a Horticulturist

10 | PUBLIC GARDEN

Considerations for aHorticulturist

among Animals:

Zebra finches with sacrificialmillet in the Australia Exhibit

Australia Exhibit, inside the bird wire –notice the dominant, tough screw-pines(Pandanus)

removed from the exhibit while a smallexclusionary cage is placed around thepalm’s crown. Future plans are to trainthe Sun Conures to roost at night in aspecial cage within the exhibit.

The plants in the Australia exhibit arealso challenged by the avian residents.Tough plants such as Pandanus and Ficusare placed within the bird enclosure, whilemore tender botanical gems, such asCallistemon, Eucalyptus, Acacia, andMelaleuca grow outside the wire. As inthe rainforest exhibit, the greatest plantdestroyers are the eight parrot species, par-ticularly the lorikeets, Mulga Parrots, andEastern Rosellas. Also, perhaps becausecompetition for nesting space is so high inthis exhibit, the finches have joined theranks of plant destroyers. Whereas theSaffron Finches in the rainforest will actu-ally eat some of the plant pests like scale,the nine species of Australian finches usethe plants for nesting material. I havewatched helplessly as lorikeets and fincheshave picked every leaf off a tree orstripped a tree’s cambium, one thin stripat a time. Spraying the plants with aproduct that prohibits chewing is effectivefor only a couple of days.

Whereas plants outside an aviary mayonly occasionally be grazed upon by birds,a relative handful is targeted daily byaviary birds. To discourage the birds fromchewing on the exhibit plants, I providebird “enrichment” in the form of sacrificialplants. Unlike staff in Floridian aviaries,we cannot walk out into the “back forty”to cut down regionally appropriate plantmaterial for bird browse, such asMelaleuca, which is actually an invasivethere. Therefore, we must keep birdbrowse out of the public’s view. The birdslove to tear apart millet and sunflowerseedlings which are easily obtained fromtheir regular feed. The birds also love totear up asparagus fern, Pyracantha, andbamboo, which thankfully are all fairlyinexpensive. Once these plants are defoli-ated, I take them away from the birds sothe plants can recover. This year I am try-ing edible flowers like marigolds and nas-turtium. I should mention that currently

we do not label the plants in ourexhibits, although they are now startingto be featured more prominently dueto the philosophies of new personnelin the Exhibits and Design Department.Docents are also available to pointout interesting interactions andanswer questions.

For various reasons, the curator andaviculturists have decided to remove rep-resentatives of the most prolific birds,Zebra Finches. I anticipate this will helpalleviate some of the pressure on theplants. Also, when a new tree is exhibited,I attempt to introduce three or four at atime to try to minimize damage to anyone plant. Regardless of the number orkinds of birds on display, the grower mustwash the plants of bird eliminations everyday since these substances will burn theleaves and/or block light. Therefore, whenselecting plants for an aviary, it is probablybest to select plants that can at least toler-ate high humidity.

Birds roost and build nests in layers;some birds are burrowers, while othersare arboreal. Parrots are cavity-nesters,but when not provided with a nest boxor hollowed-out tree, Australia’s RainbowLorikeets burrowed under an Australianfan palm. Fortunately this has notcreated any significant problems for thattough plant. The aviculturists have sinceprovided lots of boxes for a variety ofbirds on exhibit.

Another important consideration inmanaging a mixed-species exhibit is torealize that where there is food, there willbe pests. Whether in displays of butterfliesor great apes, food will attract ants,roaches, and/or mice. The Aquariummaintains a vigilant and creative integratedpest management program targeting theseanimals. For instance, food must be leftout overnight for the high-metabolismfinches and nectar-feeders that do not goto bed until the lights are switched off atten in the evening, so to reduce pests, thebird food bowls are placed in larger shal-low-rimmed containers to contain any-thing the birds throw or kick out. Thecontainers are then placed on five-foot-high stainless steel stands.

The National Aquarium also displays avariety of small frogs in “Hidden Life.”The poison dart frogs, in particularDendrobates leucomelas, Epipedobates tri-color, and D. pumilio, enjoy using thebromeliads, such as Neoregelias,Guzmanias, and Vriseas, for hiding and/orlaying eggs. In this exhibit, the plants mustbe thoroughly flushed with filtered fresh(or non-chlorinated) water every day orthey will rot. Flushing must be done verygently so as not to rinse out any frog eggsor tadpoles. The smaller poison dart frogswill often choose to travel via a vine orbranch rather than the floor of the exhibit;they also like a mossy surface. The treefrogs prefer to attach to strong, wide-leafedplants, while the terrestrial frogs want anice plant canopy to give them a sense ofsecurity and a place to hide.

I like to joke with my animal hus-bandry colleagues that animals would notexist without plants. But, it is also truethat many plant species would not persistwithout animals. As a horticulturist, it is(mostly) a delight to see this story playedout daily in our exhibits.

Christa Partain is the senior horticulturist atthe National Aquarium and can be con-tacted at cpartain@aqua.org.

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 11

Milky tree frog in the Hidden Life Exhibit

Upland Tropical Rain Forest Exhibit

12 | PUBLIC GARDEN

Insectary Gardening at Lotusland

Onthe visitor guide map toLotusland, an area labeled“Butterfly Garden” serves as more

than just a plant feeding ground for but-terflies and their larvae; its presence helpsensure the health and beauty of the entirethirty-seven-acre garden. Most of theplants within the butterfly garden havebeen chosen to attract and conserve notonly native butterflies and moths, butalso a host of other beneficial insects. Thegarden provides food in the form ofpollen or nectar as well as places ofrefuge for everything from ladybird bee-tles and green lacewings to hover fliesand honey bees. With its colorful flowersand the hum of activity that insectsbring, this garden has become a belovedfeature for our visitors. It is a place whereeven bees, scary to some, can be observedvisiting flowers peacefully.

Beneficial insects form a natural armyof pest control allies, and it is important toprovide them with suitable living condi-tions. It is possible to purchase some ofthese species of insects, but it is far betterto try to provide them with on-site habitat.In order to reproduce, many beneficialinsects need nectar and pollen. If they donot find it readily available, they will leaveand usually not return. Other insects needspecific elements such as rotting organicmatter, mulch, or dense cover like a clumpof grass to protect them from predators.Designing a beneficial insect plantingentails providing these elements and ayear-round supplemental source of food(pollen, nectar, and—sometimes—prey)for the natural enemies of your gardenpests even when pest populations are low.For example, syrphid flies (flower flies)must feed on pollen or nectar to maturetheir eggs. Minute pirate bugs also utilize

nectar and pollen in times of scarce insectprey. Adult green lacewings feed exclusivelyon nectar and pollen, but their larvae arevoracious consumers of a wide variety ofinsect pests such as aphids, thrips, white-flies, and spider mites. Many other insectsuse pollen and nectar to sustain them,allowing them to survive longer, producemore progeny, and provide a higher levelof biological control. Rove beetles, foundin soils with high amounts of organic mat-ter, prey upon root maggots as adults andparasitize them as larvae. Harvestman spi-ders (also called daddy longlegs) are omni-vores, preying upon a wide variety ofpests—from caterpillars, leafhoppers,

VIRGINIA HAYES

INSECTARYGARDENING

at Lotusland

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 13

beetle larvae, and mites to small slugs. Thepredators will not visit and stay if theirpreferred food is not available. Havingareas of the garden devoted to plants thatcan supply nutrients and refuge cangreatly increase insect populations anddiversity so that the natural enemies ofplant pests are in place when needed.

The majority of plants produce flowersthat are not accessible to the above insectswhose mouthparts are shorter than otherbetter-known nectar feeders such as beesand butterflies. Nectar-producing specieswith short floral tubes (mint, carrot, sun-flower, and cabbage families, to name afew) or those with nectaries accessible

from outside the flower (legumes andspurges) are two kinds of plants that willprovide sustenance to a wide range ofinsects. Some of the most efficient insectsfor bio-control are not much bigger thandust specks, so the flowers have to be tinyto fit their feeding strategies. Plants thatproduce many flowers in a single headsuch as those in the sunflower and carrotfamilies are also very attractive to benefi-cial insects.

