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| Lester G. E. Rowntree (1879-1979) ready for a trek | |
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Speaker Program
MAY 12, 2010
ROSEMARY FOSTER
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Landscape Designer and Horticultural consultant, Carmel, California |
LESTER ROWNTREE:
Contributions to Native Plant Horticulture
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This talk is made possible by a generous gift to WesternHort by Judith Eagle of Bel Air, Maryland, sister-in-law of our member Leslie Dean. Judith is interested in the topic of this program and she also loves the horticultural aspect of Rosemary’s name. | |
Rosemary Foster studied horticulture and botany at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and is a horticultural consultant in Carmel. Her current projects include compiling and editing a collection of Lester Rowntree’s articles on the horticultural use of California native plants for publication by the California Native Plant Society. |
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Lester G. E. Rowntree (1879-1979) was fifty-two when she decided to travel through the California mountains, deserts, and forests. Rowntree shared her extensive knowledge of California native plants through public lectures, hundreds of magazine articles and two books. Like John Muir, she was passionately concerned about California and argued zealously for the protection of the state's abundant flora. Her work has remained an inspiration in native plant horticulture and plant conservation to this day. |
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| Rosemary Foster's bibliography of Lester Rowntree’s periodical publications (720 entries) was recently published by UC Press in the reprint of Rowntree’s Hardy Californians. This new edition also includes a comprehensive biographical essay, a chapter on Rowntree's horticultural legacy and an updated species list. | ||
Hardy Californians was first published in 1936. It is an eloquent description of California and its plant life. In graceful prose, Lester Rowntree takes us along on her annual seed-collecting journey through the state and gives a concise introduction to the complexities of California flora, climate, and geography. This book also gives information on the suitability of many native California plants for the garden. |
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| Western
Horticultural Society P.O. Box 60507, Palo Alto, CA 94306 |
info@westernhort.org |