Summer 2010 - Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

60 Pages·2010·9.84 MB·English

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p u b l i s h e d by fa i r c h i l d t r o p i c d e n
Frog Face Bird House, $26.00,
SALE $20.80, MEMBER $18.72.
The Shop
tropical gourmet foods
home décor accessories
eco-friendly and fair trade products
gardening supplies | unique tropical gifts
AT FAIRCHILD
books on tropical gardening, cuisine and more
F A I R C H I L D T R O P I C A L B O T A N I C G A R D E N
10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL 33156 | 305.667.1651, ext. 3305 | www.fairchildgarden.org | shop online at www.fairchildonline.com
Photo by Gaby Orihuela/FTBG.
contents
44
Plants from
“La Isla del Encanto”
25
Seeding the Lakes
30
The Mangos
of India at Fairchild
20 Making his Mark:
A Collector’s Passion Takes Root
5 FROM THE DIRECTOR
8 EVENTS
9 NEWS
11 TROPICAL CUISINE
13 WHAT’S BLOOMING
15 EXPLAINING
tropical gourmet foods
17 VIS-A-VIS VOLUNTEERS
home décor accessories 23 PLANT SOCIETIES
37 PLANTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
eco-friendly and fair trade products
39 GARDENING WITH GEORGIA
gardening supplies | unique tropical gifts 47 BUG BEAT
48 GIFTS AND DONORS
books on tropical gardening, cuisine and more
49 WISH LIST
50 WHAT’S IN STORE
52 VISTAS
39
Butterfly Gardens 54 GARDEN VIEWS
10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL 33156 | 305.667.1651, ext. 3305 | www.fairchildgarden.org | shop online at www.fairchildonline.com
58 FROM THE ARCHIVES
Membership at Fairchild
Members of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden make a big difference, because they are part of a global community
focused on tropical plant conservation and education. Fairchild members support programs in faraway places like
Madagascar and Kenya. Fairchild members support conservation and education programs right here in South Florida.
In fact, Fairchild’s scientists are leading plant conservation efforts in our local areas and neighborhoods.
Fairchild members receive free admissionevery day during regular hours; free admission to more than 500
other U.S. gardens, arboreta and museums; a free subscription to the award-winning The Tropical Garden magazine;
10% discount at The Shop at Fairchild; priority registrationand discounts for educational courses and
freeuse of the research and member libraries. Members also receive special invitations to members-only
events such as moonlight tours, Members’ Day and fall plant sales, lectures and trips.
Join or renewyour membership today. Your Fairchild membership has growth potential.
For more information, please call the Membership Department at 305.667.1651, ext. 3362 or visit
www.fairchildgarden.org.
F A I R C H I L D T R O P I C A L B O T A N I C G A R D E N
Photo by Gaby Orihuela/FTBG
from the director
his summer we celebrate the mangos of India during the 18th annual International
T Mango Festival. In this issue of The Tropical Garden, Dr. Richard Campbell and Noris
Ledesma describe a culture that embraced mangos over 500 years ago and continues
to develop new and better ways to grow them. Today, the cultivation of mangos in India is a
great example of sustainable agriculture, with tremendous benefits to the society and culture
of India and minimal use of natural resources.
Like the mango-rich regions of India, South Florida has a climate that is perfectly suited for
mangos. Our natural soil and climate have an impressive ability to nurture mango trees with
very little intervention.
We are following the example of the mango as we develop our landscapes at Fairchild,
favoring plants that thrive in our soil and climate with the smallest possible input of fertilizer
and water. With nearly 75 years of experience with thousands of different kinds of tropical
plants, we are able to make educated decisions about the plants we put into our landscapes
and promote for use throughout South Florida.
As we improve the palette of plants we use in our landscapes, we are also working to find
smarter ways to use natural resources. For example, a new irrigation system, to be installed
this year, will be perfectly optimized for delivering water where and when it is needed. While
our current system is effective for keeping our plants healthy, the new system will do the same
job without wasting a drop. Our use of water will decrease by more than 50%.
