Director’s Blog Confiscated by Summer Intern!

The following is written by Garden Intern, Barbara Conolly. It provides a peek into the life of Brian Holley, and we thought it would be fun to share it with you.

One month ago today I set out on a journey that in all likelihood will happen only once in my lifetime. Packing a mournfully deficient summer wardrobe, a borrowed beach umbrella, my laptop, and a phone, I drove away from my family in Ithaca, NY and headed to Naples, FL for a three-month internship at the Naples Botanical Garden. As a graduate student studying public garden administration at Cornell University, an internship at a public garden is a requirement for completion of my degree. This internship, however, is a unique opportunity that few people in the industry have; I am seeing how a public garden grows from the ground up.

No better way to get your feet wet than to take the Thursday morning walkabout through the garden with Executive Director, Brian Holley, just minutes after starting my first day as an intern. I immediately found that while the hard hat was appropriately fitted, my garden clogs were woefully inadequate. It was at once clear this tour would be more than what most visitors would ever encounter. It was also my first opportunity to learn from this experienced and respected leader.

Cursing myself for having left my camera in my briefcase, I began to make mental notes of this initial encounter. Clearly, the collaborative efforts showed from the start, as did the level of detail that I would be privy to witness. It quickly became obvious that Brian’s decision-making approach includes listening to those around him. It also showed a level of particular understanding of how each of the individual gardens contributes to his overall vision.

If I had had my camera, I would have tried to capture the enthusiasm on the faces of the garden management team as they assessed their progress and considered the plans for tomorrow. I would have photographed the vast empty acres against the lush recent plantings. I would have recorded the points of view that would be preserved, and those that would dramatically change over the next weeks and months. Like the speed with which an infant grows, these scenes would quickly change and forever be transformed. I began to understand just how swiftly my time here was going to fly by.

Over the following four weeks, in addition to my regular duties, I spent a few days shadowing Brian. These encounters helped me to gain a better understanding of the challenges that face public garden leaders, as well as the driving forces behind this one.

As I imagined, Brian’s days are filled with a diverse array of meetings, phone conferences, site visits, and hand holding. I often notice the number of times I hear his name called as he walks through the office. A man of meticulous detail, Brian is at once director, fund raiser, cheerleader, and visionary, and I’ve learned he wouldn’t have it any other way. Having enjoyed great successes, most recently at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, Brian could have chosen to rest on his laurels in an established organization, but instead he chose to take on the challenges of turning a former strip mall into a world-class botanical garden.

This choice comes with the heavy responsibility of making sure that The Garden flourishes in every aspect. If successful, Brian will share enormous pride with all of the people who worked together to make it happen. If not, few will remember any other name, except his. I have begun to realize that he might never have the luxury of looking up and out at this garden and see it for the splendor that the rest of us do; for a perfectionist always looks to be the first to find the flaw so that the rest of us might never notice.

No one could make this happen alone, and no one is more aware of that than Brian. He has assembled experts as employees, designers, and consultants. He has engaged and inspired a Board of Directors that are not only deeply committed to The Garden, but deeply involved as well.

Director of Cornell Plantations, the botanical gardens, arboretum, and natural areas of Cornell University, and my academic adviser, Donald Rakow PhD, says of his colleague, “It is the truly extraordinary leader who can not only articulate a vision for the development of his organization, but also channel all of the financial, human, and physical resources required to bring that vision to fruition. Brian is such a leader.”

There is little time in this busy director’s day to answer the multitude of emails and phone calls that demand his attention. Yellow folders dot his desk with contracts to endorse, purchase orders to approve, and letters to sign. Prospective donors might require him to tour The Garden two or more times in a day. At a recent meeting of the Tourist Development Council, three hours were spent to deliver a three minute speech that resulted in The Garden receiving its grant for county marketing dollars. Committee meetings and staff meetings fill morning and afternoon appointments. Meetings to hire a new staff person, approve proposed signage, or review a retirement plan for staff are attended. An unexpected invitation to look at a prospective donation of a house reveals a treasure of possible future plantings of mature palms and numerous understory specimens.

Finally, at the end of the day, when the work is never finished, he finds that a walk on the beach, a work-out, a light read and a swim, or a deep massage helps to unwind the coils of anticipation. Good friends, good food, and family remind the busy leader that life lies beyond the garden gate as well.

