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Under the Glass: News from the Greenhouse

Early last fall I wrote about one of our new therapeutic horticulture programs at WBG; this one for UF students with stress and anxiety. We received a grant from the Love IV Lawrence Foundation that enabled us to create this program and based on reports on mental health concerns…

Summer is for Flowers and Lush Growth

When the summer begins in Gainesville, many of our students go home for the summer break. The town empties out, and everything quiets down for a few months. But the garden is still growing and there are many tasks to accomplish. Thankfully, we have a good roster of volunteers, an…

Tips from the Plant Prop Shop: Micropropagation: Plant Test Tube Baby Technology

Most higher plants have the capacity to reproduce sexually leading to seed formation resulting in production of genetically different offspring. Plants also have the capacity to reproduce vegetatively resulting in plants having the same genetic composition (clones). Horticulturally, vegetative propagation allows for the efficient cloning of plants while retaining…

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

Since you received our last quarterly newsletter in early March of this year, there has been a great deal of activity at the Wilmot Botanical Gardens. I would like to share some of the highlights from those past three months. I am pleased to announce that in late March the…

Under the Glass: News from the Greenhouse

One of the reasons I love living in Florida is that I can garden and take walks outside year-round. There are many other states whose residents can benefit from nature and sunshine year-round; in fact, it’s been reported that only 1% of those living in Florida suffer from seasonal affective…

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

A key to the successful operation of the Wilmot Botanical Gardens is the conduct of routine maintenance including chores such as mowing, weeding, trimming or replacing dead plants and shrubs and keeping our irrigation system in operation. Occasionally, larger projects requiring a totally different skill set present themselves. One such…