Lectures and Special Events, 2012
Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at the North Carolina Botanical Garden's Education Center in Chapel Hill off Old Mason Farm Road. These lectures/events are listed in chronological order.
TweetA Darwin Day Presentation
Sunday, Feb 12, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
HMS Beagle by Conrad Martens
On Sunday, Feb 12, 1:00 - 3:00 pm, the North Carolina Botanical Garden will celebrate the 203rd birthday of Charles Darwin with a "plant adaptations walk" followed by a presentation on "Darwin’s Voyage: Then and Now." Dr. Janice Swab, Professor Emerita of Biology, Meredith College, has personally traced most of Darwin's 5-year voyage on the HMS Beagle. Her presentation describes how the places Darwin visited have changed and highlights Darwin's struggle to identify the plant specimens he collected on this journey. The presentation begins at 2:00. This event is free, but advance registration is helpful—Please contact Lauren Davis, 962-0522, to register.
Southern Appalachian Celebration—a reception
Sunday, February 19, 2 - 5 pm
Since late November, visitors to the Garden have been enjoying "SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN CELEBRATION: In Praise of Ancient Mountains, Old-Growth Forests, and Wilderness" in the Pegg Exhibit Hall of our Education Center. Join us on Sunday, February 19, 3 to 5 pm, to meet the photographer, James Valentine, and participate in a unique presentation, "Falconry: The Ancient Connection," that includes a live falconry demonstration. The event, which also includes refreshments, a video, and book signing, is cosponsored by UNC Press, publisher of Valentine’s book. We gratefully acknowledge Tom Kenan, whose generous support enables us to offer this unusual event for FREE. Please send RSVP to laurende@email.unc.edu so we can plan for the reception. More about the exhibit.
Bartram and Michaux— stories of botanists & explorers
Wednesday, March 7, 7 pm, in the Reeves Auditorium
Title page of Bartram's Travels with frontispiece "Mico Chlucco the Long Warrior"
Join staff of the UNC Herbarium—a unit of the North Carolina Botanical Garden—for an entertaining journey through some botanical history. Herbarium Curator Alan Weakley is master of ceremonies. Garden Director Peter White first discusses botany as an historical science—a subject whose understanding is built through years of observation and is rich with interesting, even colorful, people from past generations. He will focus on the Quaker botanists and their influence on botany in the late 1700s and 1800s, especially William Bartram of Philadelphia who explored the Southeast at the time of early European settlement, when Native American civilizations and old-growth forests were part of the landscape. Peter White weaves in stories of the Lost Colonies and John Lawson, who journeyed between Pittsboro and Hillsborough in the early 1700s.
We'll continue as botanical time-travelers in the second part of the program: a visit to 18th-century America with an experienced and dedicated French explorer-botanist for your guide. Andre Michaux will entertain you with tales of his journey through the rugged and beautiful Carolina landscape as he surveyed this largely unknown land, searching for useful trees and plants. He describes his wilderness adventures and some of his botanical discoveries as well as encounters with inhabitants of early America. Michaux is played by retired librarian/Michaux scholar Charlie Williams of Charlotte, NC. Appearing in 18th-century dress, he speaks to his audience in the formal English of the day and the tone of a dedicated scientist.
The UNC Herbarium is the largest museum collection of plants in the Southeast. The Herbarium safeguards more than a century's-worth of plant specimens that provide the underpinning of all we know about plant identification, taxonomic relationships, and distribution in our region of the world.
Fee: $10 ($5 NCBG members). Proceeds benefit the UNC Herbarium. Pre-registration is required: please call 919-962-0522 or email Lauren Davis to register.
Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden
Thursday, March 15, 2 pm
Has any gardener collected so many kinds of vegetables as Thomas Jefferson assembled for his garden at Monticello? Peter Hatch, Director of Gardens & Grounds for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, will discuss his forthcoming book, "A Rich Spot of Earth: Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden—the story of Jefferson's 1,000-foot-long, terraced vegetable garden, an experimental laboratory of 330 varieties of 99 species of herbs and vegetables. Carved from a hillside to create a uniquely warm microclimate, the garden was an Ellis Island of new and unusual introductions from around the world. Writing that "the greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture," Jefferson exchanged seeds of the latest vegetable novelties with leading gardeners of the early 19th Century with missionary zeal. Co-sponsored by the Herb Society of America (HSA). Fee: $15 (free for HSA & NCBG members)
Robert Frost—Full Day of Spring
Wednesday, March 21, 7 pm
Back by popular demand! In recent years, Garden Director Peter White has celebrated the natural history of Frost's poetry with the arrival of spring (this March marks the 138th anniversary of Frost's birth). Combining three threads from his own childhood—his mother's poetry, summers on a Maine lake, and a love of nature—Director White introduces you to Robert Frost, the natural historian who recognized many species of plants and animals on his daily walks, understood plant families, observed nature in detail, and wrote of the need for wilderness and conservation. Enjoy the science and the poetry of Robert Frost. Free, but advance registration is requested.
Return to the EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS page to find other public programs, such as Classes and Workshops, Art at the Garden, and Certificate Programs.
Last updated by Laura Cotterman on February 09, 2012 at 02:00:14 pm.
