{"id":50872,"date":"2015-08-12T10:29:34","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T14:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nybg.org\/plant-talk\/?p=50872"},"modified":"2017-07-03T17:11:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T21:11:51","slug":"whats-the-hoopla-about-horticulture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2015\/08\/adult-education\/whats-the-hoopla-about-horticulture\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s The Hoopla About? Horticulture!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hortie<\/a>
Interns learn about green-industry careers and they also learn about some great engineer careers<\/span><\/a> from imflash.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On July 22, more than 165 horticulture enthusiasts from the Tri-State area and beyond descended upon The New York Botanical Garden for the third-annual Hortie Hoopla, a field day for green-industry interns that offers them time to network, learn about career opportunities, explore the Garden grounds including visiting the FRIDA KAHLO: Art, Garden, Life<\/em> exhibition, and to have fun and meet others like themselves.<\/p>\n

Hosted by NYBG\u2019s School of Professional Horticulture<\/a>, the event is designed to inspire young people who are interested in plants to pursue an education in the continually expanding green industries. As they arrived at Ross Hall to begin their day, a few spoke about the value of horticulture to them and to the world:<\/p>\n

\u201cHorticulture is the expression of human creativity and intelligence in the care, cultivation, and transformation of the living world,\u201d<\/em> New York Restoration Project intern Dan Griffin said. \u201cHorticulture also carries the responsibility to address grave problems created by human mistakes and mistaken priorities that threaten the integrity of the earth\u2019s living systems.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Kristin Neill, intern at Cornell University Long Island Research Center said, \u201cHorticulture is important because it is the link between nature and human nature. Horticulturists bridge the gap.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI am contributing to sustaining the world\u2019s clean air and food,\u201d<\/em> stated Raina Puels, intern at Central Park Conservancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHorticulture brings endless joy and surprises,\u201d<\/em> said Brooklyn Bridge Park intern Mary Keehbauch. \u201cHaving the ability to create experiences for people in both the private and public sector while also helping to preserve nature is truly a gift.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Meng Gao, intern at Old Westbury Gardens kept it simple: \u201c[Horticulture] makes our life fresh.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The program began with five successful leaders in NYC horticulture telling inspiring stories of how they got their start as interns. Speakers were Karen Daubmann, NYBG\u2019s Associate Vice President for Exhibitions and Public Engagement; Heather Liljengren, supervising seed collector\/field taxonomist for NYC Parks Greenbelt Native Plant Center; Rebecca McMackin, director of horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park; Jason Sheets, Brooklyn\/Queens regional director for New York Restoration Project; and Thomas Smarr, director of horticulture at Friends of the High Line.<\/p>\n

Then, Ken Druse, renowned garden writer, photographer, author, and host of the weekly radio program \u201cReal Dirt<\/a>,\u201d took his turn on stage to discuss the future of horticulture\u2014a future he sees as very dependent upon horticulturists helping Americans recognize the value of good gardening and landscaping practices. And the difference between a lawn care service company and a true horticulturist? Druse says horticulturists \u201cnever want the garden to be \u2018done.\u2019\u201d He addressed the group with his several humorous takes on American horticulture practices.<\/p>\n

\"Jared<\/a>
Jared Barnes, Ph.D., delivers the keynote address at the third-annual Hortie Hoopla at the Garden on July 22.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year\u2019s keynote address was delivered by Jared Barnes, Ph.D., assistant professor of horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, who is known for dressing up like \u201cSuperseed,\u201d a superhero\/alter ego of his own creation, to demonstrate the plant growth process. A charismatic speaker, Barnes advised the interns to take initiative to succeed, after guiding them through what he sees as principles of life, including \u201cFailure Becomes Compost,\u201d \u201cBe a Symbiont, Not a Parasite,\u201d and \u201cKeep Growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the program in Ross Hall, the interns enjoyed lunch and a career information session, before heading outdoors to visit six gardens where School of Professional Horticulture students were stationed to inform the interns about each of them. The interns also took part in the Mystery Plant ID contest, identifying six plants with its proper botanical name at each station.<\/p>\n

The day culminated in the ultimate fun: a barbecue, prizes for contest winners, and games in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, a veritable paradise for young vegetable gardeners, complete with dozens of garden plots tended by children.<\/p>\n

Charles Yurgalevitch, Ph.D., Director of the School of Professional Horticulture, expressed his pride in the success of the event.<\/p>\n

\"Hortie<\/a>
A School of Professional Horticulture student talks to visiting interns about the Garden’s collections.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe outlook of horticulture careers is certainly bright,\u201d Charles said, \u201cespecially with the passion and motivation of all these interns taken into account. I am hopeful they will get an education in any of the green industries so they\u2019re better able to make a contribution to the next generation\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s those very things \u2013 passion and motivation \u2013 that led them to the Garden to explore their field of interest.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Queens Botanical Garden intern Shalysha Jeffries summed it up best: \u201cI\u2019m interested in a career in this field because I was once told if you have a career in something you love, it never feels like work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Learn more about the School of Professional Horticulture at nybg.org\/edu\/soph<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 22, more than 165 horticulture enthusiasts from the Tri-State area and beyond descended upon The New York Botanical Garden for the third-annual Hortie Hoopla, a field day for green-industry interns that offers them time to network, learn about career opportunities, explore the Garden grounds including visiting the FRIDA KAHLO: Art, Garden, Life exhibition,… <\/p>\n

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