My Visit to Cornell Plantations, Part 1

From the mission statement of Cornell Plantations, we learn, “Our mission is to preserve and enhance diverse horticultural collections and natural areas for the enrichment and education of academic and public audiences, and in support of scientific research.” Cornell Plantations’ current holdings of over 4,000 acres of natural and constructed landscape includes a botanical garden, an arboretum, a lab of ornithology, lakes, creeks, and, of course greenhouses and laboratories. I was invited there because their theme this late summer was chile peppers, like the “Medusa” ornamental variety pictured above. Last night I gave a multimedia demonstration entitled “Blame It on Columbus: How Chile Peppers Spread Around the World.” About 200 people attended, asked extremely intelligent questions, and bought a lot of copies of The Complete Chile Pepper Book by myself and Paul W. Bosland of New Mexico State University. Today, Betty Riley took me on a tour of the botanic gardens, including the vegetable garden, herb garden, winter garden, rock garden, and the hillside garden. Below were some of my favorites: