The annual Smith College Bulb Show at the Lyman Conservatory will begin with a free lecture by Lynden B. Miller (Smith ’60) in the Carroll Room at the Campus Center at 7:30 pm on Friday, March 5. Miller is a noted public garden designer and will be talking about her new book Parks, Plants and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape. She feels that “beautiful parks and gardens are essential urban oases with economic benefits and the power to transform the way people behave and feel about their cities.” After the lecture attendees can tour the Bulb Show.
Miller is currently director of the Conservatory Garden in Central Park which she rescued and restored, but “her work includes gardens for The Central Park Zoo, Bryant Park, The New York Botanical Garden, Madison Square Park and Wagner Park in Battery Park City as well as many smaller projects in all five boroughs and beyond.” It is heartening to know that as we talk about ‘nature deficit’ in children, we are also coming to acknowledge that people of every age benefit from the beauty and calm of a garden, of natural green space.
In her book, and her work Miller shows us the importance of public gardens, and with luck, will give us new eyes to look at the public spaces in our own communities.
The Smith College Bulb Show runs from March 6 through Sunday, March 21 from 10 am to 4 pm every day. A $2 donation is suggested. In addition to the spectacular bloom there will be an exhibition, The Inner Beauty of Flowers, radiograph and Xray photographs of flowers, and an audio installation of music composed by Susan Hiller (’61) titled What Every Gardener Knows playing in the Lyman Conservatory Palm House.
Sounds like a wonderful event, particularly this morning when it’s snowing again. I’ve read interviews with Ms. Miller, and her background as an artist really shows in her work!
Cyndy – I am looking forward to her talk, and her book. And all those flowers!
Lynden Miller is coming to the Toronto Botanical Gardens as well. She is giving the same talk in April, snow should be gone by then, lol.
Love to know what you think of the talk.
Deborah – There was no snow at Smith last night and a big crowd for Lynden Miller’s talk which was excellent. I had no idea that the book had so much instruction about how to make the best of one’s own public garden. She especially loves oakleaf hydrangea for public plantings which makes me feel so pleased that I planted on in my garden last year. She was charming and inspiring.