Exploring Careers at Public Gardens: A Long-term Evaluation of The Morton Arboretum Public Horticulture Internship

A long-term evaluation of The Morton Arboretum’s Public Horticulture Internship Program was conducted. Of the 33 alumni of the internship between 2003 and 2019, 22 were contacted and asked to complete a survey and semistructured interview. Fourteen responded, representing interns who completed the program since 2003 though skewed somewhat toward more recent graduates. Results portrayed a well-received program that was generally effective in its goals. Forty-six percent of respondents were currently working in public gardens, including several in high-level administrative and leadership positions. Some that were not currently in the field pursued employment at public gardens, but were unsuccessful due to residing too far from a public garden, lack of available positions, failure to meet credential requirements of entry-level positions, or inability to earn a starting salary meeting their expectations. Others pursued adjacent green industry careers including environmental journalism or consulting. All respondents commented that the program provided effective exposure to public horticulture and careers at public gardens, although could be somewhat fast paced and overwhelming.

Adolescent Involvement at Public Horticulture Institutions

While public gardens typically offer educational programming for adults and elementary school–aged children, many institutions struggle with serving the teenage audience. This study gathered information on the institutional benefits, challenges, and strategies of offering successful programming for youth aged 13–19 years. Institutional members of the American Public Gardens Association were surveyed, followed by case study research at two large institutions and phone interviews with three smaller institutions. Seven institutional benefits emerged, the three foremost being building relationships with new audiences, building interest in horticulture, and supporting the institution's mission and growth. In addition, seven potential challenges were identified, most notably funding, staff time, and adolescent interest. Seven overarching strategies also emerged, highlighting the areas of high quality staff, curriculum, partnerships, youth decision-making, compensation, engaging activities, and evaluation.

DEVELOPING AN INITIAL PLAN FOR A CENTER IN PUBLIC HORTICULTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

Universities are attempting to enhance the quality of their academic and research endeavors as competition increases for students, faculty, and funding. To further its mission of providing excellence in education, research, and extension, the University of Delaware (UD) has created a number of Centers and Institutes devoted to providing leadership to a particular field of study. Because of its unique location in the “hotbed of public horticulture,” UD is interested in establishing an interdisciplinary Center in Public Horticulture. The objective of this study was to create an initial plan for a Center in Public Horticulture at UD outlining its mission, goals, objectives, structure, and function. The plan resulted from an internal environmental assessment of the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at UD, an external environmental assessment of the field of public horticulture, and an analysis of existing Centers and Institutes at UD. This qualitative study utilized surveys, interviews, and focus groups with selected internal and external stakeholders from academia, the green industry, government, and public gardens. Internal stakeholders, in the resulting data, emphasized the Center's role in engaging undergraduate and graduate students and conducting relevant research. External stakeholders indicated that the Center may also focus on providing continuing education or certification programs to public horticulture professionals. The research regarding existing Centers and Institutes produced a variety of recommendations regarding the Center's structure, governance, funding, research activities, and partnerships and collaborations.

Endowment Strategies for the University of Delaware Botanic Garden through Case Study Analysis

The University of Delaware Botanic Garden (UDBG), located in Newark, is in transition, moving from its initial founding as a public garden by dedicated faculty and a volunteer group to an organized and efficient entity with widely recognized achievements and reputation. To make this leap, UDBG is faced with the particular need for an endowment to fund its operations, staff, and collections to continue future success. An endowment will provide a steady source of monetary support to operate and maintain UDBG. This study was conducted to discover the best endowment strategies based on the experience of four other public gardens associated with universities. These interviews were compiled and compared. The resulting recommendations for UDBG are based on the following five areas: organizational structure, planning, current strategies, the endowment, and the donor. The insights into how all five of these areas affect endowments may also be beneficial to other university public horticulture entities seeking to build an endowment.

571 Undergraduate and Graduate Curriculum in Public Horticulture at The University of Tennessee

Students wanting to prepare for a career in public horticulture can now enroll in a new undergraduate and graduate curriculum at the Univ. of Tennessee. Beginning fall semester, 1999, students enrolled in the Dept. of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design (OHLD) can opt to follow the new Public Horticulture concentration in the ornamental horticulture and landscape design major. The Public Horticulture concentration was the result of a year-long curriculum revision that reflects growth in career options in horticulture. The goal of the Public Horticulture concentration is to prepare students for careers that promote horticulture and emphasize people and their education and enjoyment of plants. Such careers include director of a botanical garden, arboretum, or park; city or urban horticulturist; extension agent, teacher, educational director, or program coordinator; professional garden writer/editor or publication manager; horticulture therapist; public garden curator; and plant collections manager. The Public Horticulture concentration allows students to take a breadth of ornamental horticulture courses, five of which are specific to public horticulture, along with supporting course work in soils, entomology, plant pathology, and botany, while providing the opportunity for students to take electives in education, extension, public administration, grant writing, museology, psychology, information sciences, journalism, and management. Students also complete an internship for graduation and have the opportunity to work in the Univ. of Tennessee Inst. of Agriculture Gardens.

The Roles of the University of Tennessee Gardens in a Public Horticulture Teaching Program

The University of Tennessee's undergraduate and graduate public horticulture concentrations are new programs designed to prepare individuals for careers in public horticulture that emphasize people and their education and enjoyment of plants. These new programs could not exist without the educational resources of the university's gardens. The gardens play a variety of roles in supporting faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students in these programs. The gardens serve as an outdoor laboratory and classroom and provide on-campus opportunities for the following teaching and learning activities: plant identification; plant photography; garden design; plant use; garden maintenance internships; special problem topics (e.g., production of annual variety trials, planting and labeling trials, writing garden literature, and creating interpretive displays); mapping and cataloging plants; and garden writing. Only through a university-based garden could opportunities to engage students in such meaningful learning experiences occur providing them with the competitive edge for entering the public horticulture field.

Can Designers Work Horticulture Education into the Process of Public Horticulture?

A 5-acre neighborhood park in Longmont, Colo., was designed for a senior design class. A series of town meetings coordinated with special interest groups was used to develop the design. The first goal of the town meetings was to provide the community with a sense of ownership of the park. Park requirements included a protected wetland, recreational needs, and circulation to other parks and open space. The design integrated facilities placement, recreational equipment, bird viewing areas, a wetland interpretive walk, and ease of maintenance and accessibility. Input from the town meetings led to several design manipulations. Native vegetation was reclaimed with native forbs and grasses. The use of native plantings integrated into the design will be reviewed as will the input from the several groups. This will focus on the educational process and impact on the final document without a loss of integrity of the design.