Articles

In the June 20th, 2025, edition of the garden’s Newsletter1, I wrote about a compelling systematic review and meta-analysis out of the United Kingdom by Wood, Barton, and Wicks2 of 11 social and therapeutic horticulture studies that together quantitatively showed large and statistically significant treatment group effect size differences relative…

There are many telltale signs that fall has finally arrived in Gainesville. The students have returned to campus, the football season is well underway and most mornings are not quite as hot and humid. For those of us who love camellias another obvious sign of the return of fall is…

Greetings all, and welcome to this issue of The Wilmot Botanical Gardens newsletter.  I begin with a broad statement: There is always something to look forward to.  If a lifetime of being involved with horticulture and gardens has taught me anything, it is this.  We are all looking forward to…

For this issue, I have asked Mark Jakubowycz and Cameron McMullen, who are both horticultural therapy interns with us this fall, to tell you a bit about themselves. They are both finishing the Certificate in Horticultural Therapy at UF and bring a lot of creativity, energy, and community-building strength to…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s NHANES report dated April 16, 2025, revealed that the prevalence of depression in the U.S. has increased by 60% over the past decade.  Similarly, the 2024 American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll found that 43% of adults felt more anxious than…

I was near the Japanese Maple Garden picking the Spanish moss from a podocarpus (Podocarpus macrophyllus) recently when a couple of ladies stopped to talk. One of them said, “He’s cleaning the moss off the tree?!” I laughed and told them I was indeed and that it was relaxing to…

For this issue, I have asked Sam Kaplan, one of our horticultural therapy interns and volunteer extraordinaire, to share his experiences at the Garden. Sam has given so much to the therapeutic horticulture program – not just his time, commitment, and energy, but also his extensive plant knowledge and positive,…

Greetings and welcome to this issue of the Wilmot Botanical Gardens newsletter.  Spring has come and gone, with its splash of color and the renewed urgency of leaves and shoots returning.  Now we settle in for what some come to dread—summer in Gainesville.  Some cope with the heat by decamping…

In this director’s message I am pleased to share with you some exciting news regarding steps that are being taken to guarantee the future of the Wilmot Botanical Gardens. In the fall of 2023 a detailed sustainability plan was formulated with the support of Dr. David Nelson, the Executive Vice-President…

People all over the world profess the physical and psychological benefits of gardening and interacting with plants.  Given the magnitude of such a vast body of anecdotal support for the therapeutic benefits of engaging in plant-focused activities, there remains limited scientific evidence for the physiological and psychological bases of said…