With a decreased use of natural resources, we find that we can also increase the positive
impact of our garden on the surrounding ecosystem. In this issue, Marilyn Griffiths describes
some of the butterfly-attracting plants in the Lisa D. Anness Butterfly Garden. These plants,
along with many other important species, are helping us conserve rare native butterfly
species. Stephanie Bott describes the work of our Butterfly Garden volunteers to create and
maintain a habitat that can sustain the great diversity of butterfly species at Fairchild. Georgia
Tasker explores butterfly gardening in our community, showing how home gardeners can
extend wildlife conservation far beyond our boundaries.
Also in this issue, Jason Lopez provides an overview of an exciting project to turn Fairchild’s
lakes into a habitat for rare aquatic plants and animals. The project has already resulted in
new, breeding populations of native fish species. We expect that these will, in turn, provide a
food source for the native birds we are conserving as part of the James A. Kushlan Bird
Conservation Program at Fairchild.
Our visitors enjoy seeing a greater diversity and greater quantities of butterflies, aquatic
animals and birds at Fairchild. With the increased aesthetic value, there is also an increase in
the conservation value of our garden as we serve as a refuge for rare native animal species. As
we inspire others to create animal habitats in their own yards and neighborhoods, we have
the exciting opportunity to transform urban South Florida into a habitat for vanishing wildlife.
Summer is the time for planting, refreshing and diversifying our landscapes at Fairchild. As the
warmth and rain help our new plantings take root, we hope you will come and see our work
to increase the sustainability and value of our landscapes.
Carl E. Lewis, Ph.D.
Director
www.fairchildgarden.org 5
contributors
RICHARD J. CAMPBELL, Ph.D.,is
the Senior Curator of Tropical Fruit and
Head of the Tropical Fruit Program at
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. A
South Florida native, Dr. Campbell draws
on his years of experience collecting and
researching tropical fruit in Asia and the
Americas to provide the latest information,
quality trees and tropical fruit tastes to an
enthusiastic public. He has authored
more than 100 scientific and popular
articles on fruit culture in the last
decade, as well as two books, and is
considered the world’s expert on mangos.
NORIS LEDESMA, M.S.,is the
RRiicchhaarrdd LLyyoonnss’’ NNuurrsseerryy
iinncc.. Curator of Tropical Fruit for Fairchild’s
Tropical Fruit Program. Noris is a native
RRaarree && UUnnuussuuaall TTrrooppiiccaall TTrreeeess && PPllaannttss
of Colombia, bringing over 20 years of
FFlloowweerriinngg•• FFrruuiitt •• NNaattiivvee •• PPaallmm •• BBaammbboooo •• HHeelliiccoonniiaa experience with tropical fruit from both
HHuummmmiinnggbbiirrdd•• BBoonnssaaii && BBuutttteerrffllyy tropical America and Asia. Her passion
for fruits and their uses comes from the
PROUD MEMBER OF people of the small town she was born
in, as well as the informal teachings of
her grandmother. She has written
wwwwww..RRiicchhaarrddLLyyoonnssNNuurrsseerryy..ccoomm numerous scientific publications, two
rriicchhaarrdd@@RRiicchhaarrddLLyyoonnssNNuurrsseerryy..ccoomm books and primary information on
@@llyycchheeeemmaann11 oonn TTwwiitttteerr tropical fruit for electronic media.
NNuurrsseerryy:: 2200220000 SS..WW.. 113344 AAvvee..,, MMiiaammii
PPhhoonnee:: 330055--225511--66229933 •• ffaaxx:: 330055--332244--11005544 JASON LOPEZ is Fairchild’s Living
MMaaiill:: 11223300 NN..WW.. 77tthh SStt •• MMiiaammii,, FFLL 3333112255 Collections Manager and has been
with the garden since 2005. He credits
his parents for his green thumb and
love of plants. They not only were
once in the bromeliad business, but
were garden members since the late
‘70s. In his youth, he spent many
weekends at Fairchild discovering new
things and is proud to have a hand in
the garden’s past, present and future.