Maintaining adequate layers of organicmulch will encourage adiversity of insects thatspend at least somepart of their life cyclein the soil. Delaying thecleanup of senescentplants can also allowinsects to overwintersuccessfully. During thegrowing season, mowhalf of the area onemonth and the otherhalf three months later(once the first half hasgrown back a bit), sothat the insects canmove from side to sideinstead of abandoningthe site. Stagger annu-als with perennials andtall plants with shortones. Solid swaths(hedgerows) arebetter than individualplants. Choose plants

with bloom times to cover the year, and,each year, replant part of the area. Themethods employed in maintaining amixed border apply; plants grow andbloom in succession. The key is to makesure that all of them are chosen for therole they can play in attracting andsupporting beneficial insects.

All of the insect species that can helpdefend a garden from pests are just as sen-sitive to pesticides as their natural prey. Asuccessful program of encouraging andsupporting beneficial insects will rely onphasing out conventional pesticide appli-cations. An influx of pests may have to betolerated for the period of time necessaryfor their natural predators to arrive in

sufficient numbers to affect them. If pesti-cides must be applied, they should be lim-ited to the smallest area possible for theshortest time period, and other bio-controlpractices such as traps should be consid-ered first. Occasionally mechanicalremoval, such as blasting aphids off newbuds with a spray of water, may be neces-sary to maintain the aesthetics of the gar-den and can be useful in suppressing anoutbreak, but complete suppressionshould not be the goal. As a result of all itsinsectary plantings, Lotusland has beenable to stop using harmful insecticides andeven greatly reduce its use of certifiedorganic treatments.

Lotusland visitors are introduced tothe concept of planting to attract beneficialinsects in the butterfly garden through ourpublications and the teachings of ourdocents (the majority of visitors tour thegarden in small groups with a trained vol-unteer guide). Visitors may never see themany other areas behind the scenes thatare planted with the goal of buildinghabitat for biodiversity, but the results areevident in the health and vibrancy of thelandscape. Biodiversity is important on alllevels, not only on that of the insect world.It includes everything from soil microbesto larger carnivores like bobcats, coyotes,hawks, and owls. It is in these corners ofthe garden that most of the battles will befought and won.

Virginia Hayes is Curator of the LivingCollection at GannaWalska Lotusland inSanta Barbara, California. Before coming toLotusland, Virginia managed Santa BarbaraWater Garden Nursery, specializing inaquatic plants, and owned a pond mainte-nance business. She holds a Master’s degreefrom UCSB where she did research on theunique floral characters of lotuses(Nelumbo nucifera) and their variationamong wild populations.

Virginia writes a popular gardeningcolumn for the Santa Barbara Independent,contributes to Montecito Magazine, PacificHorticulture Magazine and others and hasrecently written a book titled TheGourmet Garden.

14 | PUBLIC GARDEN

Bugs, Butterflies, and Botany

Amajor venue of the HoustonMuseum of Natural Science(HMNS), the Cockrell Butterfly

Center first opened its doors fifteen yearsago. At that time, it was only the third orfourth major exhibit of live butterflies inthe United States. Since then dozens of“butterfly houses” have opened all overthe country in zoos, museums, botanicalgardens, and as stand-alone facilities;they are hugely popular. Many of thelarger butterfly houses operate year-round and fly mostly exotic butterflies

imported from suppliers based in thetropics. Smaller endeavors may be openonly part of the year and often rely moreon native butterfly species. Because but-terflies depend on flowering plants fortheir sustenance, live butterfly facilitiestypically incorporate a botanical display,educating people about nectar sourcesand caterpillar host plants or, in somecases, about plants in general.

Perhaps the best thing about live but-terfly exhibits is the sense of wonder theyinspire in most visitors. Butterflies truly are

ambassadors for the rest of the insectworld. Beautiful and non-threatening,bringing to mind flowers and sunlight(and, to some, resurrection), butterflieshave none of the “creepy-crawliness” thatpeople associate with most other membersof the class Insecta. Visitors are thrilledwhen a butterfly lands on them, and ourfloor staff must constantly deter childrenand adults alike from reaching out totouch. Think about it—what other insectwould people want to have flying in theirimmediate vicinity, much less land on

NANCY GREIG

BUGS, BUTTERFLIES, & BOTANYat the Cockrell Butterfly Center

them? I have often joked that “CockrellCockroach Center” has a more alliterativesound and would certainly be unique—after all, cockroaches (all four thousandspecies of them) do at least as much goodin the world as do butterflies. Alas, thepowers that be refuse to let us make thischange. However, by luring the public inwith butterflies, facilities such as ours areable to open people’s minds to otherinsects, less beloved but equally fascinatingand important.

We showcase plenty of those less-beloved creatures in our “insect wing,” alsoknown as the Brown Hall of Entomology,which people go through before enteringthe butterfly free-flight area. Live insects(caged, not free-roaming) are incorporatedwherever appropriate. Giant walkingsticks,katydids, and mantises are on display (andhard to spot) in an exhibit on camouflage,while velvet ants, black widow spiders, andwhite-eyed assassin bugs provide examplesof warning coloration. The much malignedMadagascar hissing cockroaches are thestars of “insects in the movies,”while theirNewWorld cousins, the large cave cock-roaches (Blaberus giganteus), crawl througha dinosaur skull in an exhibit on insect ori-gins. Leaf-cutter ants exemplify the socialinsects; blow flies illustrate how insects canbe used to solve crimes; and tarantulas,scorpions, millipedes and a large, fearsomecentipede represent the insect relatives.

And, of course, we illustrate the early stagesof butterflies with caterpillars and thechrysalis emergence area.

But these caged creatures do not havenearly the gut-level engagement power ofthe free-flying butterflies, so our docentstake a few of these insects out of theirenclosures and wander among the visitors,drawing crowds as they go. The chance tomeet, maybe even touch, a giant walking-stick or indeed a hissing cockroach in thesecontrolled circumstances helps peopleovercome their prejudices and fears, usu-ally with a lot of gasping and giggling.

We use the same technique in ourincreasingly popular outreach program,“Bugs onWheels,” which takes a selectionof our largest, most fantastic (but harm-less) live specimens to schools throughoutour area. In addition to the “AmazingArthropods” version of the program,which continues to be most popular, wedo presentations on “Butterflies andMoths,”“Monarchs, Migration andMimicry,” and “Plants and Pollinators.”Each presentation is typically thirty- tofifty-minutes long, and since we limitparticipant number to thirty students, weoften give five to eight presentations at agiven school. Most of our presentationsare done at elementary schools, butrecently several middle and high schoolshave made bookings, and while theyounger audiences are usually more

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 15

Exterior view of the Cockrell Butterfly Center

Entrance to Butterfly Center withGulf Fritillary life cycle sculpture

Paper Kite Butterflies, Idea leuconoe nectaring onChaconia, Warszewiczia coccinea

Bugs, Butterflies, and Botany

enthusiastic about touching the “bugs,”older students obviously get a kick out ofthe opportunity as well. These programswork best with two people leading them—one talking, while the other passes aroundthe insect under discussion.

In addition to conquering unwontedfears and prejudices towards insects, but-terfly and insect exhibits can inspire peopleto provide habitat for native insects in theirown environs.We do this passively bymaintaining an outdoor butterfly garden atone of the museum entrances and activelywith talks and workshops on gardening forbutterflies, pollinators in general, or bio-logical control. At our biannual sales ofbutterfly-attracting plants, photographs ofcaterpillars accompany the host plants theyeat. Such activities have elicited some ofthe most gratifying feedback (for us, notthe visitor) with people admitting withchagrin that while wanting butterflies intheir yards, they had unwittingly dis-patched hundreds of “worms” over theyears, not realizing until now that they hadbeen killing “baby butterflies.”We also pro-vide butterfly-friendly plants for salethrough the museum gift shop. In all,these activities bring in from $10,000 to$20,000 per year.

Butterfly Center staff blogs on theHMNS website give us the opportunity totell stories about insects, provide advice onbutterfly gardening, orate about the misuseof pesticides, and reach a wider audience.We post about three blogs a month ontopics relating to plants and/or insects(overall the museum posts at least one ortwo new blogs every day).We are oftensurprised at which blogs elicit the mostinterest from readers. Often there is nofeedback, but sometimes we get multipleresponses—a blog about katydids is ourwinner so far, garnering about two dozencomments or queries. Any facility canwiden its influence in this way and providea place for people to get answers abouttheir insect and plant concerns.

