Paper Trail Behind the Unsolved Liechtenstein Ducal Hat Mystery

Summary: The Liechtenstein ducal hat mystery has a paper trail in correspondence, drawing, inventories and wills that heads mystery-solvers to dead-ends.

Karl I (July 30, 1569-Feb. 12, 1627), first Prince of Liechtenstein, began his reign Dec. 20, 1608, and commissioned Daniel de Briers for the Liechtenstein ducal hat, which went missing in the 18th century: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Liechtenstein ducal hat mystery arises despite an avowal of unalterability and unattachability in the gouache inventory number 360 Sep. 1, 1756, annotating the "complete jewelry belonging to the Princely Liechtenstein Primogeniture."

Nothing bears the likeness of the Liechtenstein ducal hat except the gouache and the replica from 1976 in the Liechtenstein National Museum (Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum) in Vaduz. The replica captures the gouache's colors and configuration and celebrates the 70th birthday of Franz Joseph II (Aug. 16, 1906-Nov. 13, 1989), 15th prince of Liechtenstein. The drawing in opaque pigments ground in water and thickened with a binding agent displays the Liechtenstein ducal hat, the eldest-born's princely jewelry and descriptive text.

The gouache's exact exhibition of the headpiece's front encourages Liechtenstein ducal hat mystery-solvers to expect an extraction sometime, somewhere even though re-purposing exists as an outcome.

Gouache inventory number 360 fits diamonds, pearls and rubies onto the gold finial atop the velvet hat, the gold circlet and the front's eight gold standards.

Svenja's article in the blog Luxarazzi Sep. 5, 2014, gives Liechtenstein ducal hat gem and metal breakdowns as old pieces of gold jewelry and 23 pearls. It has 6 table-cut diamonds, 3.25 carats as 45 diamonds, 5.5 carats as 35 diamonds, 10 carats as 16 diamonds and 19 carats as 16 rubies. The book Lichtenstein: The Princely Collections by The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York identifies the Liechtenstein ducal hat's individual contributions and costs.

Gems in the possession of Liechtenstein ducal hat commissioner Prince Karl I (July 30, 1569-Feb. 15, 1627) joined those in the Herzogshut ("ducal hat") creator's collection.

Daniel de Briers, art dealer and jeweler for the Habsburg imperial court, kept in Prague hardstones and rock crystals purchased from the imperial Kunstkammer ("curiosity cabinet").

Princely archives listed paying 4,500 florins in May and June 1626 to Jobst von Brüssel (died 1635) and 9,000 florins Sep. 7, 1626, to de Briers. Habsburg imperial court goldsmith Gottfried Nick (died 1640) made the Liechtenstein ducal hat frame in Frankfurt-am-Main and moved it to Prague for 27 florins 30 kreutzer. Completion needed Frankfurt-am-Main-based crown case-maker and cutler Martin Jürgen, furrier Lorenz Hainrich, hat-maker Adam Michael, hat-trimmer Mathes Gabriel, purse-maker Hans Berckman and velvet case-maker Anselmo Sardati.

De Briers operated as Habsburg imperial court jeweler in Frankfurt-am-Main even as his Netherlands-born brother-in-law, von Brüssel, operated as court jeweler in Prague to three emperors.

The documents that pertain to the Liechtenstein ducal hat commission and completion in the princely archives preserve total estimated expenditures at over 16,000 florins or gelders.

Absence of the Herzogshut from the first nine reigning princes' portraits qualifies as big a mystery as absence of the Liechtenstein ducal hat from entailed collections. The 27.5- by 18.875- (69.8- by 48-centimeter) pencil, pen and ink and gouache on vellum recalls the expensive, extensive efforts relating to the Liechtenstein ducal hat. Perhaps the Herzogshut's significance stopped when its commissioner's direct male line stopped, despite the gouache stating crown jewelry "shall remain for all times unchanged and unaltered."

Who took the Herzogshut without telling whether the Liechtenstein ducal hat turned into melted metal, recut gems and retailored velvet after temporary turbulence among competing heirs?

A replica of the Luxembourg ducal hat, presented by the people of Liechtenstein to Prince Franz Joseph II on his 70th birthday August 1976, is displayed in Vaduz's Liechtenstein National Museum; (left to right): Countess Georgina von Wilczek and her husband, Prince Franz Joseph II; Countess Marie Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau and her husband, Hans-Adam, now 16th Prince of Liechtensten: Luxarazzi @ Luxarazzi, via Facebook Nov. 13, 2014

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Karl I (July 30, 1569-Feb. 12, 1627), first Prince of Liechtenstein, began his reign Dec. 20, 1608, and commissioned Daniel de Briers for the Liechtenstein ducal hat, which went missing in the 18th century: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Karl_I_v_Liechtenstein.jpg

(left to right) Countess Georgina von Wilczek and her husband, Prince Franz Joseph II; Countess Marie Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau and her husband, Hans-Adam, now 16th Prince of Liechtenstein: Luxarazzi @Luxarazzi, via Facebook Nov. 13, 2014, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=836522963034742

For further information:

Dotson, Samuel C. 2003. Genealogie des Fürstlichen Hauses Liechtenstein Seit Hartmann II (1544-1585). Falköping Sweden: Rosvall Royal Books.

