From the days of John and William Bartram and Humphry Marshall to Longwood Gardens and the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, Philadelphia has been a center for horticulture in the United States.  John Bartram and his partners in England helped to revolutionize the English garden with new species from North America.  William Bartram travelled further into the continent including North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee.  Humphry Marshall, a cousin of the Bartrams is best known for his 1788 publication Arbustrum Americanum, which was the first formal scientific description of trees and shrubs of North America.

Over the centuries, horticulture flourished in the Delaware Valley in the form of public gardens and a thriving horticulture industry.  Horticulture training programs in high schools and colleges grew with many secondary and post-secondary programs.  They, however, are having difficulty attracting interested students these days even though the industry still thrives.

Paul Redman, President of Longwood Gardens, and Matt Rader, President of the PA Horticulture Society join us at Bartram’s Gardens for presentations, lunch, and a tour with Historian Joel Fry.

Logistics

• The program will be held at Bartram’s Garden at 5400 Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19143, beginning at 10:30 am.
• There is plenty of parking at the Garden site.
• Joel Fry will meet us for the tour at 10:30 am.
• Following the tour, we will reassemble at the pavilion for the presentations from Paul Redman, Matt Rader, and Joel Fry about horticulture in the Delaware Valley.
• There will be a box lunch available for $15.00 that includes your choice of a chicken or beef sandwich (or vegetarian offering), water, and dessert.

Register

• To register, click here.
• Contact PSPA at pspaonline@gmail.com for more information.