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