HILLARY BURGESSgraduated from
Albion College with a biology degree
in 2006, and has since worked in
Sequoia and Everglades National Parks
on plant ecology and restoration
projects. She was formerly Fairchild’s
Nursery Manager and Living
Collections Manager and is now
pursuing her Master’s degree in
Seattle, Washington.
COVER
India: the land of mangos.
Photo by Gaby Orihuela/FTBG
Growing with the community
South Florida is a place where beautiful things on the latest U.S. government survey of hospital
grow. It’s a place where the roots of the community patients.
are deep. Satisfaction like that doesn’t just happen. Our
Baptist Health has been a part of that growth success is due to the dedication and profession-
— and of this community — for nearly 50 years. alism of our caregivers. So, we give thanks to our
With a reputation for great care, we score higher people, who make all the difference. And we
than all other hospitals in Miami-Dade and thank our patients, who gladly recommend us.
Monroe counties in patient satisfaction, based We pledge to give you the best possible care.
Committed to our faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence
786-596-6557
For a free referral to a Baptist Health physician, call weekdays, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Or, if you prefer, go online 24/7 at baptisthealth.net.
The official publication of
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
editorial staff
editor in chief
chief operating officer
Nannette M. Zapata
design
EVENTS@FAIRCHILD
Lorena Alban
production manager
Gaby Orihuela
features writers
Georgia Tasker
Jeff Wasielewski
staff contributors
Hillary Burgess
Nancy Famulari
Erin Fitts
Javier Francisco-Ortega
Marilyn Griffiths
Jason Lopez
Noris Ledesma
Carl E. Lewis, Ph.D.
copy editors
JULY NOVEMBER
MANGO CULINARY 7THANNUAL BUTTERFLY PLANT SHOW AND SALE Kimberly Bobson
CONFERENCE DAYS AT FAIRCHILD Presented by the South Florida Mary Collins
Friday, July 9 Saturday and Sunday Palm Society Paula Fernández de los Muros
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. September 25 – 26 Saturday and Sunday Ann Schmidt
For more information, please call 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. November 6 – 7 advertising information
305.667.1651, ext. 3377 or E-mail 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Mari Novo
[email protected] 305.667.1651, ext. 3357
THE 70THANNUAL RAMBLE
THE 18THANNUAL OMECMBTEORSB’ DEAYR PLANT SALE Friday, Saturday previous editors
INTERNATIONAL MANGO Saturday, October 2 and Sunday Marjory Stoneman Douglas 1945-50
FESTIVAL: Featuring the 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. November 12, 13 and 14 Lucita Wait 1950-56
Mangos of India 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Nixon Smiley 1956-63
BIRD DAY AT FAIRCHILD
Saturday and Sunday Lucita Wait 1963-77
Sunday, October 3
July 10 – 11 Ann Prospero 1977-86
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. DECEMBER Karen Nagle 1986-91
HOLIDAY MUSIC
PLANT SHOW AND SALE Nicholas Cockshutt 1991-95
THE 18THANNUAL AT FAIRCHILD
Presented by the Bonsai Susan Knorr 1995-2004
MANGO BRUNCH Sunday, December 5
Sunday, July 11, 11:00 a.m. Society of Miami 6:00 –10:00 p.m. The Tropical GardenVolume 65,
Saturday and Sunday Number 3. Summer 2010.
Tickets and information: For more information please The Tropical Gardenis published quarterly.
October 9 – 10
305.663.8059 and call Jennifer Baldwin at Subscription is included in membership dues.
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. © FTBG 2010 ISBN 1071-0914
www.fairchildgarden.org 305.667.1651, ext. 3358
THE EDIBLE All rights reserved. No part of this
MEMBERS’ LECTURE
GARDEN FESTIVAL publication may be reproduced without
Art at Fairchild, The permission.
AUGUST Saturday and Sunday
FREE SUNDAYS AT FAIRCHILD 2010 –2011 Season
October 23 – 24
FREE admission every Wednesday, December 8
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Sunday in August 6:00 –9:00 p.m.
