Thomas L. Woltz, ASLA and Douglas Reed, FASLA, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden for the Gillette Forum.

by Adele MacLean, Program Developer/Special Projects and Jonah Holland PR & Marketing Coordinator

The Gillette Forum, the last of Lewis Ginter’s four-part 25th anniversary symposia, was filled with many great stories, images and ideas  about how each of us can do our part to create landscapes that are both beautiful and environmentally sustainable.   After taking a moment to absorb it all, our special projects program developer and I have  gathered our thoughts and reflections on the symposium.  The Gillette Forum moved more than a few Virginians.  How it Grows, a Williamsburg blog,  has a great recap of our keynoter Douglas Reed’s presentation and of Timothy Beatley’s documentary ‘The Nature of Cities” Richmond premier at Gillette. So, if you missed the forum, be sure to check those out.

Today, I’ll let Adele MacLean, our special projects program developer, who worked tirelessly planning many of the intricate details of Gillette share her thoughts with you. I figured who better to tell you about the symposium than the woman behind the scenes.  Tomorrow, I’ll share my reflections, so stay tuned! And stay tuned for a podcast recording of keynoter Douglas Reed as well.  Here is Adele:

At the end of Thomas L. Woltz’s keynote speech, “Narratives of Ecology” keynote presentation at the Gillette Forum, all I could say to the friend across the table who caught my eye was a silent, “Wow.”  What she mouthed in response was exactly the same:  “Wow.”

I was dazzled again and again by both major speakers’ presentations and learned more than I would have imagined possible when I set out for the Garden that morning.  I saw images and heard stories of thousands of acres of landscape in Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Zealand that were transformed by exemplary collaborations among professionals from various disciplines and visionary landowners who took extraordinary measures to protect wildlife, plant communities, and water quality, to respect history and culture, and ultimately to create landscapes that were not only achingly beautiful but also responsible.  After that consciousness-raising experience, “sustainability” took on a new meaning for me.

And yet . . . the same question began nagging me that apparently bothered other members of the audience.  Someone raised it during the Q & A that followed the two Thursday morning presentations—what if I don’t own hundreds of acres of land in rural Virginia or New Zealand but just have one small plot in suburban Richmond?  What if I don’t have vast resources to team up with landscape architects, biologists, botanists, hydrologists and all the others to probe every detail of my property’s cultural and ecological context?  Does sustainability matter only at that scale or does what I do in the small space where I live make a difference, too?

That’s when Thomas Woltz impressed me most of all.  He answered passionately that small landowners like me have the greatest impact on the natural environment and therefore can make the biggest difference in determining whether it will be sustainable, because our holdings aggregated together amount to far more than any of the wealthy landowners’ projects he had highlighted in his presentation.  He pointed out that simple decisions we make about our property, such as whether to purchase a popular but invasive plant or to create an expansive lawn, can make the difference between promoting healthy wildlife habitat or further endangering a plant or animal species.  He ended by charging each of us to try to understand what is unique about the places where we live, to be sensitive to the  “narratives of ecology” in our own backyards, and to make responsible decisions based on what we learn so that we, too, can become effective stewards of the environment.

In a word, our job is to heal the planet one yard at a time.

Has anyone else noticed the multitude of acorns this year? Aside from unsteady footing have you ever wondered what all those acorns mean? Some say you can predict the weather by how many acorns are on the ground. Something to do with how the squirrels will need to forage more because of deep snow and a harsh winter.

Earlier this fall, you may have followed along on Facebook as we cut open a persimmon to look at the seeds with the hope of forecasting the winter. The result: inconclusive (I should have done a bit more research which direction to cut the persimmon!)

We took this photo of the woolly bear caterpillar yesterday. Based on its markings, it looks like a very mild winter.

In my family, we always looked to the woolly bear caterpillars to forecast the winter. I remember my mother holding one in her hand for me to pet. I expected it have soft fur like it’s namesake and being disappointed at its prickly fur. But I was even more surprised when she told me this magical little creature  could forecast the winter by the bands of color on its fur.  The folklore legend goes: the longer the brown band in the middle, the harsher the winter will be.

Funny thing is,  as a kid,  typically by the time winter came around, I didn’t even remember the woolly bear caterpillar’s forecast.  I was so excited about the snow and getting out of school for a few days that fall forecast seemed miles away.   And by that time, the woolly bear was back in the ground hibernating just like his namesake.

Yesterday, my colleague found a woolly bear right here at Lewis Ginter. You can see from the markings it forecasts a mild winter.

Normally I don’t put might weight in folk lore, but I’ll never forget that when I was planning for my outdoor wedding 14 years ago I consulted the Old Farmer’s Almanac and it was exactly right! (In case you are wondering — rain all day until an hour before the ceremony.)

