News Release
For Immediate Release — November 4, 2009
Noted Gardening Author and Botanical Illustrator Peter Loewer to Speak at Friends of the Gardens Annual Membership Meeting
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Don't miss the Friends of the UT Gardens annual meeting on Sunday, November 8, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. at Ijams Nature Center where author and artist Peter Loewer will talk about his latest book, Loves Me, Loves Me Not. Peter will give his companion talk to his latest book about the secret language of flowers, first developed by women of a Turkish harem back in the 1600s.
Author and artist Peter Loewer will speak at the annual Friends of the Gardens meeting, Sunday, November 8.
A jealous sultan forbade the women to learn anything about reading or writing so they resorted to a secret language of trading flowers. Each flower held a different meaning, and cleverness won out in the end. Then in the mid-1800s, the more romantic Victorians pick up the definitions, and you can guess the rest.
Peter's talk will be illustrated with 50 slides of his original artwork for the book. Peter has written over 30 books on gardening and natural history, including the award-winning "The Wild Gardener" and "Thoreau's Garden." He is also a well-known and honored botanical illustrator.
Loewer lives in Asheville and gardens on the shores of Lake Kenilworth, working on an acre of land featuring natural trails and a formal perennial garden. Many of the rare and more unusual plants in his garden are grown from seed, usually supplied by membership in the American Rock Garden Society, the Royal Horticultural Society in London, and from trading with other gardeners.
In 2002, Timber Press re-released his classic book on night-blooming and night-fragrant plants, The Evening Garden. His latest books are Native Perennials for the Southeast, North Carolina Gardens, and Loves Me, Loves Me Not. He has a radio show on Public Radio in North Carolina called "The Wild Gardener," and he is the Contributing Editor to the magazine, Carolina Gardener.
For more information call 865-974-8265.
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The University of Tennessee Gardens located in Knoxville and Jackson are part of the UT Institute of Agriculture. Their mission is to foster appreciation, education and stewardship of plants through garden displays, collections, educational programs and research trials. Some 4,000 annuals, perennials, herbs, tropicals, trees, shrubs, vegetables and ornamental grasses are evaluated each year. Both gardens are Tennessee Certified Arboreta and American Conifer Society Reference Gardens. The gardens are open during all seasons and free to the public. Visit http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/ and http://west.tennessee.edu/ornamentals for more information.
Ijams Nature Center is located at 2915 Island Home Avenue. From Interstate 40W, take James White Pkwy Exit (388A). Continue on two left lanes down James White Parkway. Cross over the Tennessee River and take the Sevier Avenue/Hillwood Drive exit. Turn left onto Sevier Avenue (turns into Hillwood Drive). Turn right onto Island Home Avenue (at bottom of hill). Ijams is approximately one mile on the left.
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