Cornell Plantations, with its arboretum, botanical garden and natural areas of Cornell, turns 60 this year -- and there are plans for it to keep on growing and celebrate its achievements in the meantime. Observances will start with an Aug. 15 birthday party, complete with cake.
"While the idea of a botanical garden at Cornell stretches back to earliest days of the university. It wasn't until 1944, when Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey joined the Faculty Arboretum Committee, that the name Cornell Plantations was suggested and approved," said Donald Rakow, the Elizabeth Newman Wilds Director of Plantations since 1996. "At the same meeting, the publication of Plantations Magazine was authorized, with Bristow Adams as the first editor," Rakow said, "and Plantations has celebrated many milestones since that seminal meeting."
These are among the milestones marking growth of Cornell Plantations:
"From our humble beginnings 60 years ago -- with few acres and fewer staff -- Cornell Plantations has now grown to nearly 4,000 acres of gardens and natural areas, and 53 staff members who maintain the collections and educate people about the interrelationships between people, plants and the environment," Rakow said.
Plantations is open, free of charge, to the public during daylight hours. For more information, call 255-2400 or visit this Web site: http://www.plantations.cornell.edu.
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