Hello all, This has been a long time question/problem, and one that many museums have argued over. As Tony pointed out Anthrenus, a museum pest species, will be attracted to specific flowers. Tom Strang once recommended that only "pesticide-perfect" plants be allowed in - that is cut flowers/plants from approved greenhouses. These are flowers that have been raised with a systemic pesticide designed to keep bugs away. Also that means NO wildflowers or home grown garden flowers. Other considerations: 1. Plants with a lot of pollen or nectar should not be allowed, or their stamen be removed. These should not be allowed near the art work. Flowers like lilies will drop their pollen, which will cause staining, or have the nectar drip. One museum I work with set the standard that flower arrangements (they had as "Spring Fling") with lilies either had the stamen removed or were sprayed with hair spray (it worked). 2. All plant and flower arrangements be examined upon entry to make sure there were no bugs. This included Christmas trees. 3. Plants that are sick, dying or dead, must be removed immediately. If there is an event with floral arrangements - no arrangements remain overnight. Sick plants attract bugs - who may or may not be museum pests, and will provide a food source for museum pests. 4. Live potted plants - These are a big challenge. They need to be watered regularly introducing water to the museum environment- and increases the likelihood of water damage, and mold. If they get sick they will attract mites, and other insects. Dirt provides harborage to both insects and mice (yea - I have seen this). Nice silk plants are a much better solution.
If there is no other solution than having live plants or cut flowers then manage as best as you can. 1. Examine all plants, and dirt on entry 2. If there is dirt, make sure that it has been sterilized (heated to 150 degrees for an hour or 2) 3. Set a safe distance from the art work/objects so that plant/flower maintenance will not increase risk of water damage. 4. Set a standard of removing pants as soon as exhibition is done, as soon as the event is done. 5. Set traps to monitor for insects - use blunder/sticky traps. 6. Keep your eye on the plants - if they look ill - get rid of them! Flower displays and plants do pose a risk to collections and exhibitions. Flower displays in museums and historic houses can be managed. If possible eliminate cut flowers and live plants. But this is not always possible, so then put procedures in place to manage that risk. Thanks for letting me ramble on and good luck. Gretchen Anderson Conservator Carnegie Museum of Natural History 5800 Baum Blvd. Pittsburgh, PA 15213 [email protected] (412)665-2607 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Casey Mallinckrodt Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 9:58 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [PestList] Re: Risk of flower displays Hello All. This has been a fraught question at the Wadsworth Atheneum and focused on a curatorial [request] to install live plants to compliment an exhibit. I agreed with stipulations --the plants very carefully sourced and quarantined for a month before installing, and insect-specific traps installed with the plants and some removed during public hours. Nits and drain flies appeared immediately then Covid closed the museum and I was no longer able to examine the plants though was told they were removed. A long standing flower committee is asked to comply with basic constraints: no containers that could house insects, only florist specific cut plants and foliage, daily monitoring, regular turn-over, and no flowers in gallery spaces. Potted plants are not allowed. I have not observed any insects to date. In addition to the information in this very helpful thread I'd like lo know how museums with installations of plants manage this. The Wadsworth does not have a horticulturalist or gardener on staff so conservation oversees. I'm grateful to have missed the 1960's one-day installation of ducks in the interior pool (now empty of water). Casey Mallinckrodt Casey Mallinckrodt, Object Conservator Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art 600 Main St. Hartford CT 06103 (c) 917 796 2857 [email protected] [email protected] ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Stephan Biebl <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 9:14:02 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [PestList] AW: Risk of flower displays Hi Mike, in addition to Tony and Richard, i would say the same. This depends of the building and the objects of the exhibition and should be considered with a risk management according to IPM. For example: Domestic cut flowers during the wintertime, should have not Anthrenus beetles on the flowers. So the risk is higher during spring or summertime to get a problem. I think you may find some written information for your statement in one of different IPM-handbooks, https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fMuseumPests.com&c=E,1,o-wYhNMvSk9UaHooFuyYMJVYDjDoXW3OLol6zflMdeI5Qr0c-x2VYLEEevWkldv3LQIgtqicyWMtsCFkFL9DYyZZvrn5SWocFZYtCzVw&typo=1 or proceedings of IPM-conferences like London, Vienna, Paris or Stockholm. Best Stephan Consultant Benediktbeuern, Germany Von: [email protected] <[email protected]> Im Auftrag von Mike van der Steenhoven Gesendet: Dienstag, 7. Juli 2020 13:18 An: [email protected] Betreff: [PestList] Risk of flower displays Hi All, Currently we have a discussion within our team about cut flowers on display in, and near our exhibition halls. There have been flowers there for a while and we never had any problems, until a week ago. A bug crawled away from one of the bouquets, but we could not catch it. The question is; what is the risk level of pests on flower display. One side thinks the risk is negligible low, the other side would like to replace the flowers with something non organic. I cannot find any examples or studies to make a substantiated statement about either side. Can somebody help? With thanks for any advice you can offer, Mike van der Steenhoven Coordinator Collections Management +31(0) 6 21 82 38 79 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Mauritshuis Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Royal Picture Gallery [We zijn open. Welkom terug!]<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mauritshuis.nl%2fnl-nl%2fbezoek%2fplan-uw-bezoek%2fveilig-bezoek-aan-het-mauritshuis%2f&c=E,1,npyAU92YE2Ff-adGXrK21H2o6ddU7r4wwMuvyZZ4pZp3Fof5myJZrcHja4IJs7ShVcrXqw0Xj5Fey4dl-j6zMO1iNpUShAKDsb6w-er3b2Yk-757jzs6Wazf4A,,&typo=1> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. 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