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Tag: Rebecca McMackin

  • Thursday, July 31, 7:00 pm – Sing for Science

    Meet at the intersection of science and art for a SubSpace event on July 31 presented by the Museum’s Center for the Environment. This special evening features a live taping of Sing for Science, the acclaimed podcast that brings musicians and researchers together for conversations that spark curiosity, creativity, and connection. oin the Museum’s Center for the Environment for a special live taping of the acclaimed Sing for Science podcast, featuring Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and passionate gardener Neko Case in conversation with celebrated ecologist Rebecca McMackin. Together, they’ll explore the rich interplay between music, native plants, and ecological restoration — highlighting how creativity and care shape our relationship with the natural world.

    Moderated by Sing for Science host Matt Whyte, this conversation promises insight, inspiration, and an unforgettable blend of art and science. $15. Get tickets at https://www.mos.org/events/subspace/sing-science-featuring-neko-case-and-rebecca-mcmackin

    Listen to full episodes of the podcast on Spotify, and sign up for the Sing for Science newsletter here. Sing For Science is supported in part by a grant from the Simons Foundation.

  • Friday, September 29 & Saturday, September 30 – Garden Futures Summit 2023: How Gardens Are Changing the Future

    The Garden Futures Summit is a two-day, in-person event that looks to sustain the remarkable passion and interest in gardening today by presenting a selection of the most exciting ideas shaping the future of gardens and society at large. The Summit, on September 29th and 30th, will focus on three essential topics within contemporary gardening: environment, community, and culture.

    On the first day of the Summit, to be held at The New York Botanical Garden, more than a dozen influential speakers from across the gardening world will participate in sessions organized around the Summit topics. They will discuss the extraordinary potential of gardens and gardening to improve our physical, cultural, and emotional health and well-being.

    On the second day of the Summit, attendees will be treated to exclusive experiences at both private and public gardens throughout New York City and the greater metropolitan area that embody the forward-thinking and transformative potential in gardens today. Tours will be announced later this summer.
     

    The breadth of speakers at the Summit and the combination of talks and tours will be of interest to all gardeners, designers, architects, and students who are passionate about gardens and their enormous potential in society. The Keynote Address will be given by Lady Isabella Tree (pictured below) on The Book of Wilding – A Practical Guide to Rewilding Big and Small. Isabella Tree is an award-winning journalist and author of five books. Her first best-selling book, Wilding, tells the story of the daring wildlife experiment she began in 2000: rewilding her and her husband Charlie Burrell’s 3,500 acres of unprofitable farmland at Knepp Estate in West Sussex, UK. In less than twenty years their degraded land has become a functioning ecosystem again, wildlife has rocketed, and numerous endangered species have made Knepp their home. What has happened at Knepp challenges conventional ideas about nature, wildlife, and how we manage and envisage our land. It reveals the potential for the landscapes of the future. Isabella also writes for The Guardian, National Geographic Magazine, and Granta.

    Other speakers include Edwina von Gal, founder of The Perfect Earth Project. Edwina von Gal is a leading voice in sustainable gardening and landscape design. She founded the Perfect Earth Project in 2013 to promote nature-based, toxic-free land care for the health of people, their pets, and the planet. As principal of her eponymous landscape design firm since 1984, Edwina creates landscapes with a focus on simplicity and sustainability for private and public clients around the world. Joining her as session speakers will be Horatio Joyce of The Garden Conservancy, Vanessa Keith of StudioTEKA Design, Jeff Lorenz of Refugia Design, and Rebecca McMackin, horticulturist and garden designer.

    You will also have the opportunity to hear Jennifer Jewell, Radio Host and Author of Cultivating Place. This year, Jewell was awarded the American Horticultural Society’s Great Gardener Morrison Award for outstanding horticultural communication. Her third book, What We Sow, On the Personal, Ecological, and Cultural Significance of Seeds will be published in September. On the topic of Community, session speakers will include Ivi Diamantopoulou, Jaffer Kolb, and Sam Stewart-Halevy of New Affiliates, Adam Greenspan of PWP Landscape Architects, Peter Lefkovits of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Nicole Thomas of Urban Health Lab.

