Download This Article in PDF Format
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
VOLUME 25, NUMBER 3 FALL 2017 Back to SCHOOL, Back to NATURE FALL 2017 Ironwood 1 DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE Inspiring all ages at the Garden 1212 Mission Canyon Road Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Tel (805) 682-4726 www.sbbg.org rom our school programs to our to environmental organizations such as GARDEN HOURS college internships to our California Sedgwick Reserve, National Park Service Mar – Oct: Daily 9AM – 6PM Naturalist Program, the Garden Channel Islands Docents, Arroyo Hondo Nov – Feb: Daily 9AM – 5PM F provides numerous opportunities for Preserve, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, REGISTRATION Ext. 102 engaging with the natural world. Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park, Registrar is available: M – F / 9AM – 4PM Coal Oil Point Reserve, Channel Islands For school-based groups, we offer four GARDEN SHOP Ext. 112 Restoration, the Santa Barbara Audubon Hours: Mar – Oct, Daily 9AM – 5:30PM very popular programs: Nature Walk, Nov – Feb, Daily 9AM – 4:30PM Society and more. Through this program, Chumash Uses of Native Plants, Seasonal we not only train the participants, but GARDEN GROWERS NURSERY Ext. 127 Focus Lab, and Habitat Hike. I know we Selling California native plants to the those graduates also help to inspire are inspiring another generation when I public with no admission fee. others with a wonder for wild California. Hours: Mar – Oct, Daily 9AM – 5:30PM hear the squeals of delight from school Nov – Feb, Daily 9AM – 4:30PM children on a tour as they see a lizard, And while there is a lot of learning going DEVELOPMENT Ext. 133 touch a caterpillar, gaze up at a Redwood on at the Garden, our classes, field trips EDUCATION Ext. 160 tree or through a microscope for the and school visits are really as much about FACILITY RENTAL Ext. 103 first time. The letters we receive from hearts as they are about minds. While MEMBERSHIP Ext. 110 students attest to how transformative we have top notch scientists and educa- VOLUNTEER OFFICE Ext. 119 these visits – often referred to as “the tors with expertise in botany, ecology, best day ever” – can be. horticulture, biology, and more, just the IRONWOOD | Volume 25, Number 3 | Fall 2017 experience of being here surrounded by ISSN 1068-4026 Almost immediately after opening the natural beauty can transform the way Pritzlaff Conservation Center last year, it EDITOR Flannery Hill students of all ages view the natural DESIGNER Paula Schaefer was filled with college students from both world. We hope you discover something the University of California, Santa Barbara Ironwood is published quarterly by the Santa new during each visit, either infor- Barbara Botanic Garden, a private nonprofit (UCSB) and Santa Barbara City College institution founded in 1926. mally on your own walk in the Garden, or (SBCC), helping us move our entire through one of our great classes. If you The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden fosters the herbarium collection to the new facil- conservation of California native plants through are ready to incorporate native plants our gardens, education, and research, and serves ity, and breaking in the new genetics lab as a role model of sustainable practices. into your own garden, we have a wide with some of the initial studies. Students array of horticultural classes – especially The Garden is a member of the American Public in the newly formed SBCC Botany Club Gardens Association, the American Alliance of in October – when it is also the best Museums, the California Association of Museums, are regular volunteers at the Garden, time to find those plants for sale at the and the American Horticultural Society. helping to label plants in our displays and Garden! ©2017 Santa Barbara Botanic Garden mounting herbarium specimens. Many All rights reserved. of these students are building on what With gratitude, they learned here at the Garden as they BOARD OF TRUSTEES continue their degree programs. A few CHAIR Peter Schuyler have already continued on to graduate VICE-CHAIR Tom Craveiro school with great letters of recommen- Steve Windhager, Ph.D. SECRETARY Sue Adams dation from the scientists they worked Executive Director TREASURER Edward Roach with here. Sarah Berkus Gower Marc Fisher So far, the Garden has certified more Lou Greer Frost than 115 adults through the University John Gabbert Elaine Gibson of California Cooperative Extension’s Valerie Hoffman California Naturalist Program. Participants John Parke gain an understanding of regional ecology Jesse Smith and supplement their training in the Susan Spector Garden with area field trips. In addition Susan Van Atta to becoming Garden docents and our FOLLOW THE GARDEN! regional environmental partners, many graduates also participate in citizen FACEBOOK.COM/SBGARDEN science projects like the California Phenology Project, which informs our YOUTUBE.COM/SBBGORG knowledge of how plants respond to a changing climate. Our graduates have @SANTABARBARABOTANICGARDEN contributed over 9,000 hours of service 2 Ironwood FALL 2017 2017 FALL NATIVE Saturday, September 30 – Sunday, November 5 SHOP DAILY 9AM – 5:30PM MEMBERS’ Grow your Garden knowledge: PREVIEW PARTY OCT Dara Emery Memorial Lecture FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 7 California Native Landscape Design GARDEN COURTYARD 4 – 6:30PM OCT FOR TICKETS VISIT SBBG.ORG/FALLPREVIEW 14 Garden Planning with the Experts MEMBERS-ONLY OCT Survey of California Native sponsored by SHOPPING MORNING 19,26 NOV Garden-Worthy Plants SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 2 9AM — NOON fall n the C PM s i an am re yo –3 tu n n FAMILY DAYe v SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4 10 d A Kids go free Kona shave ice truck time ry Arts & crafts to S Scavenger hunts Fall Native Plant Sale Visit sbbg.org/familyday FALL 2017 Ironwood 3 Back to School, Back to Nature By Flannery Hill, Marketing & Membership Manager e like to call it the Department appreciation for the natural environment another avenue for the Garden educa- of Inspiration,” says as adults. tion. “Garden signs are meant to enhance Frédérique Lavoipierre, the our visitors’ experience and understand- “W THE GARDEN PROVIDES ‘NEARBY NATURE’ Garden’s Director of Education. “And the ing that we are not just a beautiful FOR ALL AGES best place to inspire people is outside – garden or a scientific institution,” says The rich opportunities provided by the that’s why we like to include time in the Kate Davis, the Garden’s Interpretation Garden’s ‘nearby nature’ are an ideal Garden in our programs whenever possi- and Evaluation Coordinator. “We bridge way for local residents of all ages to the gap between the two, engaging our ble.” With the arrival of fall, school in spend time outdoors. Even a casual walk visitors at their level - whatever that session, and parents’ busy work sched- engages the senses, and reveals new ules, today’s children and families often might be - sparking interest, entertaining, dimensions, as the Garden changes with and translating the Garden’s mission.” have few opportunities to connect with each passing season. Informal experi- nature. Richard Louv coined this phenom- ences are supplemented with programs SCHOOL PROGRAMS enon ‘nature-deficit disorder’ in his book, for all ages and interests. Our new class- For many children on a tour, the Garden is The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our room in the Pritzlaff Conservation Center, their first experience in ‘wild nature’. “A Children from Nature-Deficit-Disorder. a planned Plant Lab, and recently imple- Garden visit can inspire a child’s lifelong But the lack of time in nature isn’t mented ‘Pop-Up’ exhibits all contribute to interest in plants and ecology – and the confined to youth and families – univer- exciting new learning opportunities. potential for providing that transfor- sity students and working adults also find mative experience in turn inspires the it challenging to get outside. WHAT THE GARDEN DOES TO CONNECT volunteers who lead the tours,” says PEOPLE WITH NATURE Michelle Gee, who coordinates the WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS Educational programs are a Garden-wide Garden’s school programs. Nature Walk, A 2010 study from the National Wildlife activity. From volunteer-guided tours Habitat Hike, and Chumash Uses of Federation indicates that the average for school children, gardeners sharing Native Plants, all take place entirely American child spends a mere four to expertise on growing native plants, oppor- outdoors. Following a Garden exploration, seven minutes per day playing outdoors. tunities for university students to work the Seasonal Focus Lab offers children a unique opportunity to further explore According to the National Wildlife side-by-side with our research scien- plants through the magical lens of our Federation, outdoor time helps children tists, field trips to the Channel Islands, microscopes. grow lean and strong, enhances imagi- citizen science, and much more, Garden nations and attention spans, decreases staff are actively engaged in education CITIZEN SCIENCE PROGRAM aggression, and boosts classroom perfor- programs. We also draw on expert instruc- The power of citizen science lies in the mance. Another recent study documents tors from our local community, who bring opportunity to collect large datasets that that children who are actively engaged a wealth of knowledge to share. The would otherwise be impossible to gather, in guided observation, and in collect- development of new signage, and written by engaging volunteers to actively partic- ing plants and insects, develop care and and digital media resources provides yet ipate in research. In turn, participants “What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?” |Richard Louv, The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder 4 Ironwood FALL 2017 become comfortable with the language in sharing what they have learned with of the Garden, which provides a conve- of science, and better able to under- the public. nient outdoor classroom.