Kräftner, Johan; Isabel Kuhl eds. 2004. Liechtenstein Museum: The Princely Collections. Prestel Museum Guides. Munich, Germany; London, England; New York, NY: Prestel.

Liechtenstein: The Princely Collections. New York NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=A1f7lsIFyu0C&pg=PA31&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Luxarazzi @Luxarazzi. 13 November 2014. "25 years ago today, Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein died just weeks after his wife, Princess Gina." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=836522963034742

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 August 2018. "Liechtenstein Ducal Hat Unsolved Mystery Since the 18th Century." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/liechtenstein-ducal-hat-unsolved.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 August 2018. "Liechtenstein Ducal Hat Mystery: Collateral Lines, Competing Heirs." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/lichtenstein-ducal-hat-mystery.html

Svenja. 5 September 2014. "Luxarazzi 101: The Ducal Hat of Liechtenstein." Luxarazzi.
Available @ http://www.luxarazzi.com/2014/09/luxarazzi-101-ducal-hat-of-liechtenstein.html

Wilhelm, Gustav. 1960. "Der historische Liechtensteinische Herzogshut." Jahrbuch des Historischen Vereins für das Fürstentum Liechtenstein 60: 7-20.
Available via Liechtensteinische Landesbibliothek @ http://www.eliechtensteinensia.li/viewer/image/000000453_60/9/LOG_0006/

2018 Alpha Aurigid Meteor Shower Peaks Saturday, Sept. 1

Summary: The 2018 Alpha Aurigid meteor shower peaks Saturday, Sept. 1, and lasts through Monday, Sept. 10.

Aurigid meteor shower outburst as observed at 47,000 feet; Saturday, Sep. 1, 2007: Jérémie Vaubaillon, Caltech, NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

With a start date of Saturday, Aug. 25, the 2018 Alpha Aurigid meteor shower peaks Saturday, Sept. 1, and continues through Monday, Sept. 10.

The Alpha Aurigids’ name reflects the meteor shower’s radiant, or apparent point of origin, in Auriga the Charioteer constellation. Robert Lunsford, American Meteor Society’s weekly Meteor Activity Outlook columnist, places the radiant in central Auriga, three degrees west of Nu Aurigae (ν Aurigae; Nu Aur, ν Aur) and Tau Aurigae (τ Aurigae; Tau Aur, τ Aur). The close, starry pair’s location is three degrees northwest of Theta Aurigae (θ Aurigae; Tet Aur, θ Aur), Auriga’s third brightest star.

Theta Aurigae anchors the easternmost angle of Auriga’s distinctive pentagon. The binary star is northwest of Auriga’s brightest star, Alpha Aurigae (α Aurigae; Alpha Aur, α Aur). Known traditionally as Capella (Latin: “small female goat”), Capella shines as the Northern Celestial Hemisphere’s third brightest star.

The Charioteer’s location in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere encourages favorable visibility of the Alpha Aurigids for northern latitude observers. Rural observation sites at tropical southern latitudes, such as at 25 degrees south latitude, offer viewing possibilities for Southern Hemisphere watchers, though with a smaller number of shooting stars than at northern latitudes.

Lunsford advises that best viewing of central Auriga’s sky location happens in the last hour of pre-dawn darkness. At that hour the radiant has reached its highest placement, to the northeast, in the pre-twilight sky.

Earth’s moon distracts from easy viewing of the Alpha Aurigid meteor shower’s first week. A full moon greeted the shower’s opening night, Saturday, Aug. 25. A waning gibbous moon, at approximately 68 percent lunar surface visibility, lightens skies of peak night.

By the middle of the 2018 Aurigids' second week, however, the moon ceases to compete. The waning crescent phase downsizes from 25 percent visibility Wednesday, Sept. 5, to 8 percent visibility Friday, Sept. 7. The waning crescent’s illumination further decreases to 3 percent visibility Saturday, Sept. 8. The new phase’s invisibility finally takes over Sunday, Sept. 9, and Monday, Sept. 10.

The Alpha Aurigids classify as a minor meteor shower. American amateur astronomer Gary W. Kronk explains that a minor meteor shower displays minor, not major, activity. Aurigid peak generally ranges from two to five meteors per hour.

Intermittent, increased activity, known as outbursts, are associated with the Alpha Aurigids. Outbursts in the 20th century have been observed in 1935, 1986, 1994 and 2007.

Outbursts of approximately 30 meteors per hour in 1935 led to independent, same-night discoveries of the Alpha Aurigids by first German, and then Czech, astronomers. On the night of Saturday, Aug. 31, to Sunday, Sept. 1, for over six hours, beginning at around 9 p.m., Cuni Hoffmeiser (Feb. 2, 1892-Jan. 2, 1968) and Artur Teichgraeber at the Sonneberg Observatory in Sonneberg, Thuringia, east central Germany, tracked Alpha Aurigid meteors. At Stefanik Observatory in central Prague, central western Czech Republic, Czech Astronomical Society members A. Vratnik, J. Vlcek and J. Stepanek observed the outburst, beginning at 9:31 p.m.