I recommend also bringing audiencesthe real thing “in the flesh.” Because insectsdon’t have the husbandry and spacerequirements of most other animals, and

because many insects are so intimatelyassociated with plants, they are ideal candi-dates for incorporation into public gardensof any size or scope. In our case (given ourname and the emphasis), most peoplecome to see the insects, especially butter-flies, but often find themselves equallyintrigued with the plant life that providesthe backdrop. Plants eliciting the greatestinterest are unusual fruiting species likestar fruit, calabash tree, and cacao, and, ofcourse, those that attract butterflies, partic-ularly a spectacular, ever-blooming Prideof Trinidad (Warscewiczia coccinea).Together, plants and insects provide a mul-titude of opportunities to educate, engage(with delight or misgivings), and inspireour visitors, and a means to show howeven small and frequently despised crea-tures or oft-overlooked plants have vitalroles in the health of our world.

The Butterfly Center is open every daybut Thanksgiving and Christmas from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. (6 p.m. in summer). Ticketprices are $8.00 for adults and $6.00 forchildren and seniors. Discounted rates areavailable for school field trips and othergroups of twenty or more. The HoustonMuseum of Natural Science also boasts aworld-class gem and mineral hall, perma-nent exhibits on paleontology, chemistry,anthropology, and energy, and frequenttemporary exhibitions (currently “TerraCotta Warriors,”“Diamonds,” and“Genghis Khan”) as well as an IMAX the-ater and a planetarium.

Nancy Greig has served as director of theCockrell Butterfly Center since its opening in1994. She earned a PhD at the University ofTexas at Austin in 1991. Her dissertationwork on Piper distribution and diversity wasconducted in Costa Rica, where she learnedabout butterflies from Dr. Larry Gilbert andDr. Phil DeVries. Prior to working at themuseum she spent two years leading gradu-ate field courses in Costa Rica with theOrganization for Tropical Studies. Tocontact Nancy, please e-mail her atngreig@hmns.org.

Interior view of Butterfly Center.Waterfall is 40 feet tall.

Bromeliads on stump of strangler fig

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 17

Cleveland Botanical Garden’s newmission is “to spark a passion forplants and cultivate an under-

standing of their vital relationship topeople and the environment.” This state-ment emphasizes the importance theGarden places on portraying ecosystemsas realistically as possible. For theEleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse,which opened to the public in July 2003,our goal from the earliest planning stageswas to incorporate both plants and ani-mals to recreate two highly diverseecosystems—the Costa Rica rainforestand the Madagascar spiny desert. In thesix years since the Glasshouse opened,the diversity and quantity of flora andfauna within it have grown dramatically.As the original plantings flourish, we

continually add new and appropriateplant and animal species.

Unlike most conservatories that featuregeneralized displays, we are choosing toexhibit only Neotropical plants and animalsin the Costa Rica exhibit and only Malagasyand African species in the Madagascarexhibit. The context of both ecosystems—the rock work, paths, integrated animalexhibits, and lush plants—all contribute toour thriving animal collections.

Flying Jewels and Other CrittersThe Costa Rica Glasshouse is home to a

wide variety of animal life.We currentlyexhibit more than twenty species of butter-flies bred at butterfly farms in Ecuador,Suriname, and Costa Rica. Shipments of

approximately two hundred pupae perweek are enough to sustain a noticeablelevel of butterfly activity.We purposefullydisplay host plants, such as Passiflora, sothat guests can viewHeliconius spp. butter-flies laying eggs. This is a natural behaviorand an opportunity to interpret the butter-fly-host plant interaction to visitors.Because our goal is to show butterfly ovipo-sition and not to raise butterflies, eggs andyoung caterpillars that eat the passion vineare wiped off regularly to protect the hostplant and prevent it from being consumed.Our most successful nectar-producingplants for the butterflies includeHameliapatens, Duranta erecta, Asclepias currasavica,and Lantana camara. Meanwhile, Psiguriawarscewiczeii provides theHeliconiusbutterflies with essential pollen.

CYNTHIA DRUCKENBROD

Animal Immersion Exhibits

Cutting-Edge Animal Immersion Exhibits

CuttingEdgeat Cleveland Botanical Garden

The Eleanor Armstrong SmithGlasshouse representationof a Cost Rica Cloud Forest

A Cape dove, Oena capensis,tending a nest in an Alluaudiain the Madagascar Spiny Forest

Cutting-Edge Animal Immersion Exhibits

The Garden’s colony of leaf-cutter ants(Atta cephalotes) is housed in an artificiallog. Viewing windows allow visitors to seeants growing their fungus. However, unlikemost leaf-cutter ant displays which are con-tained entirely in an enclosed exhibit, ourcolony forages out in the open (almost). Agnarly grapevine leads out from the top ofthe trunk and acts as a bridge between theants’ nest chambers and an island in thecenter of a stream where they forage onfresh leaves. Opposite to the island, aboutten feet away, guests can view the ants cut-ting and carrying leaves using two spottingscopes—one at an adult level and the otherat a child’s level. A moat acts as a barrierthat prevents the ants from foraging freelyin the conservatory. Our diligent staffmembers quickly remove any branch orlarge leaf that falls onto the grapevinebridge to stunt the occurrence of any walk-way that would allow the ants to foragefreely in the Glasshouse plantings.

Avian BeautiesThe Garden’s avian collection in the

Costa Rica Rainforest includes several vari-eties of doves as well as Red-leggedHoneycreepers (Cyanerpes cyaneus),Bananaquits (Coereba flaveola), andViolaceous Euphonias (Euphonia violacea).Species were chosen based on their dietaryhabits. All consume only fruit, nectar, orseed, so we do not worry about any of ourbirds consuming butterflies or ants.Although exact numbers of fledged chicksare unknown, we have seen a three- tofour-fold increase in the aforementionedpopulations. In fact, we are one of the onlyinstitutions in the United States that hashad this kind of success breeding Red-legged Honeycreepers and Bananaquits.Weattribute this to the large space available tothem (ten thousand square feet), little com-petition from other bird species, access tonatural nectar from the high number ofnectar producing plants, and a diversearray of refuges provided by the epiphytes.These three species all nest in natural cavi-ties within our epiphytic collections.Wefrequently see them drinking and bathingin bromeliad cups.

In 2003, we added three pairs each ofWhite-wing Doves (Zenaida asiatica) andCommon Ground-Doves (Columbinapasserina). In fall 2007 those numbers hadgrown to over seventyWhite-wing Dovesand one hundred Common Ground-Doves. Obviously, the odor of too manydoves in the conservatory became evident(as well as fecal matter), and changes weremade.We trapped all individuals, sexedthem, and placed only males back into theconservatory. Females were sent back to theoriginal private breeder.

We have had wonderful success withAfrican finches in our spiny desert ecosys-tem. Six species of finches were introducedin 2007—the Gold-breastedWaxbill(Amandava subflava), the Red-billedFirefinch (Lagonosticta senegala), theRed-cheeked Cordon Bleu (Uraeginthusbengalus), the Yellow-fronted Canary(Serinus mozambicus), the Green-backedTwinspot (Mandingoa nitidula), and theWestern Bluebill (Spermophagahaematina). All birds are sourced frombreeders in the United States. They are thenquarantined for thirty days at which timefecal exams for parasites are conducted.Birds are given a health check by our con-sulting veterinarian and are then intro-duced into the Glasshouse.

Flora and Fauna InteractionsWhen we initially decided to incorpo-

rate animals and insects into the Garden’sGlasshouse plant collections, we accepted

that some of the plants would not lookabsolutely pristine due to animal usage. Forexample, the leaf tips of the Dracaenas inMadagascar are tattered, having been usedextensively for nesting materials by thefinches. And, during our recent “OrchidMania” show, we covered hanging slat-potsof Christiearas with Spanish moss, whichwas quickly pulled off by the finches whorecognized it as suitable nest pieces. For allthat, guests are thrilled to see the finches upclose gathering needed supplies.

Through their interactions with plantsand each other, our animals have greatlydeepened the guest experience for our visi-tors.We will continue to add appropriatespecies based on their interpretation poten-tial, availability, and suitability for theglasshouse. The presence of animals hasgiven us the opportunity to interpret theirbehaviors and adaptations while presentinga holistic view of two extremely diverse andendangered ecosystems.

Cynthia Druckenbrod is the director of horti-culture at Cleveland Botanical Garden whereshe is responsible for fourteen outdoor gar-dens and the Eleanor Armstrong SmithGlasshouse. She holds an MS in entomologydespite her love of tropical plants! She can becontacted at cdruckenbrod@cbgarden.org.

18 | PUBLIC GARDEN

Young visitor scopingout the leaf-cutter ants

Red-legged Honeycreeper,Cyanerpes cyaneus eatingbanana, Musa x paradisiaca.

“MV Wildtype”

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 19

In 2006 the Polly Hill Arboretum(PHA), a small public garden inMassachusetts on the island of

Martha’s Vineyard, introduced a fledg-ling program called “MVWildtype” inan effort to meet the needs of theVineyard community. Its primary goal isto produce native plants from local wild-collected seed. The resulting plants aremade available for many purposesincluding restoring habitat and main-taining biological corridors, landscapingwith native plants, gardening, and aug-menting cultural landscapes. Now, threeyears later, our model program producesover forty native plant species. Buyersinclude gardeners, homeowners, land-scapers, and conservation groups.

Martha’s Vineyard is many things: aplace of magical beauty, a historical land-scape, an environmental habitat, a sum-mer vacation spot, and, for some, ayear-round home. Physically, it is a onehundred-square-mile piece of land sur-rounded by water. Nowhere is species lossas impactful and quantifiable as on anisland. The same factors that affect the

ACTINGLOCALLY

TIMOTHY BOLAND

worldwide loss of biodiversity—develop-ment, habitat fragmentation, invasiveplants and animals—are dramaticallyillustrated on Martha’s Vineyard where afinite land mass exhibits human impactsin quantifiable ways.

Similar to many places in NorthAmerica and the world, Martha’s Vineyardhas endured the exploitation of its naturalresources, the loss of habitat, and theextinction of species. The Island has wit-nessed wide-scale deforestation severaltimes since being settled by Europeans in1602; yet, remarkably, existing habitatsrich in biodiversity speak to the resiliencyof nature. In fact, despite repeated distur-bances, both anthropogenic and natural(hurricanes and fire), the Island supportsthe rarest ecosystems to be found in theCommonwealth of Massachusetts as deter-mined by the Massachusetts NaturalHeritage and Endangered Species pro-gram. These include the critically imper-iled sandplain grassland which containsthe highest concentrations of rare plantsspecies in the Commonwealth as well asmany associated rare animal species.

Below are just a few examples of someof the endangered flora and fauna we haveon Martha’s Vineyard (for a more completelist, visit www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/nhesp.htm:

Flora:�Sandplain Blue-eyed Grass –Sisyrinchium arenicola (MassachusettsSpecial Concern)

�Sandplain Gerardia – Agalinus acuta(Massachusetts Endangered Plant)

�Sandplain Flax – Linum intercursum(Massachusetts Special Concern)

�Nantucket Shadbush – Amelanchiernantucketensis (Massachusetts SpecialConcern)

Fauna:�Chain Dot Geometer – Cingilia cate-naria (Massachusetts Special Concern)

�Slender Clearwing Sphinx – Hemarisgracilis (Massachusetts SpecialConcern)

� Imperial Moth – Eacles imperialis(Massachusetts Special Concern)

on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard

MV

WIL

DT

YPE

Ailanthus Webworm Mothon Orange Butterflyweed.

native plants on the Island and to facilitatethe connection of fragmented habitats.

It is important to use local genotypesof native plants primarily to preserve thelocal ecotype (genetic adaptation to a cer-tain locality). This is especially importanton an Island where separation from main-land populations (distance and geologicaltime) develops specific plant traits that givethem an adaptive advantage for survival. Inconservation biology and restoration ecol-ogy, local plant sources are recommendedto restore local ecosystems. In the case ofconservation organizations on-Island, theyhave been unable through commercialsources to get back plants that are true totype—in this case, the local genotype.When a non-local source of plants is used,

While PHA’s mission includes sharingknowledge of plants and scientific proce-dure through education, research, plantconservation, and exploration, we soughtto take more specific action to preserve,conserve, and improve the local environ-ment. The Arboretum is leading the effortto document plant diversity on the Island.Establishing ourselves as the “on-Island”education and conservation institutionwith expertise in the plant sciences allowsus to promote the long-term sustainabilityof the Vineyard landscape.

“MV Wildtype”When we evaluated ways to promote

plant conservation, preserve genetic diver-sity, and increase our relevance to the localcommunity, it was clear there was anunmet local need for a source of nativeplants. The most appropriate native plantsfor Vineyard landscapes are local ecotypes:plants grown from seed collected fromIsland plant populations, not brought overfrom off-Island, and not grown from seedcollected elsewhere.Whether restoringhabitat or gardening with native plants,you need more than good intentions, youneed plants! “MVWildtype”was devisedto meet that need.

With that objective in mind,Arboretum staff began collecting seedfrom the principal habitats on the Island in2006.We were fortunate to receive supportfrom the Martha’s Vineyard Vision Fund,an organization that funds Island studentscommitted to sustainability issues. OurVision Fellow, Christine Brissette, workedwith staff and volunteers to scout and mappopulations of targeted plants; later wereturned to harvest seed. Seed storage,treatment, germination, and plant produc-tion were made possible with the openingof our greenhouse/propagation facility thatsame year.While our focus was initially oncharismatic natives with showy bloomslike butterfly weed, successive years of col-lecting have included less showy plants—grasses, sedges, and woody plants. Inaddition to the production of local nativeplants, we also plan through “MVWildtype” to encourage the greater use of

one risks introducing genetic material thatmay hybridize and, therefore, compromisethe local genotype. Furthermore, botanicalgardens and arboreta have the expertise toidentify local populations, document theirorigin, and, provided they have the facili-ties, properly track their identity throughthe production process. This photo showswhat happened on the Island when a com-mercial grower was sent seed and then sentback plants that were not from the originalseed source, but were mistakenly mixedwith a different plant.

Success FactorsThree factors will determine the ulti-

mate success of “MVWildtype.” The first isexpanding our market by communicating

“MV Wildtype”

20 | PUBLIC GARDEN

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 21

to the Vineyard community—landscapers,horticultural professionals, and citizens—the critical way native plants sustain plantand animal relationships formed over mil-lions of years of evolution. Through edu-cation and outreach, Vineyarders must bemade aware that they can, through thechoices they make, restore the biologicalintegrity and preserve the sense of place ofthe special Island they call home. Theyhave the opportunity to enhance the cul-tural landscape while connecting to theirnatural biological heritage with the simpleact of planting native plants.

The second factor for determining pro-gram success is educating the communityabout the role native plants play in sup-porting native insects and overcoming theaversion some people have to bugs, cater-pillars, and insects in general. Nativeinsects and native plants need each other,and we need both! The poster child forplant–animal codependence is butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa). The dramaticblooms draw a bevy of insect species, nonemore notable than the monarch butterflywhich spends its entire livelihood (fromeggs to larvae to adult) reliant upon thisplant. The close relationship betweeninsects and plants provides an opportunityto explain the web of life, and how criticalplants are to our landscapes well beyondtheir ornate qualities.

The above example is probably themost well documented case of co-evolu-tion which is a difficult concept to illus-trate because it is a continuing process.The monarch butterfly is perhaps the sim-plest example to explain. Asclepsias con-tain milky latex that is ingested by themonarch in its larval stage. The latex con-tains cardenolides, a heart poison that istoxic to most animals but not for themonarch caterpillar which ingests theleaves as part of its normal feeding process.In turn, the predators of the monarchcaterpillar, mainly birds and other insects,do not eat the caterpillar which can betoxic to them or at least unpleasant to eat.In most cases insects use plants as hosts fortheir lifecycle—a place to lay eggs and havea food source to sustain their growth.Insects may also find that the plant pro-duces the right type of cover or protectionduring critical stages of their reproductioncycle.

