The Man in the Green Jacket
Posted in People on April 23 2010, by Plant Talk
Garden Mourns Passing of Gardening Educator Ralph Snodsmith
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Jeff Downing is Vice President for Education. |
The staff of the New York Botanical Garden was very sorry to hear that renowned gardening educator and radio personality Ralph Snodsmith passed away last Saturday.
As an instructor in the Garden’s Adult Education program for 40 years, Ralph trained generations of New Yorkers in the essentials of home gardening. His thorough approach covered everything from basic botany to soil testing and improvement, proper pruning, and integrated pest management. But Ralph’s classes were always greater than the sum of their parts. What really came through was the genuine warmth of his personality, his enduring passion and curiosity about plants, and the contagious enthusiasm he brought to his classes—along with his trademark green sports jacket.
Outside the garden, Ralph was best known for The Garden Hotline, his weekly radio program on WOR, which he hosted for 35 years. There he welcomed horticulture personalities, dispensed gardening wisdom, and answered a never-ending stream of questions from everyday gardeners with an affable, engaging charm. He also appeared on Good Morning America for eight years, providing gardening advice to millions of viewers.
Ralph distilled the essence of his course material into Ralph Snodsmith’s Fundamentals of Gardening, an all around garden primer published in 1993. He also authored Tips From the Garden Hotline, The Tri-State Gardener’s Guide, and the New York Gardener’s Guide, as well as innumerable fact sheets and newsletter articles.
The Garden honored Ralph in 1985 with both The New York Botanical Garden Distinguished Service Award and The New York Botanical Garden Distinguished Educator in Plant Studies Award. But there really is no award that could adequately convey Ralph Snodsmith’s contribution to The New York Botanical Garden and the world of horticulture. His true contribution lives on in the millions of lives he touched, and in the flourishing gardens everywhere improved and inspired by his wisdom.
When renowned gardening author Michael Pollan was at the Garden lecturing in 2002, he mentioned to me that he had learned the fundamentals of gardening years earlier at The New York Botanical Garden in a class with Ralph Snodsmith. “I’ll never forget that green jacket,” he remarked.
Neither will we.
Share with us and others your favorite stories and remembrances of Ralph Snodsmith by leaving a comment.