IMMIGRANTS & THE CREATION OF AMERICAN GARDENING

Just like the first American settlers, current era immigrants continue to introduce both beneficial and problematic plants and practices as they work in American landscapes. Wambui Ippolito takes us through various immigrant landscape histories, showing us how the American terrain has been altered forever in a very short time span. She hopes this talk will leave the audience with a new understanding of land management and gardening practices.

FOLLOWED BY A GARDEN RECEPTION IN THE BEATRIX FARRAND GARDEN

WAMBUI IPPOLITO

Wambui Ippolito is a horticulturist and landscape designer and a graduate of the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture. She develops programming for museums, public gardens and parks exploring the broader context of horticulture, focusing on the intersections between migration, culture, history and science. She lectures both in the USA and internationally and is the principal designer of her New York-based landscape design firm. In her former career, Wambui worked as a Development & Democracy Consultant. She is multilingual, fluent in five languages. Wambui is the founder of the BIPOC Hort Group, a multicultural organization with membership from the African American, Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean public and private professional ornamental horticulture community.