APGA

Dear Readers,

My name is Jayne and I hail from Montgomery, Alabama. I am currently one of three newest members of the Public Horticulture program at Auburn. As a first year student myself and fellow classmates went to the annual American Public Gardens Association meeting in Denver, Colorado just this past week. This was a wonderful experience and I learned so much from the conference. At APGA we went on tours of multiple gardens which included: Cheyenne Botanical Garden, Colorado State University Trial Gardens, and the Gardens on Spring Creek and Denver Botanical Garden, 

As part of the conference we attended workshops and lectures on different topics related to the horticulture industry. One of the lectures I attended was on dogs in a botanical garden. The lecture was presented by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden. Santa Barbara encourages visitors to bring their dogs to the garden. Special memberships and events promote dogs in the garden. 

A highlight of the trip was visiting the Denver Botanical Gardens. It is beautiful one hundred acre garden with four different sections. The Children’s garden at Denver Botanical is really inventive, it sits high above on top of the parking deck. The garden has multiple levels twisting and turning till visitors reach the bottom. Across the street from the Children’sGarden, the York Street Garden invites visitors to explore native Colorado species of plants in a formal landscape. 

APGA is a great conference to attend if you are interested in beginning a public garden or already have a garden. One of the main reasons we as graduate students attend APGA is because of the networking opportunities. So many people from across the country attend the meeting. It is a great opportunity to make internship or potential job meetings. 

Have a great Fourth of the July weekend!

-Jayne