June 23, 2011: Lecture and Book Signing with Native Plants Curator Dan Johnson

Posted June 21, 2011 by Kat Young, Former Interpretation Intern

Meet the Natives Lecture and Book Signing with Denver Botanic Gardens Native Plants Curator Dan Johnson
Thursday, June 23, 2011 from 7 – 8:30 p.m., Gates Hall
6-7 p.m. – Tour of the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium

 

View native plants of the southern Rocky Mountains through Dan Johnson’s creative curatorial eye – both in wild habitats and in garden settings. Johnson’s much-anticipated 2011 expansion of M. Walter Pesman’s 1942 Meet the Natives boasts not only additional plants, but also color photos that make identification of plants and wildflowers in Colorado’s scenic trails and byways easier than ever.

Johnson also addresses commonly encountered plants that actually are not native to the region and the problems they cause. Threatened and invasive species are duly noted as well. In this talk Dan presents commentary regarding which natives are well-suited for garden spaces, and which should be left to wild habitats.

Dan’s focus on Colorado natives reflects a commitment by the Gardens to work beyond its gates documenting native plant diversity through the work we do at the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium. A herbarium is a collection of dried, pressed plants, essentially a plant library. Herbarium collections are dynamic scientific resources providing important documentation for both scientific studies and as an aid to the public in identifying plants. Please join us before Dan’s talk for a behind-the-scenes peek into our collection of over 49,000 plant specimens, principally from Colorado and the Southern Rocky Mountain region.

2012 note: Here is a link to Dan’s Thursday, June 28, 2012 lecture: “Meet the Natives – Lecture with Dan Johnson”