QuikReader News
QuikReader News
  • Top stories
  • Business
  • Tech
  • World
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Health
  • Science
  • Entertainment
Sign in
  • Top stories
  • Latest
  • Highlights
  • Sources
  • Notifications
  1. Main page
  2. World
  3. The Guardian

Battle of the botanic garden: the horticulture war roiling the Isle of Wight

Battle of the botanic garden: the horticulture war roiling the Isle of Wight

When a US businessman took over a beloved garden a decade ago, he decided on a radical new approach, all in the name of sustainability. But angry critics claim it’s just plain neglect

John Curtis’s enemies – and for a man who runs a mid-sized botanical garden on the Isle of Wight, he has surprisingly many – have a tendency to refer to him as “the American Businessman”, a phrase that, for many islanders, carries overtones of rapaciousness and cultural barbarism. He would rather not have quite so many adversaries, but neither does it seem especially to disturb him to be the object of simmering ill will on the island. He is not in the business of deliberately goading his detractors, but he tends, in his discussion of the increasingly public argument unfolding around his stewardship of the garden, toward a certain easygoing, sprightly provocation. “I’m a lightning rod,” as he put it to me in our first conversation, and on several occasions thereafter.

Curtis is a slight man in his early 60s with a neat, greying beard and nimble features. He is an intent listener and a rapid and agile talker. He doesn’t strike you as the sort of person who would wind up running a botanic garden on the Isle of Wight, or anywhere else for that matter. Such is his quality of flinty refinement that it is easy to imagine him a senior partner at a white-shoe Manhattan law firm, dispensing astringent wisdom to a younger colleague over a tumbler of scotch at the Yale Club. He was born into one of Connecticut’s oldest families, and is a direct descendent of the Puritan preacher John Winthrop, who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s, and whose A Model of Christian Charity sermon – popularly known as the “City upon a hill” speech – is a core text of American exceptionalism.

Continue reading...
Date: Jan. 26, 2023 1:00 AM ET
Link: Read more at The Guardian
Source: The Guardian - theguardian.com
  Save story
Topics
  • Horticulture War Roiling
  • Botanic Garden
  • Battle
  • Isle
  • Wight
Related stories

Search
Sort by
Date
Items per page
  • ‘The big battle is coming’: Ukrainian forces prepare for the war’s most intense phase

    ‘The big battle is coming’: Ukrainian forces prepare for the war’s most intense phase

    Russia and Kyiv both need a breakthrough but a major offensive will be loaded with risk whoever strikes firstIn the clear sky over the winter-yellowed marsh grasses on the outskirts of the town of Huliaipole, the bang and crump of artillery
    Jan. 27, 2023 - The Guardian - World - Ukraine
  • Marine couple at center of battle over Afghanistan war orphan tells their story

    Two families say they want to care for the girl: a U.S. Marine family and an Afghan couple, both claiming to be the child's rightful family.
    Jan. 25, 2023 - Home - CBSNews.com - Top stories
  • Marine couple at center of battle over Afghanistan war orphan tells their story

    Two families say they want to care for the girl: a U.S. Marine family and an Afghan couple, both claiming to be the child's rightful family.
    Jan. 25, 2023 - World - CBSNews.com - World
  • US, Germany sending battle tanks to aid Ukraine war effort

    US, Germany sending battle tanks to aid Ukraine war effort


    Jan. 25, 2023 - Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines - World - Ukraine
  • Europe's Leaders Are in Battle of Wills Over Ukraine War

    Fear of receding U.S. support for Kyiv is raising pressure in Europe for bolder action.
    Jan. 22, 2023 - WSJ.com: World News - World - Ukraine
  • Russia-Ukraine war live: Kyiv says battles ongoing in Soledar and denies Russians have taken town

    Russia-Ukraine war live: Kyiv says battles ongoing in Soledar and denies Russians have taken town

    Spokesperson for Ukraine army says statements from Russia that it has captured Soledar ‘are not true’Russia-Ukraine war at a glanceUkraine’s security council chair Oleksiy Danilov tweeted about the plea for German tanks yesterday, and as
    Jan. 13, 2023 - The Guardian - World - Russia
  • ‘Hellish’ battle for Soledar symbolises state of Russia’s war in Ukraine

    ‘Hellish’ battle for Soledar symbolises state of Russia’s war in Ukraine

    Fall of saltmining town would be propaganda coup for Kremlin but analysts say scale of casualties make it a pyrrhic victoryRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesAn infantry carrier moves quickly across a devastated landscape, traversing a
    Jan. 13, 2023 - The Guardian - World - Ukraine
  • The facts behind the "most bloody battle" of Russia's war in Ukraine

    Soledar, home to a huge salt mine, is being torn apart as Ukrainian forces battle to keep it out of the hands of Russian mercenaries.
    Jan. 12, 2023 - World - CBSNews.com - World - Ukraine
  • The facts behind the "most bloody battle" of Russia's war in Ukraine

