Alice Fulton, the award-winning poet, writer and professor of English at Cornell, will open the Cornell Plantations free Wednesday night lecture series with a Sept. 10 presentation, "Let the Barbaric Flowers Live: Nature and Poetry."

The 10-lecture series is free, open to the public and continues through Nov. 12. Other noted speakers will include herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, children's author Lynne Cherry and landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy.

Fulton's presentation, the seventh annual William H. and Jane Torrence Harder Lecture, will begin at 5:30 p.m. in B-45 Warren Hall. An outdoor gala featuring music, food and wine will follow.

All other lectures in the series are scheduled for Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the James Law Auditorium of Schurman Hall at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine. Free parking is available nearby. Cornell students may also attend the lectures as the one-credit course Horticulture 480. For more information, send e-mail to Kari Richards at ksu2@cornell.edu.

Other lectures in the Cornell Plantations series include:

• Sept. 17, the 15th annual Audrey Harkness O'Connor Lecture, "Planting the Future: Preserving Native Medicinal Plants," Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist, author and educator;
• Sept. 24, the Class of 1938 Lecture, "Children's Garden Books: Planting the Seeds of Change," Lynne Cherry, environmentalist, author and illustrator;
• Oct. 1, "Around the World in 80 Plants," Duncan Goodwin, Cornell graduate student in public garden management;
• Oct. 8, "Fun With Botanical Names," John Manion, Cornell graduate student in public garden management;
• Oct. 15, "Quaking Mats, Muck and Mire: Bog Walking in Western New York," Wayne Gall, regional entomologist, New York State Department of Health, Buffalo;
• Oct. 22: "Gardening for Birds," Stephen Kress, author and ornithologist, National Audubon Society;
• Oct. 29, "Genetic Engineering: Changing Our Food," Margaret Smith, associate professor, Department of Plant Breeding, Cornell;
• Nov. 5, "The Arbor of the Three Wheels: Building an Experimental Japanese Teahouse," Marc Keane, visiting assistant professor of landscape architecture; and
• Nov. 12, the 21st annual William J. Hamilton Jr. Lecture, "Inspired by Bach: Designing the Toronto Music Garden," Julie Moir Messervy, landscape and garden designer and award-winning author.

  In addition to its education programs, Cornell Plantations maintains the arboretum, botanical garden and natural areas of Cornell. More information is available at http://www.plantations.cornell.edu/ or by calling 255-2400.