The Alpha Aurigid meteor shower claims comet C/1911 N1 (Keiss) as parent body. American astronomer Carl Clarence Keiss (Oct. 18, 1887-Oct. 16, 1967) is credited with discovering comet Keiss July 6, 1911, at Northern California’s Lick Observatory, sited on the Diablo Range’s Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara County. He made his discovery via a plate taken the morning of Thursday, July 6, with the Crocker Photographic Telescope.

Alpha Aurigid meteors shoot swiftly across the sky. Particles enter Earth’s atmosphere at a velocity of 67 kilometers per second (about 42 miles per second).

The shower’s particles move swiftly across Earth’s skies. Particles assume a swift velocity of 37 miles per second (60 kilometers per second). Their entry velocity exceeds that of August’s prolific Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids’ shooting stars race into Earth’s atmosphere at a velocity of about 60 kilometers per second (about 37 miles per second).

The takeaways for the 2018 Alpha Aurigid meteor shower that spans Saturday, Aug. 25, to Monday, Sept. 10, are that the minor shower peaks Saturday, Sept. 1, favors Northern Hemisphere watchers and offers intermittent outbursts.

The Aurigids meteor shower annually associates with late August and early September; EarthSky @EarthSky, via Facebook Sep. 1, 2013

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Aurigid meteor shower outburst as observed at 47,000 feet over Santa Clara County, Northern California; Saturday, Sep. 1, 2007, by 24 researchers aboard two Gulfstream V aircraft for NASA’s Aurigid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign (Aurigid MAC): Jérémie Vaubaillon, Caltech, NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aurigids_-_Jeremie_Vaubaillon.jpg;
Public Domain, via NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day @ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070905.html

The Aurigids meteor shower annually associates with late August and early September; EarthSky @EarthSky, via Facebook Sep. 1, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/EarthSky/photos/a.61619521852.81951.36709031852/10151534234991853/

For further information:

Byrd, Deborah. “You Might See Some Meteors in Early September.” EarthSky > Astronomy Essentials > Space. Sept. 1, 2013.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/aurigid-meteor-shower-peaks-before-dawn-september-1

EarthSky @EarthSky. “Debbie Adams posted this photo of an Aurigid meteor seen August 29, 2013 in Colorado. Thank you, Debbie. The shower is peaking this morning, September 1. Possible 14-20 meteors/hr.” Facebook. Sept. 1, 2013.br /> Available @ https://www.facebook.com/EarthSky/photos/a.61619521852.81951.36709031852/10151534234991853/

Einarsson, Sturla; and W.F. (William Ferdinand) Meyer. “Elements and Ephemeris of Comet b (1911) Kiess.” Lick Observatory Bulletin,vol. VI (1910-1911), no. 198 (July 21, 1911): 139. Berkeley, CA: The University Press, 1911.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015086799452?urlappend=%3Bseq=194

Espenak, Fred. "Phases of the Moon: 2001 to 2100." Astro Pixels > Ephemeris > Moon > Six Millennium Catalog of Phases of the Moon > Moon Phases in Common Era (CE).
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/phasescat/phases2001.html

Harbaugh, Jennifer. “Look Up! Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Aug. 11-12.” NASA > Solar System and Beyond > All Topics A-Z > Meteors & Meteorites > Watch the Skies. Aug. 2, 2016.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/perseid-meteor-shower-aug11-12.html

Jenniskens, Peter. “Aurigid Shower Dazzles Airborne Observers.” Space.com > Search for Life. Sept. 13, 2007.
Available @ https://www.space.com/4337-aurigid-shower-dazzles-airborne-observers.html

Jenniskens, Peter. Meteor Showers and Their Parent Comets. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Jenniskens, Peter; and Jérémie Vaubaillon. “Predictions for the Aurigid Outburst of 2007 September 1.” In: J.M. Trigo-Rodriguez, F.J.M. Rietmeiger, J. Llorca and D. Janches, eds., Advances in Meteoroid and Meteor Science: 157-167. New York NY: Springer Science+Business Media BV.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y3POvMXDcgC

Jenniskens, Peter. “Strange Lights: The 2007 Aurigid Meteor Shower.” NASA Science > Science News > Science @NASA. Aug. 8, 2007.
Available @ https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/08aug_aurigids/

Keiss, Carl Clarence. “Discovery and Observations of Comet b, 1911 (Kiess).” Lick Observatory Bulletin,vol. VI (1910-1911), no. 198 (July 12, 1911): 138. Berkeley, CA: The University Press, 1911.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015086799452?urlappend=%3Bseq=193

Kippax, John R. The Call of the Stars: A Popular Introduction to a Knowledge of the Starry Skies. New York NY; London, England: The Knickerbocker Press, 1914.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/callofstarspopul00kipprich

Kronk, Gary W. “Alpha Aurigids.” Meteor Showers Online > Meteor Shower Calendar > September.
Available @ http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/alpha_aurigids.html

Kronk, Gary W.. “Minor Meteor Showers.” Meteor Showers Online.
Available @ http://meteorshowersonline.com/minor_meteor_showers.html

Luciuk, Mike. “Meteor Showers.” Amateur Astronomers, Inc. > Public Talks > Tutorials. Last modified Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013.
Available @ http://www.asterism.org/tutorials/tut36%20Meteor%20Showers.pdf

Lunsford, Robert. Meteors and How to Observe Them. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. New York NY: Springer Science+Business Media, 2009.

Lunsford, Robert. “Meteor Activity Outlook for August 26-September 1, 2017.” American Meteor Society > Meteor Showers. Aug. 24, 2017.
Available @ https://amsmeteors.org/2017/08/meteor-activity-outlook-for-august-26-september-1-2017/

Lunsford, Robert. “Meteor Activity Outlook for September 2-8, 2017.” American Meteor Society > Meteor Showers. Aug. 30, 2017.
Available @ https://www.amsmeteors.org/2017/08/meteor-activity-outlook-for-september-2-8-2017/

Marriner, Derdriu. "Auriga the Charioteer Claims Capella as Night’s Sixth Brightest Star." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/10/auriga-charioteer-claims-capella-as.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Big Dipper Bowl Pointer Stars Lead to Auriga Constellation and Capella." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/10/big-dipper-bowl-pointer-stars-lead-to.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Goat Kids Asterism Triangulates Near Golden Capella in Auriga." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/11/goat-kids-asterism-triangulates-near.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Perseid Meteor Shower Continues Through Late August.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/perseid-meteor-shower-continues-through.html

“Meteor Shower Calendar.” American Meteor Society > Meteors.
Available @ https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/

Nemiroff, Robert; and Jerry Bonnell. “Aurigids From 47,000 Feet.” NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). Sept. 5, 2007.
Available @ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070905.html

Phillips, Tony, Dr. “Strange Lights: The 2007 Aurigid Meteor Shower.” NASA Science > Science News > Science @NASA. Aug. 8, 2007.
Available @ https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/08aug_aurigids/

Rendtel, Jürguen. “The α-Aurigid Meteor Shower.” WGN, vol. 18, no. 3 (June 1990): 81-84.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service) @ http://adsbit.harvard.edu/full/seri/JIMO./0018//0000081.000.html
Available via IMO @ https://www.imo.net/publications/wgn/

Society for Popular Astronomy. “2018 Alpha Aurigids and September Perseids.” Society for Popular Astronomy > Meteor Home > Minor Showers.
Available @ https://www.popastro.com/main_spa1/meteor/2018-alpha-aurigids-and-september-perseids/

Teplicsky, Istvan. “The Maximum of the Aurigids in 1986.” WGN, vol. 15, no. 1 (February 1987): 28-29.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service) @ http://adsbit.harvard.edu/full/seri/JIMO./0015//0000028.000.html
Available via IMO @ https://www.imo.net/publications/wgn/

Zay, George; and Robert Lunsford. “On a Possible Outburst of the 1994 α-Aurigids.” WGN, Bimonthly Journal of the International Meteor Organization, vol. 22, no. 6 (December 1994): 224-226.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1994JIMO...22..224Z
Available via IMO @ https://www.imo.net/publications/wgn/

Gretel Urban Designed Costumes for Newly Staged Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Summary: Gretel Urban designed costumes for the debut of a new staging of Offenbach's Les Contes d’Hoffmann in the Metropolitan Opera's 1924-1925 season..

Gretel Urban designed costumes and her father, Joseph Urban, designed sets for the Metropolitan Opera’s second of six new productions of Jacques Offenbach’s “opéra fantastique": The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook July 6, 2017

Gretel Urban designed costumes for the newly staged Les Contes d’Hoffmann by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819-Oct. 5, 1880) for the Metropolitan Opera’s 1924-1925 season.

Opening night for the new production was Nov. 13, 1924. The Metropolitan Opera Archives Database records nine performances for the season.

Viennese stage director Wilhelm von Wymetal Sr. (1862-Nov. 11, 1937) directed the new production. Gretel’s father, Austrian-American architect, illustrator and set designer Joseph Urban (May 26, 1872-July 10, 1933), designed the settings.

Music critic Oscar Thompson (Oct. 10, 1887-July 3, 1945) lauded the newly staged Les Contes d’Hoffmann. “After a sleep of ten seasons, Offenbach’s ‘Tales of Hoffmann’ was sung once more at the Metropolitan Opera House on the evening of Nov. 13 before an immense audience,” he stated in a review in the Nov. 22, 1924, issue of Musical America.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann numbered as the tenth collaboration between Gretel and her father. Gretel designed costumes for 18 productions in her almost 13-year career at the Metropolitan Opera. She collaborated with her father on 17 productions.

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Guillaume Tell by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868) was the only production on which Gretel worked without her father. Guillaume Tell, which premiered Jan. 5, 1923, at Met Opera, was Gretel’s eighth costume production.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann represented Gretel’s second of nine productions directed by von Wymetal. She first appeared on his design team for the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Thaïs by Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912) for the 1922-1923 season.