    In another thread, horticulture and culture are on a collision course—and that’s a good thing. Forgotten garden histories, the challenges of preserving mid-century landscapes, and the growing engagement of the visual arts with the natural environment are the animating topics in a session to be led by Melissa Chiu. She is director of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the national museum of modern and contemporary art. Dr. Chiu’s current organizational focus is transforming the Hirshhorn into a 21st-century institution through the revitalization of the museum’s campus, including a new design for the Hirshhorn’s Sculpture Garden by artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto. Joining Melissa will be Cindy Brockway of The Trustees of Reservations, David Godshall of Terremoto of LA, Abra Lee, horticulturist and historian, and Brent Leggs of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

    Registration – $30 Students, $170 Garden Conservancy members, $200 general public, is available at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/education/education-events/garden-futures-summit-2023

  • Tuesday, July 12 – Thursday, July 14 – Nantucket Garden Festival: A Celebration of Island Gardening

    A collaboration of gardeners, educators, designers and business leaders, the Nantucket Garden Festival highlights the unique and beautiful garden ecosystems on Nantucket and focuses on the importance of sustainability, conservation and gardening ethics for the long-term health of the island. 2022 marks the 13th anniversary of the Festival! Join us for a celebration of gardening through a host of educational workshops, exquisite garden tours, family activities and parties. View the schedule of events here: www.NantucketGardenFestival.org.

    The Keynote Presenter will be Kelly Norris, one of the leading horticulturists of his generation. An award winning author and plantsman, Kelly’s work in gardens has been featured in The New York Times, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, Fine Gardening, Garden Design and in numerous television, radio and digital media appearances. His passion for planting at the intersections of horticulture and ecology has culminated in a new book New Naturalism: Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden from Cool Springs Press. Kelly also presents plants for Cottage Farms Direct on QVC and lectures widely to consumer and industry audiences. He is the former director of horticulture and education at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, where for 8 years he directed efforts in design, curation, programming, garden and facility management after serving as the owner’s representative to nearly $20 million in capital projects.

    Other presenters include Meredith Hanson, a watercolor and acrylic artist, Hafsa Lewis, owner/founder of Hafsa and Co., a local floral design studio that “uses flowers to help businesses stand out”, Austin Eischeid, and independent garden design consultant based in Chicago, Chris Roddick, Head Arborist and Foreman of Grounds at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Rebecca McMackin, Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

    The Festival raises operating and scholarship funds for Nantucket Lighthouse School, and supports its horticulture curriculum. Nantucket Lighthouse School’s educational garden and greenhouse provides students with a living laboratory and a deeper connection to the natural world. With weekly horticulture classes, a program advised by long-time friend and Festival supporter, Russell Morash, students spend time in the garden and greenhouse planting, weeding, watering, observing and tending to their plants and beds.

  • Thursday, April 21, 2:00 pm – Ecological Horticulture in an Evolving World, Online

    Horticulture is a practice that is as ancient as civilization. But modern ecological and political drivers demand we adapt to these changing times. Gardeners now want to help the environment with their practice, rather than dominate it; with that, many of our gardening techniques are falling into question. Why do we mulch? Why do we cut back in spring? And where do we learn new strategies for stewardship in a rapidly evolving world? On April 21, join the Garden Conservancy to find out more.

    Rebecca McMackin has been trying to answer these questions as well as asking many more. Through her work at Brooklyn Bridge Park and in private practice, she works to develop and share techniques for ecological horticulture: a field which centers the dynamics among plants, animals, and fungi, while still creating and maintaining aesthetically stunning gardens. In this presentation, Rebecca will discuss the evolution of this work, as well as the new ways gardeners share knowledge in this rapidly developing field. Rebecca is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden designer. She has spent the last decade as Director of Horticulture of Brooklyn Bridge Park, where she manages 85 acres of diverse parkland organically and with an eye towards habitat creation for birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms.

    DATE AND TIME
    Thursday, April 21
    2:00 p.m. Eastern

    LOCATION
    Live on Zoom

    REGISTRATION
    $5 Garden Conservancy Members
    $15 General Admission 

    A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar.

