Public gardens are in the forefront of organizations committed to promoting the conservation of plants and their habitats, developing sustainable environmental management practices, and providing green spaces where urban residents can reconnect with the natural world. In a Chats in the Stacks book talk presented at Mann Library on September 15, 2011, Donald Rakow, the Elizabeth Newman Wilds Director of Cornell Plantations and Director of the Cornell Graduate Program in Public Garden Leadership, talks about his latest book, Public Garden Management, co-authored with Sharon Lee, editor of the journal Public Garden and former deputy director of the American Public Gardens Association. Rakow describes the diversity of public gardens that can be found in North America, their essential qualities and the ways that public gardens are, now more than ever, playing a vital role in improving the quality of our lives and preserving biodiversity on our planet.