Gretel’s last Met Opera costumes were designed for the opera house’s 1927-1928 new production of Hänsel und Gretel by German composer Engelbert Humperdinck (Sept. 1, 1854-Sept. 27, 1921). Opening night was Nov. 5, 1927. Wilhelm von Wymetal directed the production. Gretel’s father designed the sets.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann opened as a Metropolitan Opera premiere Jan. 11, 1913. Jules Speck, who was the Metropolitan Opera's stage manager for French and Italian operas, directed the premiere production. Burghart & Co. designed the sets. Italian designer Attilio Giuseppe de Comelli von Stuckenfeld (1858-Sept. 8, 1925), known as Attilio Comelli, costumed the premiere production. The last performance of Speck’s production took place April 27, 1915.

Including the 1913 premiere and the 1924 new production, the Metropolitan Opera has launched six productions of Les Contes d’Hoffmann. The third production replaced the 1924 staging 31 years later, debuting Nov. 14, 1955. Australian screen, stage and television actor and director Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (Dec. 1, 1898-Dec. 18, 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, directed the third production. Production designs were conceived by German-American artist and designer Rolf Gérard (Aug. 9, 1909-Nov. 19, 2011). The third production’s last performance occurred April 17, 1971.

The fourth production debuted Nov. 29, 1973. American director Bliss Hebert marked his Metropolitan Opera debut as the production’s director. American costume and scenic designer Allen Charles Klein was the fourth production’s designer. The fourth production’s performances did not extend past the 1973-1974 season.

The fifth production debuted March 8, 1982. Austrian actor and opera and theater director Otto Schenk directed the production. His production team included German-Austrian stage designer Günther Schneider-Siemssen (June 7, 1926-June 2, 2015) as set designer and Gaby Frey as costume designer. The fifth production’s last performance happened Jan. 8, 2005.

The sixth and current production debuted Dec. 3, 2009. American theater director Barlett Sher is the production director. His production team includes Michael Yeargan as set designer and Catherine Zuber as costume designer.

The takeaways for Gretel Urban’s costume designs for the newly staged Les Contes d’Hoffmann during Metropolitan Opera’s 1924-1925 season are that the Austrian-American costumer was involved in her tenth Met Opera production and that the new production revitalized Offenbach’s “opéra fantastique” as a recurring fixture in Met Opera’s active repertoire.

Gretel Urban’s designs for the Chorus, Act II, Les Contes d’Hoffmann: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter July 6, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Gretel Urban designed costumes and her father, Joseph Urban, designed sets for the Metropolitan Opera’s second of six new productions of Jacques Offenbach’s “opéra fantastique": The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook July 6, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10159091443910533

Gretel Urban’s designs for the Chorus, Act II, Les Contes d’Hoffmann: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter July 6, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/883014149462216704;
The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook July 6, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10159091435920533/; via Facebook July 6, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159091435920533&set=a.134969600532; via Facebook July 6, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10159091435920533/

For further information:

“Debut: Gretel Urban.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 76450 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Don Carlo {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/23/1920.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=76450

“Debuts: Thomas Chalmers, Pierre Monteux, Joseph Urban.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 67050 New production Faust {294} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 11/17/1917.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=67050

“Debuts: Paul Bender . . . Wilhelm von Wymetal.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 82040 Der Rosenkavalier {28} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 11/17/1922.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=82040

Fitzgerald, Gerald, ed. Annals of the Metropolitan Opera: The Complete Chronicle of Performances and Artists. Boston MA: G.K. Hall & Co.; New York NY: The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Inc., 1989.

Marriner, Derdriu. "Gretel Urban Designed Costumes for U.S. Turandot Premiere at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 30, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/gretel-urban-designed-costumes-for-us.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Joseph Urban Designed Sets for 10 Metropolitan Opera Premieres." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 13, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-10.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Joseph Urban Designed Sets for 14 U.S. Premieres at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 23, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-14-us.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Joseph Urban Designed Sets for 29 New Productions at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 20, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-29-new.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Joseph Urban Designed Sets for Two World Premieres at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 16, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/joseph-urban-designed-sets-for-two.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Mar-a-Lago Architect Joseph Urban Also Designed Sets at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 9, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/mar-lago-architect-joseph-urban-also.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Maria Jeritza Sang Title Role in U.S. Turandot Premiere at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 6, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/maria-jeritza-sang-title-role-in-us.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Metropolitan Opera’s Gallery Met Short for The Tales of Hoffmann.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 11, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/metropolitan-operas-gallery-met-short.html

McGillan, Jennifer. “Von Wymetal Family (1862-1970) Collection: Biographical Sketch, William (Wilhelm) von Wymetal Senior and Junior.” Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Web Space > Hunt Library > Arts > Music.
Available @ https://libwebspace.library.cmu.edu/arts/music/wymetal

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Available via Twitter @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/883014149462216704

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "#TBT to the 1924–25 production of Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Offenbach's spellbinding opera returns Sept 26 starring Vittorio Grigolo. Tickets: bit.ly/2tBOS09. Costumes by Gretel Urban / Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives." Facebook. July 6, 2017.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10159091435920533/
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159091435920533&set=a.134969600532
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10159091435920533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “#TBT to the 1924-25 production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Offenbach's spellbinding opera returns Sept 26 starring Vittorio Grigolo. Tickets: bit.ly/2tBOS09. Costumes by Gretel Urban / Courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives.” Facebook. July 6, 2017.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10159091443910533

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Nursery Production Systems for Successful Urban Tree Plantings

Summary: Three researchers at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst link high- or low-maintenance urban tree plantings to three nursery production systems.

