Gardeners Indoors - E Letter

When the temperature ranges into the 90s gardeners try to get their work done early in the day.  For the rest of the weekend you can stroll from window to window and admire your great works from the comfort of your home.  Nevertheless, it’s likely that you’ll still feel confined and want to do “something.”

You could do worse than to spend a hot afternoon in the air-conditioned comfort of the D.H. Hill Library at NC State University.  No, I don’t mean staring at the stacks.  A current exhibit reviews and showcases the work of B.W. Wells, an early ecologist (before the term was in common use) and author of The Natural Gardens of North Carolina.

An Ohio native, Wells earned his PhD degree from the University of Chicago before discovering the joys of life in North Carolina.  He came to NC State in 1919 as head of the Botany and Plant Pathology Department (later the Department of Plant Biology).  Wells took advantage of opportunities to travel the state and began documenting the state’s native flora and their relationships with their environments.  He quickly came to appreciate the diverse array of North Carolina’s wildflowers.  “In the spring of 1920, on a visit to Wilmington, out of the railroad car window, I saw a vast area literally covered with wild flowers.  I immediately made up my mind to see it again.”

He spent considerable time in the Big Savannah of Pender County studying plant communities, taking pictures, and inspiring students who trained under his leadership.  Many of his pictures were transformed into “glass lantern slides created by B. W. Wells with a 4 x 5-inch Graflex single-lens reflex camera for use in his research, instruction, and public presentations.”  These 3.25 by 4 inch slides were used in lectures that drew the attention of the public to the vast treasures of NC flora. 

Within 10 years of his arrival in North Carolina, Wells had become recognized as the expert on native wildflowers.  The Garden Club of North Carolina turned to him when they recognized a need for a book on this topic.  Wells accepted the challenge that resulted in publication of The Natural Gardens of North Carolina in 1932.  The book (still in print, UNC Press) is now considered a classic of North Carolina’s native flora.  The book combines laymen’s terms to describe scientific details; black and white pictures, many of which Wells hand colored; a key to wildflowers; and enough information about plant ecology to enable gardeners to understand the plants’ needs. 

While Wells was a noted scientist and researcher before retirement, much of his legacy is tied to his efforts at conservation and preservation of natural environments.  To Wells, "Successful gardeners are always practical plant ecologists."  In retirement he continued his work as an environmental advocate before it was popular.

Wells slides numbering more than 500 are now in the University Archives and form the backbone of the current exhibit in the D.H. Hill Library.  The exhibit, including grand enlargements of some of Wells’ pictures, will remain on display at the library through August 10.  Library hours are available at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/hours/