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Therapeutic Horticulture Program for Veterans Going Strong After Seven Years

In 2011, the Wilmot Botanical Gardens (WBG) redeveloped its mission to include patient care, research and education. Shortly thereafter, as part of this expanded initiative, the therapeutic horticulture (TH) program was launched in 2012 under the direction of master level horticultural therapist, Leah Diehl. The practice of TH is accepted…

Volunteer Spotlight: Sydney Byers

Sydney Byers is an undergraduate student at the University of Florida currently studying psychology on the pre-med educational track. On course to graduate in December, Sydney has been an active volunteer in the Wilmot Botanical Gardens for the past two years during her undergraduate studies. After graduation she plans to continue to…

Human Health & Plants Research: Lifestyle, Gardening, and Dementia

Dementia has been estimated to afflict about six million in the United States in 2018 and is projected to increase to 14 million by 2050. Worldwide, the economic cost of dementia is estimated to be approaching one trillion dollars annually while also creating devastating personal and family hardships.  Numerous studies…

From the Director’s Desk: Thoughts of a Weed Puller

In our May 2018 quarterly newsletter I announced that the University of Florida had made arrangements to acquire approximately 680 camellias from the former Gordy family garden located a short distance northwest of Ocala, Florida. In November of 2018 we began the enormous task of relocating these mature cultivars to…

Under the Glass: News from the Greenhouse

Greetings from the Greenhouse! Our spring programming is off to a great start, and we are happy to welcome a new group to the therapeutic horticulture program. This semester we started a women veterans group and it is a small but growing assemblage of wonderful women who are keen…

Volunteer Spotlight: Kathleen Violet Grey

In 2014, Kathleen Violet Grey and her husband, Michael Hitchcock, were visiting the UF Health Cancer Center for an appointment when they noticed an advertisement for a cancer patient program in the Therapeutic Horticulture Program at Wilmot Gardens. Grey, who was originally diagnosed with cancer in 2010, was intrigued. Having…

Under the Glass: News from the Greenhouse

The cool weather is rolling into town and the greenhouse is finally becoming a pleasant place to work! Our extended summer has tested the tenacity of both people and plants, and I’m glad to say that our therapeutic horticulture community has prevailed. The payoff is now many months in the…

From the Director’s Desk: Thoughts of a Weed Puller

What is in a name? Over the past 66 years the Wilmot Gardens has been in existence, it has gone through several name changes. When it was planned originally in 1950 following the death of Royal James “Roy” Wilmot, the originators of the gardens, that is the members of the…

ASD Program Update: Two Participants Pass the Certified Horticulture Professional Exam

Wilmot Gardens is proud to announce that two young scholars who completed the first cycle of the of ASD Job Skills Training Program at Wilmot Gardens, Amy Puccio and Eric Estores, have recently been awarded the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association’s (FNGLA) Certified Horticulture Professional (FCHP) designation. The FCHP…