Balled and burlapped (B&B) is a common method of nursery production with availability advantages and harvesting cost disadvantages: Forests Ontario @Forests.Ontario, via Facebook June 21, 2017

A successful urban tree planting program arises from the most appropriate nursery production systems and transplant location, installation and maintenance, according to an article in the August 2018 issue of Arborist News.

The article Nursery Production Systems and Their Impact on Urban Tree Growth and Development broaches container-grown (CG), field-grown root-ball-excavated burlap-wrapped (B&B) and field-grown bare-rooted (BR) trees. University of Massachusetts-Amherst Extension Assistant Professors Amanda Bayer and Richard Harper and graduate assistant Kelly Allen consider in-ground fabric (IGF) and pot-in-pot (PIP) containerized production systems. They describe plastic, rigid, traditional container-grown (CG) systems as detrimentally developing circling roots that decrease post-transplant anchorage, drought stress tolerance, nutrient uptake capacity and urban sustainability.

Traditional container-grown nursery production systems exhibit such improvements as appearance- and handling-friendly, circling root-unfriendly drainage holes, ribbed or stepped plastic and variable pyramidal and square shapes.

Circling root-prone, lightweight soilless growing media- and plastic-protected container-grown and injury-prone ball-and-burlap nursery production systems, when transplanted, respectively furnish 100 and 5 percent of original roots.

Air-pocketed, non-traditional, root tip-killing air-pruning containers generate fine root-branched biomass and side-shoots in red maple (Acer rubrum), little-leaf linden (Tilia cordata) and field elm (Ulmus minor). In-ground fabric containers have flexible versions with clear polyethylene bases and harbor the same density of roots at half the soil volume of ball-and-burlap root balls. In-ground fabric container-transplanted topal holly (Ilex x attenuata 'East Palatka') introduces abiotic stress and invites lower photosynthetic levels and needier irrigation than transplanted ball-and-burlap production systems.

Azalea (Rhododendron 'Hershey's Red') and privet honeysuckle (Lonicera pileata) juggle circling root-free, fine, fibrous roots after transplanting from in-ground fabric and traditional container-grown nursery production systems.

Fabric- and stepped-pyramid-container black willow (Salix nigra), golden rain-tree (Koelreuteria paniculata), Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla) and white pine (Pinus strobus) keep few traditional container-like circling roots.

Fabric, square and stepped-pyramidal container-grown azalea (Rhododendron), creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis), Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) and Japanese snowball (Viburnum plicatum) lodge few traditional container-like circling roots. Pot-in-pot container nursery production systems maintain plant material in plastic liners summer and winter temperature-buffered inside permanent in-ground socket containers even as they manage above-ground models. They necessitate high installation costs and sometimes nurture traditional container-like circling roots even though they nestle in against blow-over and wind-blown fertilizer, herbicide and substrate amendments.

Containerized nursery production systems offer opportunities to operate copper hydroxide root-growth regulators as chemical pruners against circling, malformed roots and for fine-root biomass and post-transplant sustainability.

Ball-and-burlap nursery production systems prompt post-transplant costs and schedules since harvesting pulls away the 30 percent of the total roots that they possess as fine-root biomass.

Field soil-retentive bare-root nursery production systems, as retainers of nutrient- and water-uptaking biomass, never queue up bare root-like quashed biomass or container-like pre- and post-harvest costs. They realize their optimal post-transplant urban sustainability in the dormant windows between springtime soil thaw and bud break and between autumnal leaf drop and soil freeze. They source maximum harvest sizes like ball-and-burlap, which shows superior root quality and swifter establishment than cheaper container-grown systems; and, without hydrogel root-dipping, maximum transportation-induced desiccation.

Ball-and-burlap, bare-root and container-grown nursery production systems with their respective fine-root desiccation and circling root tendencies, trigger respectively superior-rooted, water-tolerant and smaller-sized urban plantings.

The bare root (BR) nursery production system offers advantages of decreased cost and disadvantages of root desiccation during transport: layout/graphics by Violet Jones and Wendy Wirth in Nina Bassuk et al., Using CU-Structural Soil™ (2005): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to:
talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet;
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for superior on-campus and on-line resources.