HOWL-O-WEEN DOG DAY Robert J. Petzinger, Trustee
Accredited by the American Association of
Sunday, October 31 Exclusively for members
Museums, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
SEPTEMBER 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. is supported by contributions from members
PLANT SHOW AND SALE FOLLOW US and friends, and in part by the State of
Florida, Department of State, Division of
Presented by the International
This schedule of events is Facebook Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council,
Aroid Society subject to change. the National Endowment for the Arts, Institute
Saturday and Sunday For up-to-the-minute www.facebook.com/fairchildgarden of Museum and Library Services, Miami-Dade
information, please call County Department of Cultural Affairs, the
September 18 – 19 Twitter
305.667.1651 or visit Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor, and the
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. www.fairchildgarden.org. www.twitter.com/fairchildgarden Miami-Dade County Board of County
Commissioners, and with the support of The
City of Coral Gables.
8 THE TROPICAL GARDEN
news
FLORIDA RARE PLANT TASK FORCE MEETING
The 2010 Florida Rare Plant Task Force Meeting, co-hosted by Fairchild
Tropical Botanic Garden, Bok Tower Gardens and Archbold Biological
Station, was held on April 29 and 30, 2010 at Bok Tower Gardens. More
than 50 rare plant professionals and enthusiasts met to discuss current
conservation concerns in the state of Florida. Guest speakers included Dr.
Matthew Albrecht from Missouri Botanic Garden, Dr. Kevin Rice from
University of California, Davis and Dr. Jennifer Cruse-Sanders from the
Atlanta Botanical Garden. Fairchild’s Dr. Joyce Maschinski gave an oral
presentation about two decades of Fairchild’s plant conservation work and
led a discussion about issues and solutions for plant reintroductions. The
group took a tour of the garden and greenhouse and then heard about
IMPERILED BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION
ongoing conservation work with acclimatizing plants cultivated through
AND MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP
tissue culture. The Florida Rare Plant Task Force will be meeting in South
AT FAIRCHILD Florida in 2011.
Fairchild recently hosted a workshop on Imperiled
Butterfly Conservation and Management (IBCM). Experts
and novices in the field of butterfly conservation gathered
here to exchange information, foster collaboration and
learn about the garden’s programs. This workshop was
part of a series of events that constitute IBCM, an
intensive cross-training program designed to strengthen
the capacity of institutions and their staff to play a
strategic role in the emergent and increasingly important
field of insect conservation biology with a targeted focus
on imperiled butterfly recovery. The program is funded
2
through a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library
Sciences and is led by the Florida Museum of Natural 3
History’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and
Biodiversity at the University of Florida and the Butterfly
Conservation Initiative. Fairchild is a partner in this
exciting program. So far, outputs include new
partnerships, shared resources and ideas about butterfly
conservation efforts, including educational materials.
Fairchild is also a study site for research conducted by the
1. Capt. Kilkenny and coconut
University of Florida, comparing butterfly populations in eating crab
2. Cheng Hovessel
rural and urban environments in an effort to find answers
3. Engraved cover of theCheng Ho
1
to why many butterflies are in decline. Photo Album
ARCHIVES TO DIGITIZE THOMAS KILKENNY MATERIALS
FAIRCHILD RECOGNIZED WITH AWARD Those who have been following the Cheng Hoblog on our Web site have
FROM SOUTH FLORIDA PARENTING learned that Ted Kilkenny, the captain of the junk, was quite a fascinating
person. During and after his involvement on the Cheng Ho, he kept several
South Florida Parentingmagazine has announced its
scrapbooks which were recently donated to the garden by his daughter
Kid’s Crown Award Winners, given to destinations
Anne Kilkenny. They tell the Cheng Hostory from yet another point of
deemed exceptionally family-friendly. Fairchild Tropical
view, and enrich our understanding and enjoyment of that trip. The items
Botanic Garden has become part of the Hall of
include a scrapbook detailing the building of the junk and another with
Fame/Best of the Best Winner of the Kids Crown Awards
Ted’s photos of the trip. In addition, he kept a scrapbook with news
due to many consecutive years of nominations. The Hall
clippings and other interesting materials (including some of the red confetti
of Fame designation is awarded to locations in South
thrown at the launching of the Cheng Ho). Recently, Ms. Kilkenny also
Florida that are so popular with families that South
provided the archive with a generous donation to have those materials
Florida Parentingreaders are likely already familiar with
preserved and digitized. The work has already begun and we are working to
these fantastic destinations!
