[OKC] From NY Times: Botanical Gardens Are Turning Away From Flowers

[Miles, Karen]

Botanical Gardens Are Turning Away From Flowers


By JUDITH H. DOBRZYNSKI
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/judith_h_d
obrzynski/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 

For the last quarter century, the Cleveland Botanical Garden went all
out for its biennial Flower Show, the largest outdoor garden show in
North America. With themed gardens harking back to the Roman empire, or
an 18th-century English estate, the event would draw 25,000 to 30,000
visitors. 
But in 2009, the Flower Show was postponed and then abandoned when the
botanical garden could not find sponsors. This year, the garden has
different plans. From Sept. 24 to 26, it is inaugurating the "RIPE
<http://www.cbgarden.org/Ripe.html> ! Food & Garden Festival," which
celebrates the trend of locally grown food - and is supported in part by
the Cleveland Clinic <http://my.clevelandclinic.org/default.aspx>  and 
Heinen's <http://www.heinens.com/> , a supermarket chain. 
"The Flower Show may come back someday, but it's not where people are
these days," says Natalie Ronayne, the garden's executive director.
"Food is an easier sell." 
So it is across the country. Botanical gardens are experiencing an
identity crisis, with chrysanthemum contests, horticultural lectures and
garden-club ladies, once their main constituency, going the way of
manual lawn mowers. Among the long-term factors diminishing their
traditional appeal are fewer women at home and less interest in
flower-gardening among younger fickle, multitasking generations. 
Forced to rethink and rebrand, gardens are appealing to visitors'
interests in nature, sustainability, cooking, health, family and the
arts. Some are emphasizing their social role, erecting model green
buildings, promoting wellness and staying open at night so people can
mingle over cocktails like the Pollinator (green tea liqueur, soda water
and Sprite). A few are even inviting in dogs (and their walkers) free
or, as in Cleveland, with a canine admission charge ($2). 
Article continues at: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/us/27botanical.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&
emc=th&adxnnlx=1280239238-yzM4Y7X08jMRUKmu/jsOGQ
 
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