Image credits:

Balled and burlapped (B&B) is a common method of nursery production with availability advantages and harvesting cost disadvantages: Forests Ontario @Forests.Ontario, via Facebook June 21, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/Forests.Ontario/posts/10155954975670839

The bare root (BR) nursery production system offers advantages of decreased cost and disadvantages of root desiccation during transport: layout/graphics by Violet Jones and Wendy Wirth in Nina Bassuk et al., Using CU-Structural Soil™ (2005): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:5Planting_Island_Detailx800.png

For further information:

Bassuk, Nina; Jason Grabosky; Peter Trowbridge; and James Urban. 1995. "Structural Soil: An Innovative Medium Under pavement that Improves Street Tree Vigor." Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences > Urban Horticulture Institute.
Available @ http://www.hort.cornell.edu/uhi/outreach/csc/article.html

Bassuk, Nina; Jason Grabosky; Peter Trowbridge; and James Urban. 2005. "Using CU-Structural Soil™ in the Urban Environment." Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences > Urban Horticulture Institute.
Available @ http://www.hort.cornell.edu/uhi/outreach/pdfs/custructuralsoilwebpdf.pdf

Forests Ontario @Forests.Ontario. 21 June 21 2017. "Balled and burlapped: how to go about planting a new tree." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/Forests.Ontario/posts/10155954975670839