So, if the multitude of acorns mean its going to be a harsh winter, and the woolly bears predict a mild one, what does that mean? I’m predicting it means that we’ll have some very mild days this winter and some very harsh snowy ones!  (This weekend it’s supposed to hit 70 degrees!)

What traditions do you have in your family for forecasting the weather?

The growing season may be over, but there’s still plenty to be done in the Community Kitchen Garden and a little bit of rain doesn’t stop the volunteers at Lewis Ginter!

Last week we had a good crew show up regardless of the rain and we picked the last of the tomatoes. We also pulled out many of the remaining plants, including the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants (by the way, did you know that where I come from we call eggplant ‘aubergines’?).

This week, again we started off in a slight drizzle and sheltered in the greenhouse while we did some general clean up by removing twine from the tomato cages and stacking them for storage over winter.

As the rain slackened off we ventured out to do a messy chore quite fitting for Halloween: we picked up all the tomatoes that were still on the ground to put in the compost pile. Some were hard and green, but many were rotten, slimy and stinky!

Rotten Tomatoes!

The rain picked up but we continued with our clean up by collecting all the irrigation hoses for storage. We also made sure the area was clean and free of any plastic plant labels and plant ties, as we will be tilling the area soon before planting a ground cover for winter. It is important to make sure that there is no plastic in the soil that won’t break down. Little chores like this are really important; and a keen gardener should try to keep on top of them!

The last chore of the day involved removing all the black plastic weedcover that we had laid down in the beginning of Spring. That was hard work, especially because the mulch was wet and heavy and the plastic kept tearing! Next year we think we might try and use a biodegradable kind that we won’t have to remove. Gardening can be hard work so if you can cheat a little then why not?!

The fall crops we planted are coming along nicely. The cabbages are growing well and will probably be picked this week.

Rows of cabbages

 The broccoli will stay in the ground a little longer. I have to admit, even though I have eaten plenty of broccoli and love it, I had no idea what it looked like when it is growing. This is another reason why I love volunteering at the garden; you always get to learn something!

Brocolli

Cauliflower

Back in spring we set ourselves a huge goal of growing 10,000 pounds of vegetables for the Central Virginia Foodbank. Right now we are around 8,200. Let’s all cross our fingers and hope that the cabbages, broccoli and greens get us to that goal. Wouldn’t that be awesome?!

Working in the Children’s Garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is always a lot of fun — the staff here loves learning about nature as much as we like teaching kids about it.  Krissi, one of the Program Developers in the Children’s Garden,  has the very cool job of designing a new Kid Quest every couple of months. This outdoor scavenger hunt for kids of all ages is a great way to get to know the gardens at Lewis Ginter better. The Kid Quest that is available  through the end of November focuses on Garden Structures, and will lead you to places you might not have explored at Lewis Ginter.

Krissi tries out the Human Sundial she created

Kid Quest is available from the admissions desk at the Garden- just ask for one on your way in. I don’t want to give too much away about this Kid Quest, but I am sure you’ll want to come by to see one of the newest features in the Children’s Garden – the human sundial. Come over and try telling the time using just your body and the sun!

Tonight is the start of the Timeless Design in a Sustainable World: The Charles F. Gillette Forum — our fourth and final 25th anniversary symposia here at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The focus will be on making beautiful spaces that are sustainable, beautiful and responsible.  But tomorrow night, as the finale of the Gillette Forum, the theme will once again turn to urban green spaces when Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden hosts the FREE Richmond Premier of “The Nature of Cities” (Thursday, October 29th at 4:30 p.m.)  We’ll open our doors to the public for the last part of the Gillette Forum to share this wonderful documentary with you.  Plus,  join special guest, UVA School of Architecture Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, Tim Beatley, as he leads a question & answer session after the film.  Hope you can join us!

Here are some more details about the movie:

“The Nature of Cities” is a one-hour documentary about people in cities across the world who believe that, even as we become more urbanized, we must reclaim an essential piece of our humanness — our connection to the nature around us. Amazing projects in cities around the globe have already begun this task. The Nature of Cities is about raising consciousness and understanding of this movement and exploring the need of moving not only towards sustainability, but also to a regenerative way of living.

“The Nature of Cities” explores both the nature in are own backyards- Austin and San Diego and the possibilities in projects of cities of the future- Malmo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Freiburg, Amsterdam and Paris. The film features Sustainable Communities professor Timothy Beatley as he tours these places with City Planners, Landscape Architects, Ecologists and Residents. Commentary by Richard Louv (Last Child in the Woods) and Dr. Stephen Kellert (Biophilic Design) provide the background for looking at the living possibilities of how we can be in an urban environment integrated with the nature around us.

