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From: bernhap2@slu.edu<BR>To: beemonitoring@yahoogroups.com,
pollinator@lists.sonic.net, peter.raven@mobot.org,
adafni@research.haifa.ac.il, pollinator@nappc.org,
gary.wilson@derm.qld.gov.au, gibbsian@optusnet.com.au,
caroline.minogue@gmail.com, Peter.Wysejackson@mobot.org, rmeier3@gmail.com,
seago@oswego.edu, james.seago@oswego.edu<BR>Sent: 2/28/2012 7:20:56 A.M.
Pacific Standard Time<BR>Subj: [beemonitoring] Letter to New York
Times<BR></DIV>
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<P>Dear Colleagues:
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>On Monday (2/27) the New York Times published an article (with nice color
photos) of flowers in bloom in February at the New York Botanical Gardens.
The writing suggested there was something "sinister" about plants in
flower with foraging honeybees at this time of year. The following
is my attempt to calm New York's flower lovers, gardeners and naturalists (see
below). Please do not think I'm some sort of disbeliever in Climate
Change. My only point is that winter has its flowers too and, every few
years, New Yorkers are permitted to view them in their appropriate season.
</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>People should receive a positive introduction to plant-insect Phenology,
not worried into it. Also, I could be very wrong but, if you see the
photos on line, it looks like an Eranthis (winter aconite) has been mistaken
for an Adonis (pheasant's eye). Perhaps Drs Raven and Wyse jackson will
correct me or make inquiries of the horticultural administration (Todd
Forrest) at their sister garden in the Bronx. </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Peter</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><FONT size=4
face=Arial>To The Editor:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><FONT size=4
face=Arial>Gardeners and visitors to the New York Botanical Garden should stop
feeling "conflicted" by the sight of plants in bloom this winter ("Amid Winter
Blooms, Pondering What That Bodes For Spring," Monday, 2/27/12). Most of
the plants described or photographed in the article (crocuses, daffodils,
hellebores, magnolias, snowdrops etc.) originated in southern China or the
Mediterranean basin where winters are mild. New Yorkers feel that winter
is a season without garden flowers. City folk in southern Europe and
temperate Asia do not agree. That is why some residents of southern
England called their daffodils Lent lilies and knew their hellebores as
Christmas roses. That is why people in southern Japan once organized
winter parties to view their beloved, ornamental apricots in full flower.
One crocus in Israel blooms so early in winter that locals call them
Chanukah lights. There are many more examples. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><FONT size=4
face=Arial>Let's not worry about the honeybees. They aren't native to
North America either and suffer far more from Colony Collapse Disorder than
temperature fluctuations. I caught them repeatedly as they visited
mandrake flowers on sunny days in early January in northern Israel.
Pollination of these garden flowers isn't an issue anyway. No one eats
daffodil pie and the ornamental cherries, apricots and peaches are never grown
for their fruit. We'd be far better off monitoring the appearance of
such native pollinators as bumblebees, sweat bees and hover flies.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><FONT size=4
face=Arial>Now, no one likes a magnolia blossom killed by a freeze but I
worked for the New York Botanical Garden in 1977 and know that the magnolia
display is unpredictable. Chinese species planted in the Bronx grow on
the edge of their performance zones. New York is not Nanking. I do
recall that we had such a balmy spring in '77 that tour guides at the New York
Botanical Garden were instructed to take the tour buses past the best magnolia
stands because the flowers lasted over two whole weeks.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><FONT size=4
face=Arial>Most plants now in bloom at the NYBG haven't been "fooled into
flowering." They are doing what comes naturally this time of year when
the soil isn't frozen. Let's think of this as the winter New Yorkers are
privileged to enjoy much the same show others enjoy in the parks of
Barcelona, Rome, Haifa and Tokyo. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><FONT size=4
face=Arial>Sincerely,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><FONT size=4
face=Arial>Peter Bernhardt</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica; FONT-SIZE: medium"><FONT size=4
face=Arial>Professor of Botany, St. louis University</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 13px"
class=Apple-style-span>Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden.</SPAN>.
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