make them available on our Web site for all to see and enjoy.
www.fairchildgarden.org 9
news fairchild
boardof trustees
NEWS FROM THE NURSERY 2010 - 2011
Fairchild Nursery Manager Scott Hyndman
Bruce W. Greer
reports that several new improvements and
PRESIDENT
developments have occurred at the nursery.
One is that new ground cloth was installed this Louis J. Risi, Jr.
early spring with the expert assistance of SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT &
Ricardo Aberle and his hardworking grounds ASSISTANT TREASURER
maintenance crew. The new ground cloth will
Charles P. Sacher
help keep the nursery plants weed-free and aid
TREASURER
in keeping a cleaner growing environment. In
addition, new ceiling and ventilation fans were Suzanne Steinberg
FAIRCHILD’S QUENTIN LUKE
installed in the nursery working areas with the VICE PRESIDENT
VISITS MT. NYIRU
competent assistance of volunteer Neil Jennifer Stearns Buttrick
Montilla. Finally, in collaboration with Dr. Fairchild Conservationist and East African Field VICE PRESIDENT
Richard Litz and his assistant Pam Moon, both Officer Quentin Luke recently visited Mt. Nyiru, a
remote mountain in the northern regions of L. Jeanne Aragon
of the University of Florida Tropical Research
Kenya. The last plant inventory for Mt. Nyiru VICE PRESIDENT &
and Education Center, Homestead, we have
was published in 2000 by Dr. Benny Bytebier. ASSISTANT SECRETARY
embarked on incorporating plant tissue culture
During Mr. Luke’s short visit to the mountain, he
propagation into the nursery production. The was able to add 105 new species to Bytebier’s Joyce J. Burns
developing Fairchild tissue culture lab will list of plants. Mt. Nyiru is part of the Nyiru SECRETARY
allow us to produce native and tropical orchid mountain chain and is part of a Precambrian
species, produce rare or difficult to propagate rock formation that is thought to be over 570 Leonard L. Abess
plant species of interest, as well as aid in million years old. This area has yielded some of Henry N. Adorno, Esq.
conservation of endangered plant species. the oldest animal and hominid fossils known to Alejandro J. Aguirre
man, and thanks to Fairchild’s Quentin Luke, its Raymond F. Baddour, Sc.D.
plant life is a little better understood.
Nancy Batchelor
Norman J. Benford
Faith F. Bishock
Leslie A. Bowe
Swanee DiMare
José R. Garrigó
Kenneth R. Graves
Willis D. Harding
Patricia M. Herbert
Robert M. Kramer, Esq.
W. Bryan Latham, M.D.
Lin L. Lougheed, Ph.D.
Bruce C. Matheson
Mike Maunder, Ph.D.
Robert A. McNaughton, M.D.
Clifford W. Mezey
Stephen D. Pearson, Esq.
Robert J. Petzinger
T. Hunter Pryor, M.D.
Jean Ellen Shehan
Janá Sigars-Malina, Esq.
Penelope W. Stamps
The Fairchild Farm
James G. Stewart, Jr., M.D.
Vincent A. Tria, Jr.
Stop by and try a delicious fresh and locally grown fruit smoothie and
Reginald N. Whitehead
buy some fresh tropical fruit from Fairchild’s collection to take home.
Angela W. Whitman
Saturday and Sunday Ann Ziff
9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Year-round.
14885 S.W. 248 St., Homestead, FL 33032 Carl E. Lewis, Ph.D.
DIRECTOR