This year Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is hosting the Museum Stores of Richmond’s Holiday Shoppers Fair (Friday, Nov. 6 & Saturday, Nov. 7). Fifteen Richmond-area museum stores in one place for two days!

Talk about interesting gift ideas. When I glanced through the list of participating museums and what they’d be selling, I saw items such as gurglepots, Buddha boards,  roboticHexBugs and Edgar Allan Poe action figures. I don’t know exactly what some of these are, but I am curious to find out! In addition, there’s always great selection of interesting and well-crafted items: home decor, jewelry, holiday items, prints, books, garden accessories and more.  

Why do I love Holiday Shoppers Fair? I can always find something for the “hard-to-buy-for” people on my list (i.e. — my husband. ) I’m also always on the lookout for cool presents for the kids. They’ve enjoyed the toys, books and stocking stuffers so much from previous Holiday Shoppers Fairs that they didn’t even realize the gifts were (shhhh!) educational.

Holiday Shoppers Fair is also a big deal for the museums. Shop revenue is a major source of income for the museums and all of the proceeds from Holiday Shoppers Fair goes directly to the participants. It’s the original “Shop for a Cause.”

(Secretly, I have another reason for wanting to go to Holiday Shoppers Fair. On Saturday, Nov. 7 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. the Miller & Rhoads Snow Queen will be there signing her book. For anyone of a certain age who grew up in the Richmond area, a visit to Santa and the Snow Queen was a favorite holiday tradition. I wonder if she’ll recognize me?)

See a list of the Richmond-area museums participating in Holiday Shoppers Fair and some of the items they’ll be selling.

Cool thing: Will Rogers, President for the Trust for Public Land, is now blogging for The Huffington Post. He says  many people choose to conserve land for its beauty and for sentimental reasons. That makes sense.  But it may be  money that convinces Americans to do more land preservation.  Because, he says:

Turns out, for every dollar New Jersey has invested in conservation, the state has gained ten dollars in economic value. What a deal!…..

At stake is a $400 million bond to continue to keep the pace of preservation efforts that New Jersey voters have approved time and time again. This renewed investment will cost households $10 annually, and enable the protection of over 70,000 acres of land at a time when lower land values will give New Jersey voters a lot of bang for their bucks.

And for a family’s ten dollars each year, they not only invest in new parks and conserved lands; they invest in their own economy. Jobs are created when new parks are being built and landmarks are restored, and conservation leads to ecosystem benefits such as water purification, waste treatment, and flood mitigation. Economic benefits also come from fish and farm economies and outdoor recreation activity linked to open space.

Looks like I’ve got a good question to ask Douglas Reed, FASLA, and Thomas Woltz, ALSA, when the come speak at Lewis Ginter. How can we do this in Virginia? And how can we make those green spaces sustainable, public spaces that connect people back to nature,  creating beauty and beautiful sustainable landscape at the same time as we create jobs and help our economy?

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-rogers/the-other-new-jersey-race_b_319234.html

Want to see Michele Obama’s  Kitchen Garden? Now is your chance.  According to US News & World Report,  this weekend, the White House garden and grounds will be open for free tours.  Thanks to Red White & Grew for letting us know! The tour is free and open to the public, but make sure you get a ticket.  Details below:

ANNOUNCING THE WHITE HOUSE GARDENS AND GROUNDS TOURS: The White House Gardens and Grounds Tours will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 17th, and from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 18th, 2009.Visitors to the gardens will be able to view the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, Rose Garden, Children’s Garden and the South Lawn of the White House. The Kitchen Garden, a new addition to the South Lawn, will be viewable from a distance along the tour route. There will be a visual explanation to help educate tourists on the elements of the garden. The tours are open to the public; however, a ticket is required for all attendees, including small children. The National Park Service will distribute free, timed tickets at the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion located at 15th and E Streets on each tour day beginning at 8:00 a.m. Tickets will be distributed—one ticket per person—on a first-come, first-served basis. In case of inclement weather, the Garden Tours will be canceled. Please call the 24-hour information line at (202) 456-7041 to check on the status of the event.

After reading the Garden Club of Virginia’s Horticulture blog (one of an impressive 3 blogs that they sponsor, in addition to Tweeting!) I came across Wordless Wednesday. A day’s post dedicated to a photo of some beautiful flower or creature. I like the idea so much, that I’ll be adopting Wordless Wednesday here as well. I hope you’ll tune in to see what wordless wonder is happening at the Garden right now!

Asters