New “High Line” for Atlanta; Booze and paperwhites; Willard Center garden; New speakers bureau

Hi everyone! It’s been a verrrrry slow news week. I’m ok with that! Hope you are enjoying your holidays and getting some down time. —Jane

The High Line, in NYC, has started a trend of converting industrial artifacts (such as an unused railway) into parks. Here’s the latest attempt, in Atlanta. I’m personally attached to the GardenAerial in Rochester.
We all know about alcohol keeping paperwhites short stocky. I had to laugh though when I read this blog post—and then several dozen more all over the Internet—claiming that this neat trick was discovered when a Cornell hort student spilled his drink in a pot of sprouting bulbs…come on… In reality, according to this 2006 newsletter, “The initial spark for this work came from a question from the New York Times last January (probably from some holiday-enhanced Manhattanite who spilled her drink into the host’s paperwhite bowl)…” This is how urban legends are made, I guess.
For over a decade, the Willard Center in Ovid has grown food for food banks and given the low-level drug offenders it serves a chance to learn how to do it themselves when they return home. Harris Seeds is credited for its generosity to the program.
GreatGardenSpeakers.com has been around for a couple of years now, catering mostly to the consumer audience. Now there’s a new speakers bureau, more targeted toward the professional circuit. Via Lawn & Landscape.

Like I said, slow news week!