The Olmsted Parks of Louisville: A Botanical Field Guide

by Patricia Dalton Haragan, Susan M. Rademacher (Introduction), Susan Wilson (Photographer), Chris Bidwell (Photographer), Daniel H. Jones (Foreword by)

Overview

Frederick Law Olmsted, popularly known as the "Father of American Landscape Architecture," is famous for designing New York City's Central Park, the U.S. Capitol grounds, and the campuses of institutions such as Stanford University and the University of Chicago. His celebrated projects in Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee, and other cities led to a commission from the city of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1891. There, he partnered with community leaders to design a network of scenic parks, tree-lined parkways, elegant neighborhoods, and beautifully landscaped estate gardens that thousands of visitors still enjoy today.

The Olmsted Parks of Louisville is the first authoritative manual on the 380 species of trees, herbaceous plants, shrubs, and vines populating the nearly 1,900 acres that comprise Cherokee, Seneca, Iroquois, Shawnee, and Chickasaw Parks. Designed for easy reference, this handy field guide includes detailed photos and maps as well as ecological and historical information about each park. Author Patricia Dalton Haragan also includes sections detailing the many species of invasive plants in the parks and discusses the native flora that they displaced.

This guide provides readers with a key to Olmsted's vision, revealing how various plant species were arranged to emphasize the beauty and grandeur of nature. It will serve as an essential resource for students, nature enthusiasts, and the more than ten thousand visitors who use the parks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813144542
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	03/18/2014
Pages:	456
Sales rank:	776,233
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Patricia Dalton Haragan is the author of Weeds of Kentucky and Adjacent States: A Field Guide and Wildflowers of the Northeast in the Audubon Fairchild Garden. She is a former botanist for Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy and a former curator of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Herbarium.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Reading a Place Daniel H. Jones ix

Introduction Susan M. Rademacher 1

About This Book 7

Illustrated Plant Structures 21

Plant Descriptions of 384 Species 31

Ferns and Fern Allies 33

Herbaceous Plants, Woody Vines, and Shrubs 42

Arranged by Flower Color, Season, and Alphabetically by Family within Season

Spring: February, March, April

Summer: May, June, July

Fall: August, September, October

White Flowers 42

Yellow/Orange Flowers 140

Red/Pink Flowers 202

Blue/Purple Flowers 232

Green Flowers 287

Brown Flowers 328

Trees 335

Arranged by

Evergreen: Needlelike or Scalelike

Deciduous: Leaves Alternate or Opposite, Simple or Compound, and Alphabetically by Family within Group

Sedges, Rushes, and Grasses 388

Glossary 409

References 419

Acknowledgments 423

Olmsted Parks Conservancy 425

Index 427

Editorial Reviews

I admired Pat Haragan's desire to awaken in others a love of plants-'key it, know it, name it and understand why it grows here. Then come back next year and notice how it's grown, how far it's spread. And most importantly why is it here? Tell me about the environment.' She's at it again with her botanical guide of the Olmsted Parks. It will be used far and wide among all ages of budding botanists. Pat continues to be a great teacher. Congratulations to photographers Susan Wilson and Chris Bidwell as well. Your photographs capture details that give amateur plant lovers confidence in sharing plant names they've learned using this incredible resource.

Mary Witt

Haragan provides a comprehensive treatment of the Olmsted Parks in Louisville. A much needed resource for visitors and for anyone interested in plant life, the book is a significant contribution to the literature on the flora of Kentucky, and is unlike any other recent Kentucky book.

author of Plant Life of Kentucky Ronald L. Jones

The Olmsted Parks of Louisville will take its place as an important contribution to the botany of the region, spotlighting the flora of a biologically and historically rich set of municipal parks, researched and presented by one of the very best botanists in the state.

curator of the University of Kentucky Herbarium Rob Paratley

A quality tribute to America's greatest landscape architect, these parks he created, and especially the plants that thrive there.

Plant Science Bulletin

"Haragan provides a comprehensive treatment of the Olmsted Parks in Louisville. A much needed resource for visitors and for anyone interested in plant life, the book is a significant contribution to the literature on the flora of Kentucky, and is unlike any other recent Kentucky book." — Ronald L. Jones, author of Plant Life of Kentucky

" The Olmsted Parks of Louisville will take its place as an important contribution to the botany of the region, spotlighting the flora of a biologically and historically rich set of municipal parks, researched and presented by one of the very best botanists in the state." — Rob Paratley, curator of the University of Kentucky Herbarium

"I admired Pat Haragan's desire to awaken in others a love of plants-'key it, know it, name it and understand why it grows here. Then come back next year and notice how it's grown, how far it's spread. And most importantly why is it here? Tell me about the environment.' She's at it again with her botanical guide of the Olmsted Parks. It will be used far and wide among all ages of budding botanists. Pat continues to be a great teacher. Congratulations to photographers Susan Wilson and Chris Bidwell as well. Your photographs capture details that give amateur plant lovers confidence in sharing plant names they've learned using this incredible resource." — Mary Witt, University of Kentucky Horticulturist

"A quality tribute to America's greatest landscape architect, these parks he created, and especially the plants that thrive there." — Plant Science Bulletin

From the Publisher