The final factor for success is makingpeople comfortable with using nativeplants in their home landscapes and defus-ing the argument that it is an either/orproposition. That is, if you decide to usenative plants, you do not have to rule outplanting exotic or non-native plants. Youcan use both and have a beautiful anddynamic garden.We reassure Island gar-deners that their property can representtheir personal style while including nativeplants, ornamental non-native plants, andplants for food. Planting a subset of aVineyard garden with native plants can goa long way in maintaining the biologicaldiversity of the Island.

The “Island Plan” and “MVWildtype”

Martha’s Vineyard, with its wealthy sec-ond-home owners and its year-roundcommercially dependent population, is at ahistoric pivot point. In its current state,one-third of Island land is conserved orprotected from future development,another third, privately owned, and theremainder developed. Six island townswith associated houses and nearby housing

Coral Hairstreak on Slender Mountain Mint

Intern Christine Brissette collects islandnative seeds from wild porpulationsrecording location, date, and habitat.

22 | PUBLIC GARDEN

conservation organizations. The landwould then be restored to reconnect frag-mented habitat. Invasive plants and ani-mals along with habitat fragmentation arecited as the two most critical factors in theloss of biodiversity worldwide.Incorporated into this concept of fragmen-tation is development or altering of theland that creates a discontinuous connec-tion between forests, grasslands, and othertypes of habitats. An example would bewhen a road or open area is created in aonce continuous piece of land. The popu-lations of plants and animals are affectedas their ability to cross these barriers (dis-persal) is hindered, and separation fromtheir original populations occurs.

As described by Richard B. Primack inhis book, Essentials of ConservationBiology, the resulting so-called “edgeeffect” is where a habitat, now subdivided,creates changes in the microenvironmenton the fragment edge. Changes in light,temperature, wind, and—in certaincases—the incidence of fire can impact thevitality and composition of species in thefragment.

Within the “Island Plan,” theArboretum’s “MVWildtype” program hasbeen recognized as the source for true-to-type, locally grown native plants that can

developments are geographically spreadacross the land. The year-round popula-tion is 15,000 with the summer populationswelling to 115,000.

The Island’s planning authority, theMartha’s Vineyard Commission, has initi-ated a community-driven long-rangetwenty-five- to fifty-year planning effort toaddress the long-term sustainability ofIsland life. This intensive and historiceffort is known simply as the “Island Plan.”One of its priority goals is to “preserve theVineyard’s natural environment, openspaces, scenic beauty, and habitat.”

As director of the Polly HillArboretum, I joined the Island Plan’s natu-ral environment work group consisting ofconservation leaders, administrators, scien-tists, educators, planners, and passionatecitizens. The group’s objectives are to out-line goals and activities to conserve, pro-tect, enhance, or restore the Island’snatural biodiversity for future generations.Our immediate focus was to map criticalhabitat areas and define existing habitatfragmentation. One bold proposal is theconcept of “undevelopment.” In key habi-tat corridors where development and frag-mentation have already occurred, effortswill be made to purchase available proper-ties using funds provided by local land

be used by both homeowners and landconservation groups. The opportunity tolearn as we grow and promote nativeplants is tremendous. Our own Arboretumproperty is a diverse and eclectic mix ofnon-native (non-invasive) and nativeplants. Recently the Arboretum has beenusing plants from “MVWildtype” torestore its old agricultural fields to nativesandplain prairie. Last year we planted theglobally rare New England blazing star,Liatris scariosa var. novae-angliae, in ourmeadows. The process of collecting, stor-ing, and propagating this plant had neverbeen documented. This year we plan tomonitor the insect populations in ourfields to gain a better understanding of thecodependence of this rare plant with thelocal insect fauna.

ConclusionArboreta and botanical gardens must

share their expertise about local naturalareas and help communities take practicalmeasures to protect the local flora andassociated dependent fauna. This nationaland global problem needs pragmatic solu-tions. Botanic gardens and arboreta areuniquely situated to grow, distribute, andpromote native plants as well as worktogether with local conservation organiza-tions. Local efforts to protect local land-scapes will be the most effective. Oftenthese efforts already fall naturally withinthe mission of public gardens. “MVWildtype” is one such practical approachto address the loss of local habitat and pre-serve our biological heritage for futuregenerations.What better way to reconnectto our biological heritage than the simpleact of growing and planting native plants?

Timothy Boland serves as executive directorof the Polly Hill Arboretum inWest Tisbury,Massachusetts. You can contact Tim attim@pollyhillarboretum.org. For moreinformation on the Arboretum, visitwww.pollyhillarboretum.org.

“MV Wildtype”

Island plan map depicting areas of housing develop-ments (white with red dots) and remaining habitatdepicted as green (woodland or grassland) and black(Central or Coastal Sandplain Habitat).

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 23

The significance of the rose speciescollection at the Montreal BotanicGarden was not fully realized until

the early 2000s when Anne Bruneau,professor at Plant Biology ResearchInstitute (Institut de recherche en biolo-gie végétale, or IRBV) of the Universityof Montreal, became interested in study-ing its phylogenetic relationships. Thediversity she found in the species collec-tion was remarkable and a most valuablesource of reference material for herresearch. To have this diversity recog-nized by the North American PlantCollections Consortium (NAPCC) in 2008

was a tribute to our rosarians who havepatiently developed this collection onespecies at a time.

Development of the CollectionThough roses had been cultivated

since the Garden’s founding in 1931, nospecies collection was noteworthy until1976 when our formal rose garden wasfinally inaugurated. This coincided withthe nomination of a full-time rosarian andcomplementary staff responsible for thedevelopment of the collection and the careof the roughly six acres of land now dedi-cated to the culture of roses. Initially culti-

vated varieties were to occupy the bulk ofthe area. Eventually a rose species collec-tion was also to be integrated in this newgarden. This essentially marked the begin-ning of the Garden’s commitment to theestablishment of a botanical species rosecollection. Such living species collectionscould play fundamental roles in a varietyof scientific fields ranging from taxonomyand horticultural breeding programs toresearch on phytochemicals useful inpharmacology.

Not surprisingly our records show thatclose to 40 percent of our rose speciesaccessions still in culture today were

NAPCC CO L L EC T ION P ROF I L E D E PA RTMEN T S

Rose SpeciesSTÉPHANE M. BAILLEUL AND CLAIRE LABERGE

Collection

Montreal BotanicalGarden’s NAPCC

Rosa x kamtchatica flower

Rosa maximowicziana flower Rosa amblyotis in fruit Winged branch of Rosa omeiensis forma pteracantha

obtained between 1975 and 1978.However, in the 1980s attention shiftedalmost exclusively towards developing ourcollection of cultivated varieties which nownumber close to 1,200. The 1990s saw thebeginnings of a shift in the Garden’s collec-tion policies with an increased emphasison the acquisition of botanical species overcultivated varieties. This coincided with thearrival in 1989 of a new rosarian, ClaireLaberge, and the formal integration in1992 of the rose species collection directlyin the rose garden. Botanical species werenow actively being sought once again. Onevaluable source of material was the Indexseminum network of botanical gardens.However, the difficulty of germinating theseeds of certain species was a major obsta-cle to the collection’s growth, which wasfurther impeded by the often very limitedquantities of seeds sent to us. Collaborativework with Denis Lauzer from the IRBVaddressed the problem and resulted in thedevelopment of an efficient seed germina-tion technique involving in vitro embryoculture. The principle behind this tech-nique is to bypass seed dormancy by excis-ing the embryo from the seed andfacilitating its development in vitro on agermination medium. Over forty newspecies of Rosa were added to our speciescollection using this method.

The Rosa Species CollectionAs with many genera of the Rosaceae

family, Rosa taxonomy is notoriously com-plex, and no definitive account of thegenus exists. Therefore, the numbers pre-sented are more than tentative but at leastgive some indication of the collection’sscope. Although our database reports wehave roughly 115 species in culture, a morerealistic estimate of the number of speciesin our collection would be between 80 and90 valid species out of an estimated 140valid species of Rosa worldwide. The genusis restricted to the northern hemisphereand finds its greatest diversity in Eurasia.Montreal has a moist temperate continen-tal climate and is situated in Canadian har-diness Zone 5 (USDA Zone 4). Despitethis, plants hardy to Zones 6 and above aresuccessfully cultivated in the Garden with

polyfoam blankets for winter protection.Theoretically almost all the species of thismostly temperate genus could be culti-vated on the site.

