Greentopia, scholarship, jobs, urban regrowth, downy mildew, eab

I’m back! Did you miss me? Other work has taken priority over ETTGPro for the past couple of weeks.
As always, thanks for reading.

• Greentopia 2012 going to be much bigger this year. Much. Its a full week of music, movies, food, entertainment, education and more. There is a call out for vendors, speakers, sponsors, volunteers…you name it Learn more at the website: greentopiafest.com. 
• Matterhorn Nursery files Chapter 11. If you’ve heard garden center marketing guru Matt Horn speak or been aware of the remarkable success of this nursery and garden center, this news might come as a big surprise (it did to me). A little googling uncovers, however, at least one prior filing and a shut down/reopening in the past. Apparently the bankruptcy is a result of a real estate deal gone bad, and this time the doors will not be reopening—there was an auction scheduled to begin April 29. Story via Acres Online; additional good local coverage here. Matterhorn’s landscaping division is expected to continue.
• What was formerly Majeski’s Nursery in Gardenville (Buffalo) is now Pines Garden Center.
• GOOD news about Emerald Ash Borer detection in MN via American Nurseryman.
• Here are three stories that relate to plant life in urban/disturbed areas.
• Noisy environments affect plants. Jist of story is that animals (birds, mice) that promote seed distribution are driven away by noise, therefore plant populations decline.
• Plants in urban environments are more closely related and shorter-lived than their rural counterparts. As in above example, this makes perfect sense. Fewer opportunities for pollination (due to lack of habitat) limits the gene pool. From the study: “The loss of evolutionary information will reduce species’ chances to adapt to environmental changes and might, on the long term, negatively impact urban ecosystems.”
• On an Urban Heat Island, Zippy Red Oaks. With that headline, you have to know it’s from the Times. Story: Oaks in the “heat island” of Central Park grow faster than their counterparts outside of NYC, and not necessarily with negative consequences to the individual plants.
• Dichotomous keys. Since my days at FLCC (it was CCFL then), I’ve always been fascinated by them. Back in the day a girlfriend of mine was working on a master’s degree in Instruction Design (basically, it was hypercard, remember that, techies?) at RIT and was looking for a project—a dichotomous key for native trees of upstate New York was the perfect fit. It worked. But computers don’t run hypercard anymore, so I’m always searching for the next best thing to her admirably functional program. Latest candidate: GoBotany. If you test it out, please let me know the results.
• From Cornell IPM expert Elizabeth Lamb, a link to some solid info on controlling downy mildew in impatiens.
• You’ve got to mix it up. Experts say that lack of adequate crop rotation, overuse of Roundup (as opposed to other herbicides), may result in the appearance of problematic horseweed in NYS in the near future.
• In the mood for a brain spin? Read “If Peas Can Talk, Should We Eat Them?” Again from that crazy Times.
• A little eye candy via Garden Rant. Forty-one gorgeous garden paths.

Tagged as: cornell ipm, Cornell Plantations, dichotomous key, downy mildew, EAB, elizabeth lamb, Garden rant, Green Profit, Greentopia, impatiens, jobs, New York Times, pines garden center, scholarships, urban plant life