GreenWorks Sponsors Event: The urgent new role public gardens can play.

Graphic courtesy Portland Parks Foundation

The Portland Parks Foundation is hosting an evening with Casey Sclar, Executive Director of the American Public Gardens Association as part of their Green Dreams speakers series. The foundation explains Casey’s talk further:

“Can our public gardens preserve threatened plant species as the climate changes? Can they be places of beauty and psychological health that are more inviting to communities our public gardens have not typically engaged? Can public gardens transition from traditional ornamental collections to becoming critical societal infrastructure?”

‘There is an urgent new role public gardens can play,’ says Sclar. ‘We must get it right.’”

- Portland Parks Foundation

Casey’s and the team at the American Public Garden’s Association “connect, protect, and champion over 600 public gardens and 9300 individual members throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and 24 other countries. These gardens reach over 121 million visitors per year, continually envisioning ‘a world where public gardens are indispensable.’ They protect and identify plant collections, answer threats posed by invasive species, address the trials of limited resources and climate change; they distinguish the power and responsibility of collective membership; and deliver resources enabling members to build strong futures for their respective gardens by making a case for their necessity. Casey has been at the helm since 2011.

“Casey’s work experience in horticulture and plant science spans three decades. Prior to Association service, he spent 15 years at Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, PA) directing integrated pest management, soils and composting, land stewardship, and other sustainability programs. He holds a B.S. degree in horticulture from Cal Poly State Univ., San Luis Obispo, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in entomology from Colorado State University, and received the Association’s Professional Citation in 2011 for outstanding achievements in public horticulture.”

– American Public Gardens Association

Join us at Portland Center Stage at The Armory on November 4th at 6:30.