    Members of the Frank & Anne Cabot Society for Planned Giving have complimentary access to Garden Conservancy webinars. All Cabot Society members will automatically be sent the link to participate on the morning of the webinar. For more information about the Cabot Society, please contact Sarah Parker at sparker@gardenconservancy.org or 845.424.6500, ext. 214.

  • Friday, December 3, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm – Ecological Plant Conference 2021, Online

    Again in this fall, ELA will host the Ecological Plant Conference online. Innovative tools and interactive collaborations will ensure that this online conference provides participants with an engaging and inspiring experience – with no travel time or transportation required.

    The benefits of human proximity to plants is well documented and is just one of the many reasons that we all design, propagate, install, maintain, discuss, and enjoy plants. This year, the Ecological Plant Conference (EPC) will delve into five plant-centric topics to educate, entertain, and inspire you. Join us for the sixth annual EPC deep dive into plants old and new.

    The Garden Base Layer: Native Groundcovers
    Duncan Himmelman

    Kick mulch to the curb! Replace it with texturally interesting native plants that help to unify your landscape and provide important ecological services.

    In his presentation, Duncan will highlight a selection of herbaceous and woody plants to use as groundcovers in a variety of growing conditions. Gardeners of all levels will be inspired to make the switch from vinca and Japanese pachysandra to smarter choices: native groundcovers!

    Biodiversity Here and Now: Creating Urban Habitats
    Veronica Tyson-Strait

    Many urban dwellers share a desire to garden. For the immigrant gardener there is an urgent need to adopt the new alien landscape and adapt it into a new home. Often that goal includes growing ornamental plants and food crops with ties to a cultural past, even if this home is on the 26th floor. Yet, we must acknowledge the environmental benefits of growing plants native to the region we inhabit.

    Veronica will showcase the diverse ecosystems of her country of birth and their influence in the evolution of her passion for plants native to North America. She will make connections between pollinators and birds in her New York gardens, highlight a few of her favorite native plants, and explain how she utilizes limited space and incorporates habitats into her garden designs.

    New Naturalism: Lessons from Wild Plant Communities
    Kelly Norris

    Drawing on his many years of horticulture experience, Kelly Norris will share in-depth lessons learned from plant communities, both natural plant communities in the wild and designed communities in the built landscape. Kelly explores plant ecology and provides invaluable strategies for landscape designers and land managers. Kelly’s love for native plants and his experiences with wild plant communities have shaped his career in profound ways. As a so-called hort-ecologist, Kelly strives to interpret native ecosystems into beautiful, functional landscapes in the urban context. Too often, professional horticulturists appropriate plants as if they were inanimate objects, instead of truly understanding how plants interact and function within the landscape environment. Join us for an exploration of wild plant communities and their constituents from across North America that will inspire and inform your professional practice whether as a grower, retailer or designer.

    Plants that Sustained a Broken World: Enslaved African Contributions to Medicine and Botany
    Dr. Carolyn Roberts

    In the midst of the violence and brutality of the Atlantic slave trade, enslaved Africans became known for their valuable medical and botanical knowledge. Their expertise contributed to early modern medicine and science.

    In this presentation, Yale Professor Carolyn Roberts will discuss this little-known botanical history. She will explore the plants enslaved Africans used, how they made medicines, and what present-day phyto-chemical research reveals about why these medicines were so effective.

    Panel Discussion
    Good Communication and Respect:
    Keystones for Team Building on Landscape Crews
    Rebecca McMackin, Panel Moderator
    At the end of the workday, we all want to feel a sense of accomplishment and contentment about the day’s efforts. How well we relate to colleagues and members of our landscape crews has a profound influence on whether it has been a good day or a frustrating one. Effective communication and teamwork will help a crew (or any other project team) maintain a positive work environment. Effective communication also permeates throughout all areas of business operations; a positive workplace means happier employees are interacting with one another, contractors, and with clients (whether homeowners or public park guests) in a pleasant and positive manner.

    Businesses of all sizes need dedicated employees that understand the importance of teamwork in achieving goals and requires that employees communicate in ways that promote team cohesion – not division. On diverse teams, where there is not a shared cultural background or language, the challenges of team building are more complex though equally or more important. Join panel moderator, Rebecca McMackin to learn some of the team building and communication strategies used among the diverse crew members at Brooklyn Bridge Park. You are sure to learn techniques that you can bring back to your workplace.