All of this so that untold thousands will enter Naples Botanical Garden and discover a magical space full of romance, beauty, and celebration.

Along with the seashells and sand that I will bring back to Ithaca, I will also carry with me the precious lessons that I have learned at The Garden. I have come to appreciate both the opportunities and the obstacles that I will one day face. I understand the objectivity with which a director must work. I recognize the value of articulation and negotiation. I acknowledge that resonant leadership requires personal renewal. And most of all, I will always remember, and be thankful for, how invaluable this internship has been.

Sincerely,
Barbara Conolly

Thanks for the feedback!

First, thanks to everyone who responded to the questions in the last blog. I was particularly pleased to hear from Maurice Bligh, the great, great, great grandson of Vice Admiral William Bligh, RN.,FRS. Maurice provided a wonderful overview of his famous ancestor's accomplishments.

Just for the record:

1. We are providing a more detailed explanation about Captain Bligh's role in bringing the breadfruit to the Caribbean

2. We need to get a better Facebook presence

3. People were split on dogs, but all agreed that if we went ahead, they should only be allowed when we are closed to the general public and we need to have a good process for assuring clean up

4. Definite yes for musical performances and boxed dinners. Several respondents suggested that we consider a summer series and having performances on weekends.

This is an interesting time to be working at the Garden. It is exhilarating as we watch the change around us and challenging as we prepare for opening a year early. Everyday is filled with questions big and small- yesterday the big question was how do we separate the women's and men's entrances to the temporary restrooms? The answer was - put them on opposite sides of the building.

Another question we have been working on is what kinds of salads and sandwiches should we sell from the food cart. Some things are a given, such as: we want to use low impact packaging that is made from renewable resources; feature local food that is produced or gathered responsibly; have healthy choices for a wide range of tastes including vegan; the food has to stand up to a few hour shelf life. I don't know how many times I have grabbed a pre-made sandwich to eat on the plane while rushing through an airport only to discover that the bread is stale, the lettuce is black and the cheese is wet - YUCK!

Let me know if you have a favorite sandwich or salad that we can test - if it works out, perhaps we will be able to name it for you!

All the best,
Brian

Please let me know what you think!

We are working on the interpretive signs for the Caribbean Garden and one of the themes is the role of the Caribbean as a depository for plants from around the world. One of the stories is about Captain Bligh’s pursuit of breadfruit in the South Pacific and the resulting mutiny. We have a debate here about the language, which is

“While you’re likely familiar with Admiral Bligh’s ill-fated journey aboard the HMS Bounty, you may not be aware what brought him and his crew to Polynesia in the first place… Breadfruit.”

Are you familiar with Mutiny on the Bounty? Do you think most people are?

What are some of the things that you would like to know when you are visiting the gardens? I hope that we have plant labels covered – we are ordering 3000!

We are thinking about having special early morning hours one or two days a week for visiting with your dog – plastic bag and leash are compulsory. If we did have this available, would you come?

Another plan is to have a sunset concert one evening a week, probably Wednesday, during season and you could preorder a high quality boxed picnic dinner. Seating would be the blankets or folding chairs that you bring. Would you come?

Right now as we prepare to open in just 8 months we have lots of questions and it sure would be nice to hear from you.

Also I would really like to know if you Facebook or Twitter or use some other way of communicating.

Thanks and all the best, Brian

Moving Forward

It is official; we will be opening in November 2009. After 8 months of moving the enormous amounts of soil required to change the elevation of the 70 acres that are being developed into gardens and facilities from about 4 feet above sea level to between 7 and 14 feet above sea level the site is finally ready for gardens. Last week we moved, Gumby, our much traveled gumbo limbo to its permanent location. We also moved two large trees into the Vicky C. and David Byron Smith Children’s Garden. One is a massive royal poinciana that will provide some shade for the performance and picnic area in the Herb Family Education Lawn and Amphitheater. The other tree, a giant strangler fig, the root ball was over 20’ in diameter, will soon have two tree houses built around it.

I have always been fascinated with strangler figs, Ficus spp. There are a great many species and they occur in tropical rainforests around the world. Universally they are a keystone species providing an important food source to a wide range of birds and mammals. Each of the approximately 1,000 species of fig has a specific wasp species that is its sole pollinator.

