A Webinar presented by Leslie Parness
Meet the horticulture superstars of New Jersey at a webinar hosted by Friends of Laurelwood Arboretum on Thursday, July 11 at 6:30 pm. Leslie Parness, former Superintendent of Horticultural Education at the Morris County Park Commission, will present, “We Grew it Here: 100 Years of New Jersey’s Horticultural History.”
“Think New Jersey only grows tomatoes? Think again. The state was once the pinnacle for peaches, the ultimate for orchids, the tops for turf,” says Parness. “In the 19th century, New Jersey’s plant nurseries led the nation with their innovative breeding, greenhouse, field, and marketing techniques.” Parness will introduce the horticultural superstars who made New Jersey their home. “Impresarios, hermits, academics, politicos and a cast of unlikely characters will make you a believer that yes, New Jersey is the Garden State,” she says.
After a long career in museums and botanic gardens around the world, Parness retired from her final position where she oversaw programming and interpretation at The Frelinghuysen Arboretum, Willowwood Arboretum and Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center. She is a member of the Herb Society of America, The Council on Horticultural and Botanical Libraries, and Garden State Gardens, a consortium of New Jersey’s public gardens of which she was a founding member and past president. Parness’s column, “The Garden Historian,” is featured bi-monthly in Gardener News Magazine.
The webinar is $10 for members of Friends of Laurelwood Arboretum and $20 for nonmembers. To register for the Zoom link, go to https://laurelwoodarboretum.org/civicrm/event/register/?reset=1&id=90. This program is eligible for 1 hour of Passaic County Master Gardener Continuing Education credit.