    $139. For complete speaker biographies, and to register, visit https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/ecological-plant-conference-2021/

  • Wednesday, April 15, 1:00 pm – Webinar: Pollinator Ecology

    On Wednesdays at noon, Ecological Landscape Alliance invites you on A Walk in the Garden, a virtual weekly diversion as we adjust to the restrictions that the COVID-19 virus has forced onto our lives.

    Presented as free webinars to gardeners everywhere, these presentations invite garden and landscape experts to share gardening tips, beautiful images, and inspiration. We hope anyone who is isolating, quarantining, or sheltering-in-place will find comfort and collective strength with a communal walk in the garden.

    On April 15 at 1 pm EDT, join Rebecca McMackin on a virtual walk on Pollinator Ecology. Many of the plants you grow have, at the very least, one pollinator partner who helped shape the evolution of their flowers and distribution. From bees, to butterflies, to birds, to bats, pollinating animals are responsible for much of the fruits and vegetables we rely on. On this virtual walk, you will learn the basics of pollination ecology as well as how to maximize food production by encouraging both native and exotic pollinators. Yes, we will discuss honey bees, but we will also cover the exciting world of tomato buzz pollination, the rotten world of fly pollination, and the beautiful life of the squash bee. By the end of the day, you will be able to “read” flowers and come to know the true desires of the organisms you cultivate. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org.

    Rebecca McMackin is Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, NY. She is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden designer. By day, she is the Director of Horticulture for Brooklyn Bridge Park, where she manages 85 acres of diverse parkland organically and with an eye towards habitat creation for birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms. In her imaginary free time, Rebecca writes about landscape management and pollination ecology, as well as designs the occasional garden. She sits on the boards of Metro Hort Group and Ecological Landscape Alliance, and is a NOFA-certified Landcare Professional as well as an ISA-certified Arborist.

  • Friday – Saturday, September 23 & 24 – Horticultural Bright Lights: The Future of Gardening

    The JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University’s 40th Anniversary Symposium will take a look forward to what the next 40 years have in store for the gardening world. From landscapes that are in harmony with the natural world and cultivating edibles native to our own woodlands to breeding and collecting plants suited to 21st century landscapes, we’ll hear from some of the brightest lights of the next generation of horticultural heavyweights including Matthew Pottage the youngest ever curator for the Royal Horticulture Society’s crown jewel garden— Wisley, one of the premiere display gardens not only in England but anywhere in the world.

    Other speakers include cutting edge plant breeder, Hans Hansen; ecological designer, Rebecca McMackin; taxonomist/explorer, Aaron Floden; landscape designer, Claudia West; assistant professor, Jared Barnes, Ph.D.; and North Carolina’s own maple nuts, Matt and Tim Nichols.

    One presentation is entitled Propagating Horticulturists: A Cultural Guide for Cultivating the Future of Horticulture.
    Propagation is a cornerstone of horticulture. We are incredible propagators of plants, but a challenge we face is how do we propagate horticulturists? In this timely and lively talk, Jared Barnes, current horticulture professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, will discuss the similarities in how we sow seeds and how we expose youth to horticulture, in how we take cuttings and how we help amateur gardeners continue to take root, and in how we graft two different species together and how we bridge a connection between plants and other hobbies and interests. This NC State alumnus will also show in this talk that by using this language and mind-frame along with our understanding of the art, science, and craft of propagation, we can connect with more people and develop a cultural guide for propagating horticulturists.

    Exploration, Discovery, and Bridging Botany and Horticulture is the topic of Aaron Floden, Ph.D. Explorations in eastern North America and the less-explored parts of Asia reveal novelties in the scientific realm from both regions with a strong focus on plants with horticultural interest. A strong focus will be Polygonatum and related genera, some North American natives, and numerous genera from Asia where we’ll visit the least explored part of the Himalaya in Arunachal Pradesh, India, the Dabashan in central China, and the north of Vietnam on the border with China.

