History of Norfolk Botanical Garden Will Be Presented in Twilight Lecture Series

The 70-year history of the Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) will be the subject of a picture presentation and lecture by NBG executive director Don Buma at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, as part of the Twilight Lecture Series sponsored by NBG and Old Dominion University. The event, which will be in the garden's Holly Room, is open to the public and there will be no admission or parking charge.

The title of Buma's lecture is "A New Garden History: A Pictorial Journey of Our Garden's Roots, Celebrating 70 Years of Natural Beauty, Progress and Achievements."

This lecture comes just a few days before a groundbreaking for NBG's Works Progress Administration (WPA) Memorial Garden, at 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15. The WPA Memorial Garden honors the African American women and men who were hired as part of the WPA grant to clear the land, plant azaleas and create walking trails at the NBG.

NBG and ODU launched the Twilight Lecture Series last year following their agreement to forge a formal working relationship. Timothy Motley was hired in 2006 as the J. Robert Stiffler Distinguished Professor in Botany and Horticulture at ODU and NBG. Motley has teaching responsibilities at ODU and research space and a greenhouse at NBG, where he is director of science.

Stiffler is the long-time gardening columnist of The Virginian-Pilot, a collaborator with horticulturists at NBG and the author of "Gardening in Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina." The professorship was made possible by a $1 million anonymous gift.

The Twilight Lecture Series is for anyone with interests in botany and natural history. The next presenter in the series will be, Mark Weathington, the assistant director and curator of collections of the J.C. Raulston Arboretum at N.C. State University, speaking on "Asian Adventure: Plant Collecting in China, Taiwan and Japan" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, in Room 101 of the Mill Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building at ODU.

For more information about the lecture series or groundbreaking, call NBG at 441-5830, extension 346, or the ODU Department of Biological Sciences at 683-3595.