Uli Lorimer - Is Fieldwork Relevant to Gardening?

MHG Meetings

Sponsored By: Metro Hort Group

Unequivocally, the answer is still yes. Although modern gardeners may not seek their plants from the wild, many valuable lessons can be learned from time spent in nature. These include building out your plant knowledge and palette, gaining inspiration from plant communities and combinations, predicting how plants might behave in cultivation, and deepening ones understanding of how all life is connected. Fieldwork is also a crucial part of plant conservation both locally and globally. This talk will explore these themes within the context of native plants to the northeastern United States.

Uli Lorimer is the Curator of Native Flora at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden since 2005. He is an alumnus of Wave Hill Gardens and the US National Arboretum in Washington, DC. He also serves on the Council of the Torrey Botanical Society, currently as Field Committee Chair and previously as Program Chair. Connecting field botany with horticulture is a professional goal for Uli. As Curator of Native Flora, he played an instrumental role in the expansion of the gardens native plant collection, using only material sourced from the wild and grown from seed. Additionally, Uli works on native plant conservation at BBG through collaborations with the Center for Plant Conservation, the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, and many others. As Field Chair, he coordinates botanical fieldwork with regional botanists and naturalists as well as leads trips himself. Sharing his passion for all plants, Uli teaches at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the New York Botanical Gardens, and for Farm School NYC. Uli also lectures widely on native plants, conservation and design. To support his teaching and lecturing Uli is an avid photographer of all things green

Lecture Resources:

Download a PDF of the presentation (file size is 77mb):
https://app.box.com/v/UliLorimerLecture

Wildflowers of Field and Forest
by Steven Clemants and Carol Gracie
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195150058/

Newcombs Wildflower Guide
by Lawrence Newcomb
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316604429/

The Natural History of Spring Wildflowers
by Carol Gracie
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691144664/

Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of the United States
by Edward Knobel
https://www.amazon.com/dp/048623505X/

Go Botany:
https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org

Wildflower Search:
http://www.wildflowersearch.com