North Carolina Association of County Agricultural Agents 2001 Annual State Meeting Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, Asheville June 26-28, 2001

North Carolina Arboretum

Contact Cliff Ruth for additional information.

This afternoon horticulture tour will take you to the campus of the beautiful North Carolina Arboretum. This facility is located in the heart of the Pisgah National Forest, between the Blue Ridge Parkway and the French Broad River (is that relative to the French Narrow River or the Spanish Lady River?). The 426-acre facility boasts miles of hiking and biking trails, a state-of-the art greenhouse, several gardens, and hundreds of natural ecosystems.

One of the gardens we will tour is the new Plant Professional Landscape Garden. This garden is the work of a partnership between three green industry associations; Blue Ridge Horticulture Association, NCAN and NCLA; the NC Arboretum and NC Cooperative Extension. The garden is a two-acre site located at the NC Arboretum to serve the needs of the ornamental industry in western North Carolina as well as adjacent states. It will be designed to include the 300+ specimen ornamental plants from the Certified Plant Professional exam as well as areas for most of the training/testing modules from the Certified Landscape Technician exam. The plan is to design the garden with adequate informational signs to allow all Arboretum visitors the opportunity to increase their plant identification abilities as well as to develop an understanding and appreciation for the value of the two certification programs.

The tour will allow you to get a first-hand introduction to a way we, as an agency, can achieve more through partnerships.