Roses are also prone to more than theirfair share of diseases and insect pests.Increased concern about issues of sustain-ability and pesticide use has prompted theGarden to take action in these areas.During the last ten years, in collaborationwith the Garden’s phytoprotection team,Claire Laberge has tested and developed avery efficient integrated pest managementprogram (IPM) which has reduced pesti-cide use in the rose garden by an impres-sive 90 percent. Among our mostsuccessful IPM practices are using a mix-ture of potassium bicarbonate to detectpests early and using insecticidal soap asan alternative to synthetic pesticides.

Critical ReviewWith NAPCC’s recognition of our Rosa

species collection we undertook a thor-ough critical review of the collection toidentify its weaknesses and actions neededto improve it. Our rose species collection isnot completely vouchered. Cultivatedmaterial is represented to various degreesby herbarium voucher specimens, photo-graphs, and molecular vouchers. Moreover,this data is presently scattered within dif-ferent databases, and the compilation andintegration of this information is yet to beundertaken. A conservative estimate wouldhave over 50 percent of our accessionsvouchered with herbarium specimens androughly 25 percent with molecularsequences. Herbarium and photographicdocumentation of all our accessions are,therefore, among our short-term priorities,with these ultimately being made availableon ourWeb site.

The collection is also in need of a thor-ough nomenclatural review using the latesttaxonomic treatments. This should be fol-lowed by a systematic critical verificationof the identities of all our accessions byspecialists of this difficult genus. This isparticularly fundamental since the vastmajority of our accessions were obtainedvia seed exchanges with other botanicalgardens and institutions where the risk of

receiving misidentified material cannot beunderestimated. Fortunately, owing toClaire Laberge’s long and intimate experi-ences with the species she cultivates, visitsfrom other rosarians, and Anne Bruneau’staxonomic studies, the collection appearsquite well identified overall.

Increasing QualityThough our main objective is to

acquire missing taxa, we also aim toincrease the proportion of wild docu-mented accessions in our collection. Sincethe integrity of material from cultivatedsources may sometimes be compromisedby possible hybridization and poor collec-tions management practices, wild sourcesare always favored. At this time about aquarter of our species are of documentedwild origin with provenances rangingmostly from various Asian and Europeancountries. Another important objective isto increase the intraspecific diversity of thematerial in cultivation. The initial objectivewas simply to have one representativespecimen of the different Rosa species inculture.We now recognize the importanceof having some variation in our collectionand are aiming for an ultimate goal of atleast three accessions of different originsper taxa. To achieve this, we will eventuallyhave to expand the actual area devoted tothe culture of botanical roses.

As is the case with any plant collection,the acquisition of wild documented mate-rial and rarely cultivated species is a daunt-ing challenge. However, muchwell-documented material is presently inculture and spread out among manybotanical institutions and private collec-tions worldwide. Anyone interested insharing such material to benefit theNAPCC species rose collection hosted atthe Montreal Botanical Garden will bemost welcome to do so.

Stéphane M. Bailleul is the botanist incharge of collections management forMontreal Botanical Garden. Her colleague,Claire Laberge, assumes responsibility for therose garden.

24 | PUBLIC GARDEN

DE PARTMEN T S NAPCC CO L L EC T ION P ROF I L E

Nearly two hundred years ago, ayoung Englishman by the nameof Henry Shaw landed in the

river town of St. Louis on the edge of theAmerican wilderness. Once settled, hetook a half-day trip on horseback, ridingwestward through marshy ground, pastsinkholes and Indian burial mounds. Onhis journey, he came across a narrowpath cutting through brush and foundhimself on elevated ground overlookinga prairie.

Henry Shaw fell in love with this pieceof land. It was covered with luxuriant grassand had few trees, except for a grove of sas-

safras growing on a small hill. It was herethat Shaw would build his country homeand later his gem, his gift to the City of St.Louis—the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Now, one hundred and fifty years afterHenry Shaw opened his beloved garden tothe public, the Missouri Botanical Gardenis a National Historic Landmark and arenowned center for science and conserva-tion, education, and magnificent horticul-tural display. The Garden is celebratingthis year’s milestone anniversary withactivities and events to honor the institu-tion’s heritage and champion a sustainablefuture. The anniversary theme, “Missouri

Botanical Garden: Green for 150 Years,”acknowledges the institution’s past andpresent leadership in sustainability.

The BeginningHenry Shaw came to St. Louis in 1819

to open a business selling hardware andcutlery. As St. Louis flourished in the sec-ond quarter of the nineteenth century, sodid Shaw’s business, which includedinvestments in agricultural commodities,mining, real estate, and furs. He amassed asubstantial fortune and retired in 1840when he was not yet forty years old.

The MissouriBotanical Garden:

Dr. Peter H. Raven has led the MissouriBotanical Garden for more than 30 years.He is one of the world’s leading botanists andadvocates of conservation and biodiversity.

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 25

C E L E B RAT ING TH E G LOBA L GARDEN DE PARTMEN T S

PAUL W. MEYER Henry Shaw, 1835.

All photos credit: Courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden.

Green150Years

for

DE PARTMEN T S C E L E B RAT ING TH E G LOBA L GARDEN

specimens dating back to the nineteenthcentury when they were planted by HenryShaw. TheWilliam T. Kemper Center forHome Gardening, the nation’s most com-prehensive resource center for gardeninginformation, includes twenty-three resi-dential-scale demonstration gardens.

A Leader in Sustainability andBotanical Research

While most visitors discover a height-ened appreciation and understanding ofthe world’s rich botanical heritage, fewrealize that beyond the floral panoramasand exhibits there exists another realm: theMissouri Botanical Garden’s internation-ally renowned science and conservationprograms.

For nearly four decades, the Gardenhas been led by Dr. Peter H. Raven, one ofthe world’s leading botanists and advo-cates of conservation and biodiversity.During his tenure, Raven has nurturedthe Garden into a world-class center forbotanical research and education, andhorticulture display. Described by Time

Missouri Botanical Garden for the firsttime, ushering in a century and a halfof beautiful horticultural display andbotanical research.

Magnificent Displays of HorticultureCalled simply “Shaw’s Garden” to this

day by St. Louisans, the Missouri BotanicalGarden is now seventy-nine acres in size.Every year, nearly a million people from allover the country visit to witness the beautyand pristine nature of the Garden’s horti-culture displays. The seventy-nine acresinclude the vibrant tropical rainforest thatthrives inside the Climatron® conservatoryand the fourteen-acre Seiwa-en—one ofthe largest Japanese strolling gardens inNorth America. Other outstanding dis-plays include Chinese, English, andGerman gardens, and a Victorian District,which includes an herb garden designed,planted and maintained by the St. LouisHerb Society.

Nearly five thousand two hundred treeslive on garden grounds, including somerare and unusual varieties and a few stately

It was during his “retirement” yearsthat Shaw traveled extensively in Europe,where he was inspired by great gardensand estates. Dedicated to his beloved Cityof St. Louis, Shaw decided to spend theremainder of his life engaged in acts ofphilanthropy and began to provide sup-port to develop many St. Louis culturaland social institutions. In 1851, he begandevelopment of a ten-acre site near hiscountry home, Tower Grove House.Having a strong interest in botany andgardening, Shaw was encouraged by Dr.George Engelmann, one of the great earlyAmerican botanists, to build a garden thatwould not only be a public park, butwould also be involved with scientific worklike the great botanical institutions ofEurope.With the assistance of Harvardbotanists Dr. Asa Gray and Sir WilliamHooker, director of the Royal BotanicGardens at Kew, near London, Engelmannpersuaded Shaw to include a herbariumand a library in his garden.

On June 15, 1859, after much prepara-tion, Henry Shaw opened the gates of the

26 | PUBLIC GARDEN

Dr. Peter H. Raven

Lady playing violin, standing on Victoria pad infront of the Linnean House with audience in thebackground. Picture taken in 1890.

magazine as a “Hero for the Planet,” Ravenchampions research around the worldto preserve endangered plants and is aleading advocate for conservation anda sustainable environment.

With scientists in thirty-eight countrieson six continents, the Missouri BotanicalGarden is widely considered to be one ofthe three largest science programs in theworld, along with the New York BotanicalGarden and the Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew. There are nearly fifty PhD botanistson staff at the Garden conducting theessential work of plant identification, clas-sification, and conservation in locationsthroughout the world.

