Out & About

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The New York Sun

The New York Botanical Garden’s Rose Garden Dinner Dance Wednesday night brought together many generations of its supporters, from Babe Paley’s best friend, Jane Choate, to the daughter of the late Honoré and Karl Wamsler, Caroline Wamsler, who is now a board member.

The areas of the guests’s expertise, as at the best of New York parties, varied widely: Ms. Wamsler has a Ph.D. in art history and last year gave a talk on the confluence of the sacred and secular in Venice; new board member John Thain is the chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, and botanist Scott Mori is an authority on the Brazil nut family.

The Rose Garden event honored a husband and wife who have long been committed to the Botanical Garden, although presence impossible: Arthur Ross died on September 10 at the age of 96, and his wife, Janet, chose not to attend the event. Ross had joined the board in 1982; the couple’s contributions helped fund the Arthur and Janet Ross Conifer Arboretum, on 40 acres, and the Arthur and Janet Ross Gallery and Lecture Hall, which is the venue for more than 150 programs a year.

“Arthur was exceptionally fond of trees, especially conifers, and he knew a lot about them,” the Garden’s president, Gregory Long, said. Ross often had suggestions for correcting the labeling of tree specimens in the garden; more importantly, he funded and promoted the development of a new type of elm since the American elm has nearly disappeared because of Dutch elm disease. He also funded the Arthur Ross Pinetum in Central Park near West 85th Street.

Ross’s own words about the Garden best capture his connection to it. “The New York Botanical Garden inspires us, lifts our spirits and offers peace and serenity … qualities more needed today than ever. The relationship that brings us together tonight, as with genuine friendship, should be one of consistency — all to serve the public good. That was the spirit in which the Garden was created and that is the spirit in which we gather here this evening,” he said at a gala in 2002.

Nature herself offered the most glorious tribute to the Ross’s generosity. In the Rose Garden, more than1,700 new roses planted in May were in splendid form.

“The blooms are breathtakingly beautiful. I have been amazed on a daily basis,” the garden’s rosarian, Peter Kukielski, said. And the blooms will last until the first frost, leaving plenty of time for all of New York to enjoy them.

agordon@nysun.com


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