What I find really amazing is that these trees have found an incredible strategy to life in the rainforest. Instead of growing up from the ground under the dense shade of the canopy they start life in the canopy. The seeds germinate it the crown of the host tree where sunlight is readily available. The fig grows quickly sending long roots toward the ground and at the same time uses the light to produce a mass of vegetation that soon competes for light with the host plant. Gradually the roots completely encompass the trunk of the host and ultimately it dies. In tropical rainforests it isn’t uncommon to find huge strangler figs with enormous buttressed roots and a cave-like void where the host tree once grew. Cool trees.

They are in the mulberry family, Moraceae, the fruit (actually false fruit) looks like a mulberry turned inside out. The fig we eat, the common fig, is the species Ficus carica and is the plant that supplied the leaves famous for covering the nakedness of Adam and Eve. It typically grows to about 25’ in SW Florida.

Buddha is said to have found enlightenment under a sacred fig, Ficus religiosa, and while it is a beautiful tree in a park, home gardeners beware, these figs become enormous trees with the ability to lift sidewalks and driveways and they are very vulnerable to hurricane damage. Another word of caution, recently a new pest of figs has come into our region, the ficus whitefly. It is nasty – check out the IFAS web site at University of Florida for more information.

Where Art and Science Meet

We are very fortunate at Naples Botanical Garden to have a group of supporters who truly understand what it will mean to our region to have a vibrant botanical garden. In many cases they have seen the impact of a botanical garden or arboretum in their community. While there are many models for botanical gardens, Royal Botanical Garden, near Toronto, Canada is pretty much a classic and certainly has many aspects, excepting climate of course, that we will develop as Naples Botanical Garden matures.

When I worked for Royal Botanical Garden (RBG) in Canada our slogan was “Where Art and Science Meet”, a great description of the role that a garden plays with a vigorous program of both performing and visual arts as well as an extensive representation of ephemeral art such as Ikebana, the Japanese art of floral design. For those of you who may not be familiar with Ikebana, it is like karate only with flowers. That isn’t exactly true – designers don’t compete with each other only with themselves – but Ikebana training is every bit as rigorous as karate. There are several Ikebana schools such as Ikenobo, Sugetsu and Ohara each with their own style criteria and master instructors. It is a sublime experience to watch an Ikebana master create beautiful works of art that may only last a few hours. Whoops – I got a little sidetracked by Ikebana – now to science.

The science program at RBG included everything from being the International Registrar for lilacs and crabapples to plant breeding to taxonomy and plant pathology. But the mission at RBG went well beyond art and science to include an extensive education program for people of all ages and abilities and management of large tracts of conservation land. RBG also had a vigorous horticultural therapy program. Horticultural therapy uses plant-based activities to improve quality of life for individuals with special needs. In addition to providing direct service to hospitals and long-term care facilities, we trained occupational therapists, activity therapists and recreation therapists in the use of plant-based activities as well as accessible garden design.

While I’m writing this in the past tense Royal Botanical Garden is alive and well. You can check it out at www.rbg.ca.

Many botanical gardens are also involved in urban greening projects. The gardens in New York, Chicago and Cleveland are among the leaders in this movement. These programs generally involve beautification projects, youth programs and creating school gardens in blighted areas. Some, like Cleveland Botanical Garden even have urban farms where inner city teens grow crops to take to market.

Over the next decade or two it is going to be interesting to watch how our garden, Naples Botanical Garden, develops as a place “Where Art and Science Meet”. Our partnership with FGCU and the shared use education and research building that we are building is going to be a good base for developing strong programming in those areas. Both sharing our building with Naples Garden Club, and our partnership with the Club in presenting The Naples Flower Show bode well for introducing our visitors to the ephemeral art of flower arranging. The performing and visual arts are very much a part of the future of our Bayshore neighborhood – already we have undertaken several events in partnership with Bayshore Arts Association.

I hope that you and your family have a safe and happy holiday season, Brian

Bali Blog

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to take a vacation in Bali, Indonesia with my daughter Mairin for 2 weeks in late September and early October. It was the first time to Bali for both of us.