Information is shared via theGarden’s premier botanical Web site(www.mobot.org) using TROPICOS™, theworld’s largest and most widely usedbotanical database, developed and main-tained by the Missouri Botanical Garden.The Garden’s herbarium includes morethan six million specimens making it oneof the six largest in the world and one ofthe two largest in the United States.Garden scientists train local botanists andbuild research capacity in countries withthe greatest biological diversity to helpthem conserve and sustainably manage

their botanical resources. The Garden’sCenter for Conservation and SustainableDevelopment serves as a clearinghouse forplant conservation efforts.

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s edu-cation programs served nearly two hun-dred thousand students in 2008, offeringclasses for students, adults, and families;professional development for teachers; andcommunity outreach classes.With forty-six professional employees and over twohundred volunteers, the Garden is dedi-cated to excellence in formal and informaleducation programs about plants, andtheir role in sustainability to promoteunderstanding of the connections amongpeople, plants, and the environment.

The Garden operates the most exten-sive public garden recycling program inthe nation, helping to reduce the amountof horticultural waste in landfills by recy-cling plastic garden pots, and polystyrenecell packs and trays.With the addition of arecord 158,000 pounds of horticulturalwaste in 2008, the Garden’s Plastic PotRecycling program has saved over 680,000pounds, or 340 tons, of horticultural wastefrom landfills to date.

The Missouri Botanical Garden alsoencompasses a family tree of attractions.

Visitors to the two-thousand-four-hun-dred-acre Shaw Nature Reserve in GraySummit, Missouri, learn about plants, ani-mals, and ecosystems of the region. TheSophia M. Sachs Butterfly House featuresan eight-thousand-square-foot glass con-servatory where visitors can view morethan sixty species of the world’s mostbeautiful butterflies in free flight. TheEarthWays Center is the division of theGarden that oversees its mission to pro-mote energy and resource conservationthroughout the region.

Celebrating 150The Missouri Botanical Garden is hon-

oring its sesquicentennial anniversary withactivities and events throughout 2009.“Shaw’s Garden” is paying tribute to bothits Victorian and St. Louis roots with a cus-tom-created floral clock twenty feet indiameter. Floral clocks date back to 1903 inEngland, when they were popularized as aform of carpet-bedding garden displays. In1904, St. Louis was the site of a famous flo-ral clock at theWorld’s Fair. The Garden’sfloral clock showcases seasonal flowers ofvarying colors and textures, moving clockhands, and a working cuckoo bird chirpingevery quarter hour. The living spectacle ison display through October near the his-toric reflecting pools.

The Garden will also display a largearray of heirloom vegetables at the KemperCenter for Home Gardening. A receiptdated February 16, 1888, for vegetable seedspurchased by Henry Shaw was discovered inthe Garden’s archives and is the inspirationbehind the heirloom plantings. An heir-loom plant or heirloom variety is a cultivarthat was grown in earlier times. Heirloomplants have maintained their original traitsfor fifty years or more through open polli-nation by birds, insects, wind, or other nat-ural methods. Several heirloom varietiesthat could be found in Shaw’s originalvegetable garden will be on display.

Julie Bierach is the public information officerat the Missouri Botanical Garden in St.Louis, Missouri.

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 27

Dr. David Neill, Curator at the MissouriBotanical Garden conducts research in Ecuador.

Horticulturists seek a singlereference that contains all theinformation they could ever

want on any plant. Hortus Third andThe RHS Dictionary of Gardening standas outstanding examples of this type ofreference. Horticulturists also appear tohave a fetish for pocket references like theTaylor’s Guide series. David Mabberleycombines these two elements forbotanists with his eponymous

Mabberley’s Plant-book: a PortableDictionary of Plants, their Classificationand Uses, third edition.

As lofty as the goal of a comprehensivepocket reference is, there are a couple ofobvious setbacks. The book is written inabbreviations and any user is well advisedto consult both the abbreviations and sym-bols appendix and how to use this book’ssections before diving into the text. Theother drawback is that the type is painfullysmall. The Concise Edition of the OxfordEnglish Dictionary, which comes with ahandy magnifying glass, will be invaluableas a reference to anyone reading theintroduction where Mabberley lovingly

demonstrates that his knowledge ofEnglish lexicon rivals the breadth of hisknowledge of the plant kingdom.

The introduction is certainly worthreading. Here Mabberley addresses theoriginal intent of the book and its scope.He discusses advances in plant taxonomyand his approach when scientific consensushas not yet been achieved. Throughout theintroduction,Mabberley uses an effectivecombination of scientific punches and jabs

of opinion. See his discussion of alternative(e.g.Compositae) versus standardized (e.g.Asteraceae) family names for an entertain-ing example. Finally, Mabberley includesthe Australian wine industry in hisacknowledgements and admits to insertingjokes into the dense text that follows.

The dictionary itself addresses generaand families throughout the plant king-dom, including important mosses.Common names are included for familiesand genera, primarily to direct the readerto the scientific name entry. Genericentries include family placement, a countof species, monographs or revisions, geo-graphic distribution, uses, and common

names. Family entries list class and order,counts of genera and species, key morpho-logical features such as floral formulaswhere relevant, and simplified versions ofkey information for the generic entries.While this is a valuable working reference,the jokes, when one stumbles upon them,do serve as palate cleansers in a heavy,multi-course meal.

Most public gardens can find homesfor a few copies of this book. One shouldoccupy a few inches of shelf space in thereference library. Collections and educa-tion staff may want their own copies tofind monograph references, review familialplacement of a genus as of early 2008,check spelling of scientific names, or sea-son interpretive signs with ethnobotanicaluses of plants. The gift shop may sell acopy or two, but only to the most botany-literate visitors.

One less obvious setback for this bookis the medium itself. Any book becomesfrozen in time once the printing pressstarts rolling, yet our understanding of theplant kingdom continues to change andhopefully grow. While Mabberley justlyrails against uncritical websites in theintroduction, it seems that technical solu-tions exist to keep this work up to date inthe web-capable cell phone era. Perhapsthe fourth edition will become“Mabberley’s Plant e-book.”

Tim Thibault is a plant collections consult-ant, and may be contacted atCuraTemp@gmail.com.

28 | PUBLIC GARDEN

DE PARTMEN T S BOOK R EV I EW

M A B B E R L E Y ’ S P L A N T- B O O Ka Portable Dictionary of Plants, their Classification and Uses, third edition.

BOOK REVIEW

TIM THIBAULT

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 29

The green movement has been gain-ing momentum among culturalinstitutions over the past decade

with the adoption of green practicesranging from day-to-day operations tocomplete overhauls of building mecha-nisms and architecture. Practices thatwere once based on environmental moti-vation have gained attention as also ben-efiting an organization’s bottom line,staff productivity, and guest services.Museums and Public Gardens offer aremarkable complement to the growingenvironmental sustainability movementby having the potential to offer an expe-rience to guests that incorporates a “takehome message,” which is somethingrarely accomplished by corporations pro-ducing and selling a tactile product. Inthis way, sustainability often extendsbeyond the museum grounds, making itsway into the homes and personal lives ofits visitors.

In The Green Museum: A Primer onEnvironmental Practice, Susan S. Brophyand ElizabethWylie capture the extent towhich museums, including those of art,horticulture, wildlife, marine life, andmore, have begun to take hold of the envi-ronmental sustainability movement.Serving as both an introduction for read-ers new to the principles of sustainability,and a “how-to” for individuals involvedwith advancing sustainability within theirorganizations, The Green Museum offersany reader the ability to come away feelingwell versed and inspired. The book isdivided into four manageable sections:“The Idea,”“The Metrics,”“Options,” and

“The Money.” Each section covers abreadth of background informationon the topic of environmental practicesand sustainability, while also offeringconcrete implementable examples froma variety of museums.

