[PCA] BOOK: New Peterson Guide To Ferns and Special Event (Framingham, MA)

Olivia Kwong plant at plantconservation.org
Wed Nov 2 15:17:34 CST 2005


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 16:08:11 -0500
From: Debra Strick <dstrick at newfs.org>
Subject: New Peterson Guide To Ferns and Special Event

Dear PCA Members & Cooperators,

New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS) is  absolutely delighted to
announce the publication of the completely revised second edition of the
1956 Cobb classic Peterson Guide to Ferns of Northeastern and Central
North America rewritten by Cheryl Lowe and Elizabeth Farnsworth for the
Society,  now available at www.newenglandwildflower.org, and soon to be
widely distributed through publisher Houghton Mifflin.  See below about
the December 3rd booksigning celebration at Garden in the Woods, and the
full story on 'a new classic'.  Please get in touch with me with any
questions or if you would like to interview the authors or review the new
'must-have' guide.

Contact:  Debra Strick, dstrick at newfs.org or 508-877-7630 x 3501

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For Immediate Release

Nature, Lectures, Book Signings, Book Reviews, Holiday Gifts

Saturday, December 3rd, 2005 1 p.m - 3 p.m. FREE Book Signing and Release
celebration.  Free short lecture and refreshments,  no reservations
required. New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS) authors Cheryl Lowe and
Elizabeth Farnsworth talk about our region's ferns and sign Peterson
Field Guide: Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America rewritten
from the 1956 Boughton Cobb classic field guide.  The 304-page compact
guide includes 100 color photographs and 200 illustrations and fully
updated text reflecting 50 years of botanical and horticultural change.
Copies for signing and gift giving available now at Museum Shop, Garden
in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road or online at www.newenglandwildflower.org
<http://www.newenglandwildflower.org/> , and support NEWFS plant
conservation work. 508-877-7630. Published by Houghton Mifflin.

(END...full story below)

'A New Classic' - New England Wild Flower Society Authors Revise Peterson
Fern Guide

Framingham, Massachusetts - New England Wild Flower Society (NEWFS), the
nation's oldest organization devoted to the conservation of native plants
announced the first major revision of the classic Peterson Field Guide:
Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America, by Boughton Cobb.
Rewritten by NEWFS staff, Cheryl Lowe, Horticulture Director and Dr.
Elizabeth Farnsworth, Senior Research Ecologist, Houghton Mifflin cites a
September 26th, 2005 publication date, with NEWFS signing celebration and
lecture following on December 3rd, 2005, 1 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.  at Garden in
the Woods Museum Shop, 180 Hemenway Road, Framingham, MA.
<http://www.newenglandwildflower.org/> www.newenglandwildflower.org or
508-877-7630.

The 304-page guide includes 100 color photographs, many from the
Society's botanical image collection.  The 200 beautiful black & white
drawings by co-author Farnsworth and the late Laura Louise Foster provide
the details needed for clear identification and inspiration.  The
comprehensive revisions reflect tremendous horticultural and botanical
changes of the past half-century especially in the naming of ferns and
our understanding of their relationships.  Proceeds of books purchased at
the Society bookstore or online at
<http://www.newenglandwildflower.org/> www.newenglandwildflower.org
support plant conservation in New England.  Beginning September 26th, the
book will be widely available online and at bookstores and garden centers
everywhere, in time for gift shopping for the naturalist and gardener.

"It was the gorgeous New England Wild Flower Society member magazine on
ferns that gave me the idea to revise the book", said Frances Tenenbaum,
doyenne of garden publications at Houghton Mifflin.  "First published in
1956, The Peterson Fern Guide was still the number one book of its
kind-nothing came near it-but I saw that after 5 decades some updates
would be welcome".  Tenenbaum's titles include award-winning plant
publications by NEWFS and William Cullina, including Guide to OVER?
Wildflowers, Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines, Understanding Orchids, and
dozens of garden classics produced over a multi-decade career.
Naturalists and gardeners alike will appreciate this exhilarating new
look at the life of ferns in a compact size now including updated
taxonomy (scientific classification and naming), sections on habitats and
conservation, a glossary of botanical terms and a full chapter on
gardening with ferns.

"I grew up with the Boughton edition of the Peterson Guide to Ferns; this
is how I learned the ferns" says author and illustrator Elizabeth
Farnsworth. "To be asked to overhaul this definitive work to keep it
useful for perhaps another 50 years was a huge honor". Dr. Farnsworth,
NEWFS botanist and fern expert is a Bullard Research Fellow at Harvard
University.  She has also directed a five-year project to produce the
Society's 110 Conservation and Research Plans - strategies for conserving
the rarest plants of New England. The upcoming NEWFS' Flora of New
England will feature her illustrations both in print and online.

As Horticulture Director at NEWFS' Garden in the Woods in Framingham,
Massachusetts, Cheryl Lowe, co-author of the new edition, worked to
create one of the great native plant gardens in America.  Over the past
decade, she guided the culture and display of 1,500 native plant species
and cultivars including a large collection of New England and other North
American ferns and fern allies featured in the book.  Lowe also lectures
on behalf of the Society, appearing on PBS' Victory Garden, HGTV's People
Places and Plants Television, and Martha Stewart Television, and writes
for numerous Society horticultural publications.  "Growing ferns in a
garden is a rich opportunity to appreciate the changing character of
ferns over the seasons", writes Lowe.  "Ferns offer textures and forms
that transform the character of a place in different seasons and changing
light".  Together with the botanical writing and illustration of
Elizabeth Farnsworth, and images from Lowe, William Cullina, and the
NEWFS photography collection this is an invaluable guide at the
intersection of botany and horticulture.  You will 'meet' some of the
world's most evocative plants in this easy-to-use and beautiful 'new
classic' guide.

For more information on New England Wild Flower Society events, including
and information on the Society's fern sanctuary, or for details on how to
get your own hand-signed copy, visit
<http://www.newenglandwildflower.org/> www.newenglandwildflower.org or
phone 508-877-7630.













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