    International Maples of Mystery is next. Japanese maples selections are made all over the world. Matt and Tim Nichols will discuss unique Japanese maple selections made from all over the world with a focus on their most recent plant excursion to Japan which included wild collecting maples, visits of Tsukasa Maple, Kobayashi Nursery, Kobayashi Momiji En, World Maple Park, and much more.

    Wisley — The New Chapter for the Flagship Garden of the Royal Horticultural Society is presented by Matthew Pottage. Wisley has been gardened for over 100 years and boasts the largest collection of cultivated plants in the United Kingdom. Attracting over one million visitors per year, Wisley is at the dawn of a new chapter with over £60 million pounds worth of investment planned over the next ten years, coupled with the appointment of Matthew Pottage, the youngest curator in the Society’s history.

    Planting in a Post-wild World will explore how we live in a global city and few wild places remain in today’s world. Planting designers have the opportunity and responsibility to bring wildness and ecological value back into our landscape. This challenge requires a new form of planting design that works with natural principles and marries horticulture with ecology. Join Claudia West as we explore how native plants will fit into our future landscape and how plant community based design strategies can help you meet aesthetic and ecological goals during your next planting project.

    Hans Hansen will speak on New Plant Development at Walters Gardens. Hans Hansen is the director of new plant development and plant breeding at Walters Gardens in Zeeland, Michigan (pictured below) – a position he ‘s had for seven years. Before Walters Gardens, Hans was the director of research and development at Shady Oaks Nursery in Waseca, Minnesota, for over 15 years. Hans ‘s current breeding projects include refining U.S. natives for more ornamental and useful urban garden use. His most extensive projects include Baptisia, Monarda, Phlox, ×Mangaves, Heuchera, and Hibiscus breeding programs.

    Also on the program will be Rebecca McMackin, Director of Horticulture for Brooklyn Bridge Park, along with an auction and book sale. Call Chris Glenn at 919-513-7005 to register, and visit www.jcra.ncsu.edu. Program registration is $180, which does not include transportation or hotel. The event will be held in the Ruby C. McSwain Educatin Center, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.

  • Wednesday, September 18, 7:30 pm – Brooklyn Bridge Park: Promoting Diversity in the Concrete Jungle

    Join Rebecca McMackin, Director of Horticulture for Brooklyn Bridge Park, at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury on Wednesday, September 18 at 7:30 to learn about a park purposely created with ecology in mind. This 85-acre post-industrial waterfront site stretches 1.3 miles along Brooklyn’s East River edge, built in-part on old commercial piers. The park’s award winning piers include top notch recreation, from opera to outdoor films, expansive organic lawns, and fantastic food, all of it beautifully designed. But the piers also contain native woodlands, freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, and numerous meadows. These areas closely mimic native ecosystems and are managed with an emphasis on wildlife habitat.

    McMackin will discuss the many ecological strategies employed by the park’s designers, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, as well as the management techniques currently in use to cultivate biodiverse parkland. Pragmatic strategies for encouraging ecologically beneficial landscapes will be enumerated.  $10/$5 for PHA members.

    http://www.mvvainc.com/media/files/d95e43369a17ff4397983f2c294a9d70.jpg

  • Wednesday, February 27 – Thursday, February 28 – Sustainable Habitats: Making Ecological Connections

    The Ecological Landscaping Association presents the 19th Annual Conference, Sustainable Habitats: Making Ecological Connections on February 27 and 28 at MassMutual Center, 1277 Main Street in Springfield.  Presentations will cover topics such as essential soil biology and soil improvements, water management, edible landscapes, phytomediation, carbon sequestration, and more.  To review the brochure and use the online registration, or to download a mail-in registration form, visit www.ecolandscaping.org.  You may also call Penny Lewis at 617-436-5838. The Keynote Dinner on February 27 will feature Jeff Lowenfels, author of Teaming with Microbes, A Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web, speaking on How Plants Eat: The Wonder of Root Biology.  On February 28, the dinner speaker will be Rebecca McMackin, Park Horticulturist, Brooklyn Bridge Park, speaking on Brooklyn Bridge Park: Promoting Biodiversity in the Concrete Jungle.