Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn as a Horticultural Innovator | Page 3

A History of
Horticultural Innovation
by Dennis Collins, Horticultural Curator
N
early two centuries ago, Dr. Jacob Bigelow
published Florula Bostoniensis (1814), a much
needed botanical reference in its day on plants
that grow in the Boston area. He is credited with introduc-
ing the world to the northernmost population of sweetbay
magnolia, after which the north shore village of Magnolia,
Mass., was named. However, like the other leaders of the
fledgling Massachusetts Horticultural Society who became
the original founders of Mount Auburn Cemetery, Dr. Big-
elow was more than just an avid plant enthusiast. The core
of supporters who rallied around Bigelow’s novel idea for
a rural cemetery and experimental garden were all people
with a shared passion for science and a robust intellectual
vigor. These enlightened individuals not only created this
remarkable institution in 1831, but also imbued it with a
culture of innovation. Perhaps it is because of this culture
that Mount Auburn has endured to this day and is now
recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Each of the
generations of horticulturists, who have been the stewards
of this landscape for the past 179 years, has brought its own
vision and innovative spirit to the task of building and im-
proving Mount Auburn.
Today’s staff recognizes the horticultural legacy it has
inherited and intends to pass along this historic landscape
for future generations to enjoy. In a time of great economic
uncertainty, such a goal doesn’t just ask for creativity and
innovation, it demands them. The challenges we now face
are complex: preserving an extensive collection of old plants
(some of which predate the Cemetery’s founding); acquiring
large quantities of new plants in an economically feasible
way; preparing for and responding to natural disasters and
insect or disease outbreaks; preserving the various landscape
styles that were embraced in Mount Auburn’s history; and
changing our operations to become more ecologically
sustainable. Only time will tell whether we are successful, but
at least we can appreciate that there has never been a time
with such unique challenges in Mount Auburn’s long history.
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