[Pollinator] Fwd: [beemonitoring] Letter to New York Times

Tue Feb 28 10:36:09 PST 2012

____________________________________
 From: bernhap2 at slu.edu
To: beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com,  pollinator at lists.sonic.net, 
peter.raven at mobot.org,  adafni at research.haifa.ac.il, pollinator at nappc.org,  
gary.wilson at derm.qld.gov.au, gibbsian at optusnet.com.au,  caroline.minogue at gmail.com, 
Peter.Wysejackson at mobot.org, rmeier3 at gmail.com,  seago at oswego.edu, 
james.seago at oswego.edu
Sent: 2/28/2012 7:20:56 A.M.  Pacific Standard Time
Subj: [beemonitoring] Letter to New York  Times

Dear Colleagues:  

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.  

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. 

Peter

To The Editor:

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. 

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.  

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.  

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. 

Sincerely,

Peter Bernhardt
Professor of Botany, St. louis University
Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden..  

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