From "million-dollar landscapes" to weeds worth removing, Cornell Plantations addresses a range of horticultural topics with its fall 2000 series of Wednesday night lectures, beginning Sept. 6.

Highlights of the ten-lecture series, which continues through Nov. 8, are expected to be the 12th Annual Audrey Harkness O'Connor Lecture Sept. 13 and the 18th Annual William J. Hamilton Jr. Lecture Sept. 27.

All the lectures organized by Cornell Plantations, which maintains the botanical gardens, arboretum and natural areas of Cornell University, are free and open to the public. The series also is offered for college credit as Horticulture 480 at Cornell.

More information on the series is available by calling (607) 255-2407 or visiting the Cornell Plantations web site: http://www.plantations.cornell.edu/ .

• Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 5:30 p.m. in B-45 Warren Hall: "Nature and Memory: What I Believe," the 4th Annual William H. and Jane Torrence Harder Lecture by James McConkey, Cornell Goldwin Smith Professor of English Literature Emeritus.
• Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium, College of Veterinary Medicine: "The Role of Herbs in Modern Health Care," the 12th Annual Audrey Harkness O'Connor Lecture by Rob McCaleb, founding president of the Herb Research Foundation in Boulder, Colo. The co-author of The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs has traveled extensively in the United States, Asia and Africa to lecture on medicinal plants and the development of herbs as cash crops. The Herb Research Foundation conducts studies of natural products, their efficacy, safety and correct labeling.
• Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium: "The Greatest 19th Century Nursery in the World: Rochester's Mount Hope Nursery," by Paul Grebinger, professor of anthropology at Rochester Institute of Technology. o Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium: "Plants From the Dark Side: New Shade Loving Perennials," the 18th Annual William J. Hamilton Jr. Lecture by Troy Avent, owner of Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, N.C., as well as Juniper Level Botanical Gardens. The award-winning garden writer also is known as a hosta breeder and international plant explorer. The lecture series honors another international plant enthusiast, the late William J. Hamilton Jr., who was a professor of zoology at Cornell. The stated goal of Avent's nursery is "to offer the best, newest and strangest in non-invasive perennials to gardeners around the world."
• Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium: "Hardscape Harmony: Working with Plants and People" by Hames M. Chadwick, landscape architect from San Jose, Calif.
• Wednesday Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium: "Agroforestry: Farming Under the Forest Shade" by Louise Buck, senior extension associate, Department of Natural Resources at Cornell.
• Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium: "Million Dollar Landscapes:36 Years as a Long Island Nurseryman," the Class of 1938 Lecture by David E. Seeler, owner of Bayberry Nursery, Amagansett, N.Y.
• Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium: "Whimsy in the Garden: The Good, the Bad and the Unbelievable" by Felder Rushing, author and Mississippi Extension horticulturist. The lecture is co-sponsored with Ithaca Children's Garden and the Cornell Department of Horticulture.
• Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium: "Beautiful Bulbs: Past, Present and Future of an Industry" by William B. Miller, professor of horticulture at Cornell. Miller is the director of the Dutch Bulb Program in the United States, which moved to Cornell from North Carolina State University in 1998.
• Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium: "Invasive Plants: Protecting Our Gardens and Natural Areas" by Bernd Blossey, assistant professor of natural resources at Cornell. Blossey's research seeks biological controls for invasive plants such as purple loosestrife.