Garden City botanical artist Rose Pellicano was chosen to participate in a special exhibition “Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World.” Her painting of a Fothergilla Major, a rare shrub endangered in its native habitat of the Southern Appalachians , is included in this special project of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Through the efforts of botanists, conservationists and botanical artists whose paintings document the fragile nature of these threatened plants the public is made aware of the importance of plants in our lives and the need to preserve their habitat. Rose Pellicano, a long standing member of the ASBA, is a teacher of botanical painting at Old Westbury Gardens and the Community Club of Garden City. She is also affiliated with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Florilegium Society which consists of a select group of artists from all over the country who are documenting the special plant collections of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The opening reception was held at the Missouri Botanical Garden on October 5, 2009 and the show will travel to the Chicago Botanical Garden January 16 -April 11, The New York Botanical Garden May 6-July 25, the National Museum of Natural History - The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. August 14 - December 10. A beautiful catalog of the paintings in the exhibition is available through the American Society of Botanical Artists, 212 -691-9080.