    Soledar, home to a huge salt mine, is being torn apart as Ukrainian forces battle to keep it out of the hands of Russian mercenaries.
    Jan. 12, 2023 - Home - CBSNews.com - Top stories - Ukraine
  • ‘Almost at war’: shipwreck hunters battle it out for sunken treasure

    ‘Almost at war’: shipwreck hunters battle it out for sunken treasure

    Questions of ownership – and whether shipwrecks are being explored or plundered – are causing deep divides among the people who dedicate their lives to unearthing the ocean’s hidden lootWhen Ohio shipwreck hunter Thomas “Tommy” Thompson found
    Jan. 10, 2023 - The Guardian - World
  • Energy crisis roils Kepco and local debt market

    South Korean utility resorts to bumper bond issuance as it struggles to cope with rising costs
    Jan. 15, 2023 - World - World - Energy
  • Energy crisis roils Kepco and local debt market

    South Korean utility resorts to bumper bond issuance as it struggles to cope with rising costs
    Jan. 15, 2023 - UK homepage - Business - Energy
  • Five officers fired as sex scandal roils Tennessee police department

    Five officers fired as sex scandal roils Tennessee police department

    A Tennessee police department was in turmoil Tuesday following allegations that at least five of its male officers had sex with a female officer both on and
    Jan. 10, 2023 - NBC News Top Stories - Top stories
  • Biden Promotes Bipartisan Victories as Divisions Roil the Republican Party

    Biden Promotes Bipartisan Victories as Divisions Roil the Republican Party

    The president, who has said he intends to run for re-election, will travel to Kentucky to emphasize that he is determined to reach across the aisle.
    Jan. 4, 2023 - NYT > Top Stories - Top stories - Joe Biden
  • A new phase in the battle over working from home, Madison Square Garden's 'enemies' list, and a $500 version of Tinder

    EZPR's Ed Zitron tells "Nightcap's" Jon Sarlin that companies are using the rocky economy to get workers back in the office, but remote work is here to stay.
    Jan. 19, 2023 - CNN.com - RSS Channel - HP Hero - Top stories
  • Miami Gardens apartment building fire displaces more than 100 residents

    Heavy smoke and fire enveloped the two-story apartment building during the three-alarm fire, officials said.
    Jan. 28, 2023 - Home - CBSNews.com - Top stories
  • How to give structure to a garden

    Gardens do not simply emerge, they must be shaped in terms of spacing, soil, height and colour
    Jan. 27, 2023 - UK homepage - Business
  • James Dolan Says He Might Ban Liquor at a Rangers Game in Madison Square Garden

    James Dolan Says He Might Ban Liquor at a Rangers Game in Madison Square Garden

    James Dolan barred adversaries using facial recognition technology, and politicians bridled. Now, he is threatening to ban beer at a Rangers game.
    Jan. 26, 2023 - NYT > Sports - Sports
  • James Dolan Says He Might Ban Liquor at a Rangers Game in Madison Square Garden

    James Dolan Says He Might Ban Liquor at a Rangers Game in Madison Square Garden

    James Dolan barred adversaries using facial recognition technology, and politicians bridled. Now, he is threatening to ban beer at a Rangers game.
    Jan. 26, 2023 - NYT > Top Stories - Top stories
  • Madison Square Garden ban on lawyer foes may be illegal, AG says

    Event-goers have found themselves ejected from games because they work for law firms involved in litigation with MSG.
    Jan. 26, 2023 - Home - CBSNews.com - Top stories
  • Madison Square Garden doubles down on using facial recognition to ban lawyers suing them

    Madison Square Garden doubles down on using facial recognition to ban lawyers suing them

    The chief executive of the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation has doubled down on using facial recognition at its venues to bar lawyers suing the group from attending events.
    Jan. 26, 2023 - CNN.com - RSS Channel - HP Hero - Top stories
  • New York Attorney General Probing Madison Square Garden's Use of Facial Recognition Technology

    The state attorney general’s office said Wednesday that the company has reportedly used the technology to bar lawyers from firms who are currently suing it over unrelated matters from its venues.
    Jan. 25, 2023 - WSJ.com: WSJD - Tech - New York
  • New York Attorney General Probing Madison Square Garden's Use of Facial Recognition Technology

    The state attorney general’s office said Wednesday that the company has reportedly used the technology to bar lawyers from firms who are currently suing it over unrelated matters from its venues.
    Jan. 25, 2023 - WSJ.com: US Business - Business - New York
  • Madison Square Garden faces probe over facial recognition blacklisting

    New York attorney-general targets entertainment group accused of barring lawyers from venues
    Jan. 25, 2023 - UK homepage - Business
  • Madison Square Garden owner faces probe over facial recognition blacklisting

    New York attorney-general targets entertainment group accused of barring lawyers from venues
    Jan. 25, 2023 - World - World
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • »
© 2023 QuikReader News - About - Terms - Privacy