The people are gentle, kind and friendly – even the drivers are considerate. They are happy to share their religion and welcome foreigners (dressed appropriately) to participate in festivals, blessings and to explore their temples and holy sites. Mairin and I had the incredible good fortune to spend an evening with the designer of the Marcia and L. Bates Lea Asian Garden, Made Wijaya. Made dressed us in traditional Balinese togs and we attended an incredible festival with 20 barongs (a powerful force for good in the battle of good and evil – the barongs look somewhat like the lions in the Chinese Lion Dance but much scarier) and hundreds of musicians. I apologize for the very simplistic interpretation of an elegant and complex story.

At the core of the Balinese culture is the need to give daily offerings to the gods. The offering plates are woven from coconut palm fronds, filled with flowers and placed on shrines, around the home and business – even on the dashboards of taxis. When we were there the flowers being used for offerings were frangipanis, bougainvillea, marigold petals and hydrangea. Every offering also included some shredded fragrant pandanus and some might have a coin or small bill as well. Everywhere you go you see these floral offerings, even at the entrance to your hotel room or on your balcony. Perhaps this daily contact with flowers and the daily gift to higher powers is part of the reason the Balinese people have such a positive outlook.

One of the traits I admire of this island’s “personality” is that very little goes to waste. In some areas rice straw is used to thatch the roof – in other areas it is coconut fronds. Ducks keep the rice paddies clear of insects and deposit a little fertilizer as well. Roadside weeds are collected, bundled and carted off by scooter to feed the family’s livestock.

I think the island’s “personality” is also influenced by the extensive opportunities for creativity. Bali is a place where, from a young age, people create art everyday. The craft industry in Bali is alive and well with beautiful weaving, batik, paintings and carvings widely available. It is interesting that while massage is a regular family activity, it is really in poor taste to touch another person and it is taboo to touch someone on the head.

I’m just about blogged out but I wanted to mention that Bali is essentially a chain of volcanic mountains and as a result there is tremendous variability in the weather from a torrid 95 degrees at the beach to 65 or so at the higher points – making for an incredible diversity of plants that can be grown including grapes and consequently wine. Yes, I have had both Balinese white and rose – my take on Balinese wines? They can’t compete with the pinot gris from Madagascar!

Flowers of October

October is a great month to be in Naples; it is when the Kapok tree, Chorisia speciosa, is covered with masses of pink flowers. Of course as with many other trees, breeders have selected many colors and forms of flowers. We have a chorisia next to the Pink Courtyard with 20 or more different cultivars grafted to it. The plantings of kapok trees around Pelican Bay are particularly beautiful.

Of course not all flowers are greeted with the same enthusiasm. I was in Chicago last week and people were bemoaning the fact that the goldenrod was flowering and giving them hay fever. I did speak up on behalf of this beautiful flower and explained that it can’t cause hay fever because its pollen is too heavy to float around in the air. The likely culprit is ragweed or possibly late flowering grasses.

Flowers have fragrance or are colorful to attract pollinators. They generally have sticky pollen that will adhere to the pollinator and generally need less pollen because it is being carried to a flower of the same species by the pollinator, perhaps a bee, butterfly or hummingbird.

Wind pollinated flowers need to produce lots of pollen because the odds of the grain of pollen landing on the stigma of the same species is definitely right up there with a needle in a haystack. The most successful wind pollinated plants often live in large somewhat homogenous communities such as grasses, pines, oaks or cypress. The proximity of so many flowers really helps the success rate go up for seed production and our sinuses to twitch like crazy.

Not all airborne pollen causes hay fever. A yellow coating of pine pollen seems to cover my car everyday for a couple of weeks in the spring. The pollen is too heavy to float very far and as a result is generally not the allergy causing culprit – it is more likely to be oaks at that time of year.

The worst culprit is ragweed – my nose gets itchy just looking at the spiny pollen grains. Unfortunately here in South Florida some plants are almost always flowering, but on the positive side, we don’t get the dense burst of pollen that they have to deal with in the north. Ironically the genus for ragweed is Ambrosia. There are many species of ragweed and all are noxious weeds.

If you are curious about pollen and allergies check out www.pollen.com. It is a great site for those of us who suffer from hay fever – you can even get allergy alerts!