Design

I've spent 35-odd years or so encouraging people to learn about plants and nature. The first incarnation was as a TA in graduate school, for classes in General Biology, Plant Ecology, California Flora, and Evolutionary (Plant) Ecology. As a young college professor, I taught General Biology, General Botany, and People and the Environment. But for the last 15 years or so, I've been a botanical garden educator, which means that I get to encourage folks (of all ages) to learn more broadly about plants, gardening, gardens, natural history, nature, birds, etc. etc. It's been a gift to be able to have as 'work' the mission of educating folks about the natural world. (There are PLENTY of non-idyllic aspects, to be sure, but I won't list them here.) I've thought about this recently in the context of blogging, as I'm planning on going to the Garden Bloggers Buffa10 gathering this summer (the third of these informal gatherings). It sounds like it will be gre...

Hearing gardeners talk about gardening and gardening is always inspiring, especially on a cold winter morning. We regularly have a series of Saturday morning lectures in February, and I always try to have a mix of programs about garden design, plants, garden ideas, etc., but my favorites are always hearing about personal plant choices and reflections on gardening style. We become better gardeners, with more satisfying gardens, if we've noticed what we enjoy in other people's gardens and our own. And part of that noticing requires careful observation; is it the texture mix, or the color contrast, or the backdrop, or the meandering path? Why does one color combination work and another doesn't? What suits you best? Our speakers this morning were both accomplished garden writers, and are used to describing plants and gardens in clear and visually oriented prose. Writers who write to encourage people about gardening also make excellent speakers, I've found, as well as ...