This month Karen Randall will be speaking on where our aquarium plants come from.
From careful surveys of the environment and collection of new plants in the wild, through the identification process, then on to propagation, either in commercial nurseries or by dedicated hobbyists, this talk takes a look at how our plants get to us.
Karen Randall grew up with aquariums as a child. While experienced in many facets of the aquarium hobby, as an adult her focus turned to a concentration in planted display aquariums and the study and propagation of aquatic plants. Her articles and photography have been published in multiple languages and publications around the world. For many years she authored the monthly column, “Sunken Gardens” in Aquarium Fish Magazine. She is an international speaker on aquarium subjects.
Karen is past president of the Boston Aquarium Society, is past president and served on the board of the Aquatic Gardeners Association for many years. She was editor of the AGA magazine and then Technical Editor, The Aquatic Gardener. She has served as a judge for the AGA International Aquascaping Contest and the Aqua Design Amano International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest as well as serving on the jury of a number of live and digital aquascaping contests. She was the chair of the AGA Aquascaping Live! Aquascaping contest. She has also served as a consultant on several major
projects at public aquaria. Karen travels frequently to study aquatic plants in the wild. She has traveled extensively in South and Central America, Asia and Australia as well as the southern parts of the U.S. In Brazil she has assisted with Project Piaba, a conservation program in the Amazon centered on the aquarium fish trade. She regularly does programs on these topics as well as aquatic gardening for groups ranging from aquarium clubs, school children, garden clubs and church organizations.
Her book, Sunken Gardens, A Step-by-Step Guide to Planting Freshwater Aquariums is available from all major book retailers. She maintains a website, where she blogs on additional planted aquarium subjects at:
www.sunkengardens.net And blogs on the newly revamped Florida Aquatic Nurseries website as well. www.floridaaquatic.com/news .
Karen’s interests have expanded to include terrestrial enclosures, using both aquatic and terrestrial plants in terrariums, vivariums, and paludariums. These lovely enclosures have gained headway around her home! She has started a sister website for this side of the hobby, though this site is still very much a work in progress. www.glassjungles.net.
We will also have our usual meeting activities. You may bring any fish or plants you are submitting for the BAP or HAP for auction. You may also bring up to 3 lots for a Buck-a-Bag auction. We plan to have refreshments, a raffle and a short business meeting as well.
The address of our Wednesday meeting is 19 Mohawk Drive, Riverside, Rhode Island. Mohawk Drive is directly off of Rt 114, the Wampanoag Trail in Riverside. Route 114 is a divided road at the entrance to Mohawk Road. If you are coming from the North you need to go past it to the next turnaround, which is on the left just past the "Welcome to Barrington" Sign. After you turn around, Mohawk Road will be on your right a short distance past the "Anchor Bay Assisted Living" sign. There is a Blue and White sign at the entry of Mohawk Road for the Riverside Sportsmans Association. The building is at the end of the road.