Cleveland Botanical Garden Blooms in the Blogosphere

-  “The Garden Variety” blog now live at  www.cbgarden.org/blog  

Cleveland, Ohio – (February 18, 2008)

Cleveland Botanical Garden is proving that computers and the Internet can be just as useful in cultivating an appreciation for horticulture as traditional gardening tools.   This February, the Garden launched a new blog, “The Garden Variety” (www.cbgarden.org/blog). Given that blog search engine Technorati is tracking more than 112 million blogs, it is not easy to create a first in the blogosphere.  Yet, to the Garden’s knowledge, “The Garden Variety” may very well be the first professionally designed and regularly updated blog by a major botanical garden.

“At the Garden, we understand that new forms of online communication are vital to stimulating and maintaining a new generation’s appreciation of the interdependence of plants, people and the environment,” says Natalie Ronayne, the Garden’s executive director.  “We’re thrilled that our blog will enable us to communicate in a meaningful way with this younger audience, as well as strengthen our relationships with our current members and visitors.” 

The Garden’s team of expert bloggers is comprised of members of the Garden’s horticulture and education staffs.  “The Garden Variety” features posts by these bloggers on a variety of topics related to horticulture and life at the Garden. In that way, the blog represents a continuation of the great horticultural conversation the institution enjoys with its members, gardeners, conservationists and plant lovers of all kinds. 

Cleveland Botanical Garden, which began as the Garden Center of Greater Cleveland, the country's first urban garden center, celebrated its 75th anniversary year in 2005. A nonprofit garden, the institution is a national leader in urban horticulture and botanical education. From its 10-acre campus in Cleveland’s cultural hub, University Circle, to three inner-city learning gardens and dozens of outdoor classrooms at area schools, the Garden has introduced the benefits of gardening to thousands of people of all ages, interests, backgrounds and abilities. Since its founding in 1930, education has been the core of the Garden’s mission, guiding expansion in recent years to include urban outreach, school programs that support national academic standards, and sustainable economic development. It has 6,000 members and bi-annually hosts the nation’s largest outdoor flower show. The Garden's website is at www.cbgarden.org.
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