Botanical Gardens seeks full-time education coordinator
The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society, Inc. is seeking a qualified individual for the full time position of education coordinator.
The qualified individual should be creative, innovative, highly motivated and have a love for education, science and the environment. Candidates should possess superior organizational skills, and understand how to create and execute lesson plans. This individual should have a passion for working with children of all ages and abilities as well as with adults. Candidate must be a highly effective verbal and written communicator and be able to work both independently and as part of a dynamic team. This position requires a working knowledge of Microsoft products, a minimum of one year classroom teaching experience, a New York State Teaching Certification and requires a flexible work schedule including some weekends and evenings.
If you would like to be part of a dedicated staff committed to enhancing the mission of a jewel in Western New York’s cultural, historical and architectural landscape, please submit by email a letter of interest and resume to David J. Swarts, President/CEO, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society, Inc. at dswarts@buffalogardens.com.
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Carniverous Plant Club to celebrate first anniversary tomorrow
The Western New York Carnivorous Plant Club will celebrate its first anniversary at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, August 1 at Menne Nursery, 3100 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Amherst. The main presentation of the night will be Cobra lilies.Cobra lilies resemble pitcher plants and also rely on a pitfall trap to catch their prey. There are more than 600 species of carnivorous plants in the world.
The club meets the first Wednesday of every month from February through November. Over the past year the club has given away 84 adult plants and hundreds of seeds to its members. Members discuss carnivorous plants in the news, husbandry and propagation techniques. Activities have included a dissection workshop, yearly photo contest, field trips and project plants.
For more information, email them at wnycpclub@aol.com or visit them on Facebook.
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Better tasting tomatoes may be on the way now that tomato genome has been decoded
Gardeners could see varieties of plants with better-tasting tomatoes, now that the tomato genome has been decoded.
The Tomato Genome Consortium in May published genome sequences for two tomatoes: The “Heinz 1706” varietal, an inbred cultivar that serves as a model for the domesticated tomato, and its closest wild counterpart, Solanum pimpinellifolium, according to an article on popsci.com by Rebecca Boyle.
The sequences provide new insight into the genes responsible for tomatoes’ characteristic color, flavor and texture, and could give plant biologists a wealth of new genetic information to manipulate. Tomatoes represent a $2 billion market in the United States, according to Cornell.
“Tomato genetics underlies the potential for improved taste every home gardener knows and every supermarket shopper desires,” said James Giovannoni, a scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, located on the campus of Cornell University, who led the U.S. sequencing team. “The genome sequence will help solve this and many other issues in tomato production and quality.”
The two tomato gene sequences suggest there’s not much difference between sweet garden varieties and the sandy-fleshed red blobs found at the supermarket, so breeding desirable qualities back into domesticated cultivars may not require many revisions.
The new genome sequences provide scientists with a new system for studying tomatoes’ relatives in the night-shade family, including the potato, pepper, petunia, tobacco and even coffee. Other fleshy fruits, such as melons, apples and strawberries, share characteristics with tomatoes, too.
“Now we can start asking a lot more interesting questions about fruit biology, disease resistance, root development and nutritional qualities,” Giovannoni said in a statement.
Better tasting tomatoes, what’s not to like! Thanks Connie for always posting something fascinating.