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Harper, Richard W.; Kelly S. Allen; and Amanda L. Bayer. August 2018. "Nursery Production Systems and Their Impact on Urban Tree Growth and Development." Arborist News 27(4): 12-16.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 July 2018. "Tree Roots Branch in Fabric Containers But Circle and Girdle Plastic." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/tree-roots-branch-in-fabric-containers.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 June 2018. "Wood Decay Fungi Management of Terminal Urban Pathogens." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/wood-decay-fungi-management-of-terminal.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 May 2018. "Downtown Commercial Streetscape Tree Populations in Toronto, Canada." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/downtown-commercial-streetscape-tree.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 April 2018. “Mushroom-Forming and Non-Mushroom-Forming Fungal Life Cycle Traits.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/mushroom-forming-and-non-mushroom.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 March 2018. “Emerald Ash Borer Rapid Response Community Preparedness Project.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/emerald-ash-borer-rapid-response.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 February 2018. “Tree Retention by Arborists for Wildlife Habitat Friendly Tree Care.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/02/tree-retention-by-arborists-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 January 2018. “Integrated Vegetation Management Study in North and South Yukon, Canada.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/integrated-vegetation-management-study.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 December 2017. “Tree Inventories: Preemptive and Proactive or Piecemeal and Reactive.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/12/tree-inventories-preemptive-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 November 2017. “Chlorantraniliprole Reduced-Risk Insecticides Get Leaf-Eaters Not Bees.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/11/chlorantraniliprole-reduced-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 October 2017. “Palm Plant Health Care: Abiotic, Biotic Stress Culture and Management.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/palm-plant-health-care-abiotic-biotic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 September 2017. “Predawn Leaf Water Potentials Indicate Crown Dieback and Water Status.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/predawn-leaf-water-potentials-indicate.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 August 2017. “Palm Tree Identification and Pruning of Native and Naturalizable Palms.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/08/palm-tree-identification-and-pruning-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 July 2017. “Commonly Planted, Potentially Phytoremediating Street Tree Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/07/commonly-planted-potentially.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 June 2017. “Root Loss From Root Pruning and Root Shaving of Stem-Girdling Roots.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/06/root-loss-from-root-pruning-and-root.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 May 2017. “Age and Canopy Area Cost Less and Tell More in Urban Tree Inventories.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/age-and-canopy-area-cost-less-and-tell.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 April 2017. “Urban Root Management: Big Infrastructure, Small Space, Stressed Roots.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/04/urban-root-management-big.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 March 2017. “Flexural Elasticity Modulus: Trees and Watersprouts Bend or Break.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/flexural-elasticity-modulus-trees-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2017. “Plant Health Care Diagnostics When Plants and Places Wrong One Another.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/plant-health-care-diagnostics-when.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 January 2017. “Tree Fertilization for Fine Root Growth and Whole Root System Effects.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/tree-fertilization-for-fine-root-growth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 December 2016. “Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Low Maintenance Tree Health Care Programs.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/abiotic-and-biotic-stress-in-low.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 November 2016. “Organic Amendments to Compacted Degraded Urban Highway Roadsides.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/organic-amendments-to-compacted.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2016. “Tree Protection Zones by Arborists for All Construction Project Phases.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/10/tree-protection-zones-by-arborists-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 September 2016. “Stormwater Runoff Landscaping With Urban Canopy Cover and Groundcover.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/09/stormwater-runoff-landscaping-with.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2016. “Changing Places: Tree Nutrient Movement Down, Tree Water Movement Up.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/changing-places-tree-nutrient-movement.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 July 2016. “Treated or Untreated Oriental Bittersweet Vine Management Cut-Stumping.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/07/treated-or-untreated-oriental.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 June 2016. “Tree Injection Site Procedures: Manufacturer's Instructions and Labels.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/06/tree-injection-site-procedures.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 May 2016. “Electrical Utility Area Temperate Urban Street Trees: Pruned Regrowth.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/electrical-utility-area-temperate-urban.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 April 2016. “Tree Injection Methods: Treatment Option in Integrated Pest Management.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/04/tree-injection-methods-treatment-option.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 March 2016. “Bare-Rooted Ornamental Urban Transplants: Amendments Against Mortality.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/bare-rooted-ornamental-urban.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 February 2016. “Bark Protective Survival Mechanisms Foil Deprivation, Injury, Invasion.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/02/bark-protective-survival-mechanisms.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 January 2016. "LITA Model: Linear Index of Tree Appraisal of Large Urban Swedish Trees." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/lita-model-linear-index-of-tree.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 December 2015. “Tree Lightning Protection Systems: Site, Soil, Species True Designs.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/12/tree-lightning-protection-systems-site.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 October 2015. “Tree Lightning Protection Systems Tailored to Sites, Soils, Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/10/tree-lightning-protection-systems.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 August 2015. “Tree Friendly Urban Soil Management: Amend, Fertilize, Mulch, Till!” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/08/tree-friendly-urban-soil-management.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 June 2015. “Tree Friendly Urban Soil Management: Assemble, Assess, Assist, Astound.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/06/tree-friendly-urban-soil-management.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 April 2015. “Tree Wound Responses: Healthy Wound Closures by Callus and Woundwood.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/tree-wound-responses-healthy-wound.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 February 2015. “Urban Forest Maintenance and Non-Maintenance Costs and Benefits.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/urban-forest-maintenance-and-non.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 December 2014. “Tree Dwelling Symbionts: Dodder, Lichen, Mistletoe, Moss and Woe-Vine.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/12/tree-dwelling-symbionts-dodder-lichen.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 October 2014. “Tree Cable Installation Systems Lessen Target Impact From Tree Failure.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/10/tree-cable-installation-systems-lessen.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 August 2014. “Flood Tolerant Trees in Worst-Case Floodplain and Urbanized Scenarios.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/08/flood-tolerant-trees-in-worst-case.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 June 2014. “Integrated Vegetation Management of Plants in Utility Rights-of-Way.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/06/integrated-vegetation-management-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 April 2014. “Tree Twig Identification: Buds, Bundle Scars, Leaf Drops, Leaf Scars.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/04/tree-twig-identification-buds-bundle.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 February 2014. “Tree Twig Anatomy: Ecosystem Stress, Growth Rates, Winter Identification.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/tree-twig-anatomy-ecosystem-stress.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 December 2013. “Community and Tree Safety Awareness During Line- and Road-Clearances.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/community-and-tree-safety-awareness.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2013. “Chain-Saw Gear and Tree Work Related Personal Protective Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/chain-saw-gear-and-tree-work-related.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 October 2013. “Storm Damaged Tree Clearances: Matched Teamwork of People to Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/storm-damaged-tree-clearances-matched.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 August 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Damage Assessments: Pre-Storm Planned Preparedness.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/storm-induced-tree-damage-assessments.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Failures From Heavy Tree Weights and Weather Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/storm-induced-tree-failures-from-heavy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 April 2013. “Urban Tree Root Management Concerns: Defects, Digs, Dirt, Disturbance.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/04/urban-tree-root-management-concerns.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 February 2013. “Tree Friendly Beneficial Soil Microbes: Inoculations and Occurrences.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/tree-friendly-beneficial-soil-microbes.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 December 2012. “Healthy Urban Tree Root Crown Balances: Soil Properties, Soil Volumes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/healthy-urban-tree-root-crown-balances.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2012. “Tree Adaptive Growth: Tree Risk Assessment of Tree Failure, Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/tree-adaptive-growth-tree-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 August 2012. “Tree Risk Assessment Mitigation Reports: Tree Removal, Tree Retention?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/08/tree-risk-assessment-mitigation-reports.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 June 2012. “Internally Stressed, Response Growing, Wind Loaded Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/internally-stressed-response-growing.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 April 2012. “Three Tree Risk Assessment Levels: Limited Visual, Basic and Advanced.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-tree-risk-assessment-levels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Risk Ratings for Targets and Trees.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 December 2011. “Tree Risk Assessment: Tree Failures From Defects and From Wind Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/tree-risk-assessment-tree-failures-from.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2011. “Five Tree Felling Plan Steps for Successful Removals and Worker Safety.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-tree-felling-plan-steps-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2011. “Natives and Non-Natives as Successfully Urbanized Plant Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-and-non-natives-as-successfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 June 2011. “Tree Ring Patterns for Ecosystem Ages, Dates, Health and Stress.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tree-ring-patterns-for-ecosystem-ages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 April 2011. “Benignly Ugly Tree Disorders: Oak Galls, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Mold, Tar Spot.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/benignly-ugly-tree-disorders-oak-galls.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 February 2011. “Tree Load Can Turn Tree Health Into Tree Failure or Tree Fatigue.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/tree-load-can-turn-tree-health-into.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 December 2010. “Tree Electrical Safety Knowledge, Precautions, Risks and Standards.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-electrical-safety-knowledge.html