Blog

Bill Cullina, executive director of Morris Arboretum & Gardens, has won the Edgar T. Wherry Award from the North American Rock Garden Society. He received the award for outstanding contributions in the dissemination of information about native North American plants.

“This is a really thoughtful and appreciated award, given that Wherry was such an important scientist and botanist here for many years,” Cullina said. Wherry (1885–1982) taught botany at the University of Pennsylvania from 1930 to 1955, and had a deep interest in ferns. Many of the botanical specimens Wherry collected are preserved at the Morris and at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

Below is an excerpt of the writeup about Cullina that was published in the summer issue of NARGS Quarterly.

Bill was previously CEO and before that director of horticulture/plant curator for The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine. Prior to that he was the director of horticultural research for the New England Wild Flower Society (now Native Plant Trust) in Massachusetts.

Bill is the author of three books on native North American plants. While the native plant movement is currently in full swing, these three beautifully written and photographed books, which reside in the collections of many of us, were particularly valued resources on native plants in the days when such resources were few and far between.

In addition to his writing, Bill shared his extensive knowledge of native plants through his many talks on these topics as well. He began his horticultural life at Garden in the Woods in Massachusetts, and gave many, many talks to the New England chapter, each packed with his careful observations of plants, and beautifully illustrated with slides. His talk on fern propagation was particularly memorable: He was showing a fertile fern frond under a microscope and projecting it for the audience to see when suddenly the spores were released from the sori under the heat of the microscope lamp. To say that everyone in the audience jumped is an understatement.

Through his writing, his stewardship of native plants at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and the New England Wildflower Society, and his lectures on native plants, Bill has provided information on native North American plants to a wide and appreciative audience. Bill fully deserves the Edgar T. Wherry Award.