A Rare Opportunity

Dan Pearson

From the Ground Up:  Gardens Re-Imagined is a lecture series at the New York Botanical Garden that begins on January 21 with Dan Pearson.  The following is an excerpt from the blog I wrote for the NYBG on December 17.

"The life of a gardener is filled with many "Aha!" moments.  But when I opened the NYBG Fall/Winter Catalog and turned to page 62, to the winter gardening lecture series lineup of speakers, it was not an "Aha!" moment, but rather a "Wow!" moment.  Three names jumped off the page:  Dan Pearson, Barbara Damrosch and Fritz Haeg.  From the Ground Up:  Gardens Re-Imagined is the perfect name for a series featuring this rabble-rousing trio.

In the forward to Dan Pearson's new book, Spirit: Garden Inspiration, Beth Chatto writes, "Dan Pearson shows how the most intimidating situations can be transformed.  It takes a rare mind and eye to break away from our traditional view of what makes a garden..."  Dan's also a great plantsman, as I wewll know, but that's not why I'm going to his lecturer on January 21.  I am going because I know that Dan will challenge my notions of order, color and texture."

It's rare opportunity to hear and meet Dan Pearson.  His appearances in the US are limited.  In the sixties, people took drugs to produce mind altering experiences.  Going to a Dan Pearson lecture is  like  one of those "trips:"  it alters your view of landscape, both cultivated and wild.

I also recommend Dan's new book: Spirit: Garden Inspiration.  From the preface, "Through lecturing and giving the images flesh with words, I came upon the idea of trying to pin down the spirit of place in a book.  It is a subject that has fascinated me since I was a child and today it underpins my work.  In the book I hope to reveal a way of seeing and how I have learned to understand and ultimately feel what for me gives a place its identity and character."

To read the complete blog about the NYBG lecture series go to:

http://www.nybg.org/wordpress

To register for the series go to:  www.nybg.org (click on education/lecturre series)

To purchase Spirit: Garden Inspiration go to: http://www.amazon.com