The Herb Society of America is dedicated to promoting the knowledge, use and delight of herbs through educational programs, research, and sharing the experience of its members with the community. 

Nature's Notebook is a national, online program where amateur and professional naturalists regularly record observations of plants and animals to generate long-term data sets used for...

Consisting of several 15-minute presentations, this session is devoted exclusively to having the future leaders of public horticulture share their latest research findings. Through these undergraduate and graduate student presentations, current...

Public gardens occupy a key position in supporting nationwide efforts to increase monarch butterfly populations. However, numerous questions remain to be resolved in regards to how we can best support conservation of both monarch butterflies and the...

Beautiful gardens begin with healthy soil. The concept of soil quality is the capacity of soil to provide key functions and is measured using a variety of biological, chemical, and physical properties and processes. Soil health indicators have been...

New urban parks are changing the public perception on garden design, emphasizing wild/natural designs of horticulture, ecological management, and sustainability. Modern public parks are hosting more visitors each year than many gated botanical...

Many indigenous communities are seeking new ways to support their cultural heritage, improve health, and reconnect to the land. At the same time, public gardens bring a wealth of botanical knowledge, resources, and public space to foster dialogue and...

A well-developed trialing program can benefit a public garden, its visitors, and the horticulture industry as a whole. Successful plants with proven performance create beautiful displays that engage the public and showcase the living landscape. The...

Consisting of several 15-minute presentations, this session is devoted exclusively to having the future leaders of public horticulture share their latest research findings. Through these undergraduate and...

Botanical gardens and their living collections have unique but underutilized resources for plant biology research. Living collections are essentially large common gardens able to advance fields of genetics,...

Digitization, integration, and optimization of collections data can pay dividends across the board from management efficiency to innovative research activity. Unfortunately, this data often remains...

Native cultivars (“nativars”) are being developed at a rapid pace by the nursery trade. Despite marketing efforts to convince the gardening public of their value in wildlife landscaping, little is known about...

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden researches native habitat buffers for agricultural sustainability. They are collecting data to learn more about which species native to the region work best to attract native...

Why Benchmark Plant Collections?

• Compare your collection with others
• Define your collection’s scope
• Verify what’s special, unique, common
• Use results to make decisions – what to keep, what to cull, what to seek
...

EPA’s National Stormwater Calculator (SWC) is a desktop application that estimates the annual amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff from a specific site anywhere in the United States (including Puerto Rico). Estimates are based on local soil...

The Xerces Society advocates for invertebrates, including pollinators, as a necessary part of a healthy ecosystem. Their pollinator conservation resources include regional and landscape-specific conservation information, resources for educators, and...

Scientists conduct cutting-edge research on genetics and climate change across various elevation gradients in northern Arizona.

The...

New England Wild Flower Society has released the "State of the Plants" Report, the most comprehensive assessment of New England plant communities ever assembled.

The peer-reviewed report draws on hundreds of studies of New England plant...

With 10% of trees (>8,000 species) threatened with extinction there is an urgent need for botanical gardens to protect threatened trees in dedicated conservation collections. Species conservation is mentioned in the mission statements of most major...