The terms sustainable and green areoften used interchangeably, though theydo not have the same meaning. The “Idea”section of this book opens by establishingthe difference between these two terms,indicating that green denotes a product oraction that is environmentally benign,while sustainable goes beyond by incorpo-rating renewable aspect of the origin, use,and end result of the product or behavior.The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) extends thisidea even further by grasping the notion ofsustainability as it takes into considerationthree integral components: people, planet,and profit. Brophy andWylie weave his-tory of the sustainability movement andits progression among museum operationsand sites, as seen by participation rangingfrom recycling programs to education pro-grams and LEED-certified buildings. Theytouch upon reasons for pursuing environ-mental practices, issues museums mayexperience both internally and with thepublic, and examples of museums thathave taken the lead. By the end of the firstsection, it becomes quite clear that muse-ums play a significant role in the greenmovement by having the ability to host theultimate all-encompassing message forsustainability practice, passing on an edu-cational message that in effect may trans-form visitors’ experiences and lifestyles.

T H E G R E E N M U S E U MA Primer on Environmental Practice

BOOK REVIEW

KELLY OGRODNIK

BOOK R EV I EW DE PARTMEN T S

Following the establishment of themeaning of sustainability and green andhow they relate to the role of the museum,“The Metrics” establishes the range ofinvolvement a museum may grasp as itbecomes involved with sustainable initia-tives. Each museum must acknowledge theneed to start somewhere; some may beginwith one small action and slowly moveforward, while others take a more signifi-cant role by bringing sustainability intotheir mission and affecting the operationsand architecture of the facility. Brophy andWylie stress that either approach to adopt-ing sustainable practices goes beyondbuildings and operations by also focusingon people. They refer to several sustain-ability tools, such as Carbon Footprint,Energy Audits, and LEED, which allow amuseum to take note of current proce-dures and create action plans. The authorsacknowledge that making use of suchtools is imperative in providing a bench-mark from which to measure futuremovement toward more sustainable prac-tices. No tool is right for every museum;each has a different journey that will startat a certain threshold and continue as anever-evolving process.

The third section, “Options,” presentsa full range of sustainable initiatives andpractices that can be incorporated into amuseum’s operations, practices, and exist-ing buildings, as well as ideas for thoseembarking on a new building construc-tion process. The discussed options coveran extensive range of topics including thecreation of a “green team,” recycling, officeoperations, purchasing, waste manage-ment, food service, maintenance, exhibits,education, energy efficiency and genera-tion, transportation, landscape mainte-nance, water management, and historicpreservation. It continues by stressing theimportance of establishing an environ-mental sustainability policy. Included hereis an example of the Monterey BayAquarium’s Policy Statement which gives amanageable model from which anymuseum may create its own.

In the final section, “The Money,”Brophy andWylie focus on thesignificance of gaining financial support

for sustainable initiatives and practices.They recommend finding the most appro-priate funding organization that carriessimilar sustainability interests and appro-priately illustrating the case for support.Funding channels are discussed, aswell as ideas and examples of how tobest approach them. It is an exciting timeto advance an organization’s commitmentto being green, and this leadership willlikely be followed by a steady support offunding efforts.

The Green Museum offers a wealth ofinformation and ideas on the sustainabilitymovement in museums, including aresource section and a glossary ofenvironmentally sustainable definitions. Ihighly recommend this book to any readerinterested in sustainability as it relates tomuseums. It is indeed a primer on envi-ronmental practice, suited for the sustain-ability amateur or for those who have thedecision-making power to encouragechange within their organizations.

Kelly Ogrodnik, Sustainable Design &Programs Manager

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

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DE PARTMEN T S V I EWPO IN T

Because growing plantsis the essence of gardening,and plants pull carbondioxide from the atmos-phere in the process of

photosynthesis, we figure gardening mustbe beneficial in an age of climate changefueled mostly by this greenhouse gas. Inreality, the amount of energy used to con-struct and maintain gardens can result inan astonishing amount of carbon dioxide.But it is possible to create landscapes thatare carbon-neutral or, even better, thatfunction as “carbon sinks.”

Gardeners unwittingly contribute toglobal warming in a number of ways. Forstarters, we consume energy directly, bydeploying the entire panoply of powerequipment, from mowers to blowers.Whether powered by gasoline or electricity,these tools collectively result in significantCO2 emissions.

The energy involved in pumping anddistributing the water we use for irrigationcan be another major source of CO2.Generally, the more arid the area, thehigher the water’s “embodied energy,” thetechnical term for this indirect form ofenergy consumption. The fertilizers andpesticides routinely used in gardensaccount for still more energy consumptionand CO2 emissions. “Most gardeners aresurprised to learn that often the biggestcontributor to greenhouse emissions fromhome gardening and lawn care is associ-ated with use of nitrogen fertilizers,” saysDavidWolfe, Professor of Plant and Soil

Ecology at Cornell University. The manu-facture of synthetic fertilizer is extremelyenergy intensive. Manures and otherorganic sources are better because the CO2emissions associated with manufacture aremostly eliminated. But using either syn-thetic or organic fertilizers releases nitrousoxide gas, which inWolfe’s words “has 300times more global warming potential permolecule than carbon dioxide.” Chemicalpesticides have high embodied energy, andthey are also toxic.

Garden maintenance is just one part ofthe problem. Garden construction can beso energy intensive that it may take manyyears to offset the CO2 emissions. Pavingsurfaces represent an especially largeamount of embodied energy. Throw inplanters, fences, furniture, and the otheraccoutrements of a well-appointed land-scape and the emissions pile up.

In his book Gardening in a New Era,Douglas Kent, a landscape designer whoteaches at California State PolytechnicUniversity, divides the process of goingcarbon neutral into four steps. The first isto determine the largest sources of energyconsumption and therefore greenhouse gasemissions in the garden. Cutting the gar-den’s energy consumption is the logicalnext step in reducing its carbon footprint.

However, conservation alone won’tmake a garden carbon neutral. For that, it’snecessary to accumulate biomass—thefancy way of saying that you need to growa lot of woody plants—and then store theresulting biomass for as long as possible.

Answers to Your Questions About

Sustainability

A:

Q: How can we make the case to our visitors that gardening is one of the most importantthings they can do to help combat global climate change?

GROW ING GRE ENE R D E PARTMEN T S

2009 • ISSUE TWO | 31

JANET MARINELLI

What are the best ways for gardeners tosave energy and capture and store carbon?Following are some tips for public gardenvisitors:

• They should reduce the size of theirlawn unless it requires little or no main-tenance—eliminate it entirely if possi-ble. Lawn is a major source ofgreenhouse gas emissions in most gar-dens due to the amount of energyinvolved in using mowers and otherpower tools, pumping water for irriga-tion, and manufacturing the fertilizersand pesticides commonly applied toturf.

• They should use hand tools instead ofpower equipment. Once the lawn isdownsized, all they’ll need is a pushmower.

• They should choose materials with lowembodied energy. Brick, cement, andconcrete have large carbon footprintscompared to gravel and especiallywood. Using local and certified woods isalso a great way to store carbon. Usedbrick and other recycled materials aregood choices, too.

DE PARTMEN T S GROW ING GRE ENE R

32 | PUBLIC GARDEN

• To capture as much carbon as possible,they should maximize the planting areaon their property and minimize thepavement.

• Woody plants capture more carbonthan herbaceous species, so it’s a goodidea for gardeners to plant most of theirproperty with trees and shrubs (prefer-ably those that provide food and nest-ing and resting places for birds andother wildlife).

• Trees and shrubs should be locatedwhere they will block winter winds andprovide shade in summer. This reducesthe amount of energy required to heatand cool their homes and thusdecreases their carbon footprints evenfurther. The particular landscape strat-egy depends on their climate. A good

resource is “Landscaping for EnergyEfficiency,” a booklet produced for theU.S. Department of Energy and avail-able online.

• To save water and energy, they shouldreplace moisture-loving plants withdrought-tolerant ones.

• They should minimize or, better yet,eliminate the use of fertilizers and pesti-cides on their property, and use com-post and mulch produced from gardentrimmings to enrich the soil instead.

• Growing a backyard vegetable gardencan also help reduce their carbon foot-print. For more on how the carbonfootprint of homegrown food compareswith that of imported produce, see“Growing Greener” in Public GardenVol. 23, No. 2 (2008).

After sixteen and a half years at BrooklynBotanic Garden, Janet Marinelli started herown planning, interpretation, and publish-ing company, Blue Crocus Consulting. Shehas written several books and numerousarticles on sustainable buildings and land-scapes; you can find many of them on herwebsite, www.janetmarinelli.com. Send anyquestions you would like answered to Janetat jmarinelli@earthlink.net.