No society requires public gardens, any more than they require art museums. But public gardens, which are museums of living plants, enrich our culture and display our achievements in science, design, education, preservation and entertainment.
Public gardens — including botanical gardens, arboreta, conservatories, and historic landscapes — have become much more today than sites for attractive plant displays. Reflecting their original roles in 16th- and 17th-century Europe, contemporary public gardens endeavor to hold diverse collections of plants from around the world. But in response to the global loss of plant biodiversity, many are also banning the display of invasive non-natives and are nurturing locally rare or endangered species to restore those plants to their natural settings.
The education of audiences, from preschoolers to retirees, on subjects as varied as landscaping for wildlife and botanical illustration is central to the mission of most public gardens. Increasingly, gardens are also reaching out to those most in need in our society and providing them with the tools to be positive, contributing members of their communities. Since humans are largely responsible for environmental degradation but also are the only species that can reduce or reverse that degradation, public gardens must address the well-being of its citizens if they expect those individuals to become advocates for the planet.
Public gardens have also long been recognized as sites that can contribute to visitors’ relaxation and recreation and as transitional spaces between the busyness of the modern life and the natural world. But public gardens also offer a common ground for different people to come together and to seek their common interests. The planting and tending of plants and the pleasure that their growth brings is a universal experience that rises above the many obstacles that divide cultures.
Now that it is spring, Cornell Plantations — the region’s premier public garden — is again sponsoring Wildflower Explorations, in which every third-grader from the Ithaca and Trumansburg school districts learns about our native flora through activities in the Mundy Wildflower Garden.
This effort — part of the Kids Discover the Trail program — is one aspect of a comprehensive educational program at Cornell Plantations whose overall goal is to convey how essential plants are to human survival, our well-being, and the health of our planet.
This Friday is National Public Gardens Day, and we invite everyone to stop into the Nevin Welcome Center to pick up a cup of free Gimme! coffee, and to explore the botanical garden, F.R. Newman Arboretum and spectacular natural areas. On your hike, we invite you to consider this question: How much poorer would our nation be if all of our public gardens were to disappear?
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