News & Press

Explore Bermuda with AHS

According to Forbes, “Bermuda serves as an ideal winter escape for adventurous travelers.”  Join AHS in Bermuda in December for an unforgettable journey!

Explore Bermuda’s breathtaking natural and cultural wonders, and enjoy behind-the-scenes tours of private gardens and museums. Venture into Spittal Pond Nature Reserve, a verdant, 64-acre conservation area. Furthermore, at Cooper’s Island, learn about the culling of invasive plants and replanting of native and endemic plants. On a visit to the Bermuda Natural History Museum, learn about the island’s unique geological history and diversity of habitats. Discover Bermuda’s most stunning underground natural attraction, the renowned Crystal Cave. Notably, its crystal-clear lake reflects pristine white stalactites.

To top it off, delight in visits to iconic cultural landmarks such as St. Peter’s Church and St. George’s. Fun fact: St. George’s is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that magically transforms into a glittering wonderland each year for the enchanting “Christmas Walkabout.” AHS travelers will have the special opportunity to participate in this festive winter holiday event!

Learn more and read an interview with AHS Trip Host Naomi Mermin, an environmental strategy consultant and urban garden advocate. As space is limited, visit http://www.ahsgardening.org/bermuda2024/ and register today!

News & Press

Celebrating Black History Month in Horticulture

CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Throughout the centuries, Black Americans have elevated the field of horticulture, making discoveries and revolutionizing gardening practices. This Black History Month, we celebrate all Black horticulturists making a difference and paving the way for future gardeners. While there are too many impactful changemakers to recognize, we have chosen a few key figures to highlight. By lifting the voices of these select gardeners, we hope to foster a culture that invites all Americans to garden to ensure a thriving and beautiful world for current and future generations.

Historical Figures

Many historical figures helped shape the field of horticulture, furthering study in botany, agriculture, and plant science. Marie Clark Taylor, the first woman to obtain her scientific doctoral degree and the first African American woman to gain her Ph.D. in botany from Fordham University in 1941, eventually became a professor at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C., one of many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country.

Another important figure who shaped the field of horticulture in the 20th century was Booker T. Whatley, a Black horticulturist and agriculture professor at the historic Tuskegee University in Alabama. As an advocate for sustainable gardening practices and biodiversity in gardening, he encouraged African American farmers to adopt regenerative farming techniques in the 1960s and 1970s. He pioneered what would eventually become the modern crop share, having members pay for a season’s worth of crops in advance. In the mid-1980s, he published a book called How to Make $100,000 Farming 25 Acres, which helped disadvantaged farmers make the most of their land. His impact on the field of horticulture resounds even today.

Plantfluencers

One group that is currently gaining traction in the public eye is “plantfluencers,” influencers who create content about gardening and houseplants. In the most recent edition of The American Gardener, writer Georgia Silvera Seamans featured three Black influencers who are prominent players in the houseplant social media sphere:

Kamili Bell Hill (@plantblerd) from New Rochelle, New York started her career as a lawyer, but now has published a book on gardening and indoor houseplants called Happy Plants, Happy You. She sees cultivating plants as a vehicle for self-love and anti-racism.

Plant biologist specializing in ethnobotany, Derek Haynes (@thechocolatebotanist) serves as a board member for The North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He creates content tying together his identity as a Black man with his love for plants.

Stephanie Horton (@botanicalblackgirl) grew up in a plant-loving family in St. Louis, Missouri, but now lives and grows in Huntsville, Alabama. She has worked with HBCUs such as Alabama A&M to revitalize their agricultural programs and interdisciplinary career opportunities to further involve Black people in horticulture. She also produces events at a plant shop to “broaden the houseplant community.”

Nonprofits

Many nonprofits champion education and sustainability while working to increase food security for underserved communities. One organization is Soul Fire Farm, a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)-focused organization using ancestral and sustainable methods to farm land in Grafton, New York. By championing farming methods that work in harmony with the earth, Soul Fire Farm, founded by Leah Penniman and Jonah Vitale-Wolff, is striving to achieve its mission to end racism in the food system and foster a more inclusive culture that recognizes the value of caring for our planet and working to leave the land better off than they found it.

Black Garden History

If you are interested in learning more about the role of the Black community in gardening throughout history, join us for a Lifelong Learning Session with Abra Lee on February 2 at 2:00 p.m. ET when she will talk about “Black Garden History: A Great American Road Trip.” In this session, Lee will highlight historic and influential figures in Black garden history. Lee is an American public horticulturist, historian, and writer who currently serves as the Director of Horticulture at Historic Oakland Foundation in Atlanta. You can register for the program here.

Clearly, the role African Americans have played in shaping horticulture cannot be understated. Many important discoveries and innovations would not exist without the hard work of Black gardeners, and we are thankful for their contributions every day. We are happy to honor and recognize important figures in the field for Black History Month, but also recognize that these figures should be celebrated year-round. We hope to see even more diverse voices amplified in the field for years to come.

News & Press

Celebrate Peace this Martin Luther King Jr. Day

This year, we celebrate the rich legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 15. His activism and philosophy are rooted in unity and connection of all people regardless of their background. We are inspired by the repercussions of his actions and their reverberations that we still feel today, more than 50 years after his passing. 

In his 1967 speech “Where do we go from here?” delivered at a meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization founded by Dr. King, he stated “The plant of freedom has grown only a bud and not yet a flower.” His words still ring true today, even with the massive strides we have made towards equality for all Americans. There is always more we can do to support our fellow Americans, and we aim to foster a culture of gardening that emphasizes and strengthens the power of our communities nationwide. 

In the spirit of Dr. King’s legacy of peaceful protest, International World Peace Rose Gardens planted a rose garden in 1992 at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park located in Atlanta, Georgia. There are four other rose gardens created by this inspirational organization spread across the globe to encourage peace among all global citizens. The garden in Atlanta is especially notable because the rose is the national flower of the United States. The site combines the beauty of King’s imagined future with the notion of the American Dream and shows us that all people can enjoy liberation through engagement with the natural world. 

As unrest and inequality continue to plague society, it is important to focus on unity and our shared humanity. Actions like gardening bring beauty to the world, and our admiration of all nature has to offer can be a unifying force to spark change. Community gardens proliferate around the country and gardening programs are popular in schools. Clearly, gardening brings people together time and time again. By reflecting on and living by Dr. King’s philosophy, together we can make the bud of freedom bloom into something more beautiful than we could have ever imagined.