Horticulture Writer Lauren Springer Lectures Feb. 8 at Nebraska Union

WHEN: Sunday, Feb. 8, 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Nebraska Union Auditorium, 1400 R Street

Lincoln, Neb., Jan. 21, 2004 -- Award-winning horticulture writer and photographer Lauren Springer will speak at a public lecture beginning at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in the auditorium of the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Springer's lecture is sponsored by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Garden Friends.

Her topic is "Continental Ideas for American Gardens." Springer worked in public gardens on both sides of the Atlantic before receiving her master's degree in horticulture from Penn State.

Springer, who lives in Colorado, is a contributing editor for Horticulture magazine and author of "The Undaunted Garden," named one of the 75 best American gardening books of the last century by the American Horticultural Society. At the Denver Botanic Gardens, she designed the Watersmart and Romantic Gardens.

Her most recent book, "Passionate Gardening: Good Advice for Challenging Climates," co-authored with Rob Proctor, received the 2001 AHS Book Award. Springer's private gardens have been featured on television and in many publications, including the New York Times, Sunset Western Landscaping Book and The Collector's Garden.

"For years, Americans have looked to the English for garden inspiration, with a nod here and there to Mediterranean and Japanese influences," Springer said. "Over the past half-century, largely ignored on this side of the Atlantic, there has been a new style evolving in Germany and Holland.

"While previously the gardens there were typically either in the cottage tradition or copies of Italian and French gardens, an entirely new idiom of ecologically based naturalism has now made its mark on both public and private spaces in those countries. In many ways it mirrors some of our own recent regionally expressive garden styles in America. I will discuss some of these modern continental concepts and characteristics, illustrated with both European and American examples, to provoke thought and inspire ideas for our gardens."

For more information, contact Kim Hachiya, president of UNL Garden Friends, at (402) 472-8844 or Susan Evnen, vice president, at (402) 472-9333.

CONTACT: Kim Hachiya, President, UNL Garden Friends, (402) 472-8844