Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn A Dynamic and Evolving Landscape | Page 27
Staff Seminar and Strategic
Planning Day With Dan Hinkley
People and Happenings
On April 15th, Mount Auburn hoste d
internationally-renowned naturalist and nurseryman Dan
Hinkley of Seattle, along with a panel of local notable
horticulturists, for an exciting day-long event comprising
a morning tour of the grounds and an afternoon of
roundtable discussion about the future of the Cemetery’s
landscape and plant collections. Dan, who is committed to
sustainable horticultural practices and raising the collective
awareness of the diversity of plant life on our planet, was
joined by Jack Alexander, Plant Propagator at Arnold
Arboretum; Ed Bowen, Owner of Opus Nursery; Craig
Halvorson, Founding Principal of Halvorson Design;
Gary Koller, President of Koller and Associates Landscape
Design; and Nan Sinton, Landscape Designer and
Consultant. In addition, most of the full-time Horticulture
Department staff and members of the Horticulture &
Landscape Committee of Mount Auburn’s Board of
Trustees participated.
After touring the grounds and our new greenhousenursery complex, and hearing about various completed
or ongoing projects and long-range objectives, the group
convened for lunch and a stimulating afternoon of wideranging conversations. Our primary goals for the day
included looking at ways to add more diversity to the
collections, whether as a response to climate change, as a
way to enhance wildlife habitat, or as a strategy for practicing historic landscape preservation. We were particularly
interested in getting feedback about ideas for new plants
and how to best utilize the new greenhouse and expanded
nursery space to grow things we’ve never attempted in the
past. To say that the feedback we received was productive
and energizing for the staff does not do the day justice. We
thank Dan and the rest of the panel of experts for their
support, and we look forward to implementing the many
fabulous ideas we heard and recorded that day.
Mount
Auburn and
WGBH
Mount Auburn Cemetery is one of te n urban
parks featured in 10 PARKS THAT CHANGED
AMERICA, the second episode of a new three-part series
which premiered in April. A few weeks earlier, Mount
Auburn staff and friends attended a special WGBH Insider
Screening Event to watch highlights from the program
followed by a panel discussion with (left to right) PBS
Producer Dan Protess, Mount Auburn President & CEO
Dave Barnett, Boston University Professor Keith Morgan,
and Host Geoffrey Baer.
2016 Volume 2 | 25