Everything has a father of sorts and the world of plants is no different. Whether the focus of plants is through botany, landscaping, or agriculture, there have been great leaders that nurtured different studies of plants to life.
George Washington Carver
Starting at an early age, George Washington Carver, aka The Plant Doctor, grew a love for plants and learned all he could about them while creating his own gardens. He went on to create methods to prevent soil depletion as well as more than 300 different uses for peanuts that are still used today.
“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour if we will only tune in.”
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Liberty Hyde Bailey took the craft of horticulture to a learned science when he developed the first distinctively horticultural laboratory in the United States at Michigan State Agricultural College (now Michigan State University.) He taught and published extensively, elevating the field of horticulture and botany and co-founding the American Society for Horticultural Science. Oh, and fellow 4-H members, he was instrumental in the start of that movement too.
“Give the children an opportunity to make a garden. Let them grow what they will. It matters less that they grow good plants than that they try for themselves.”
Dr. Norman Borlaug
Dr. Norman Borlaug, Father of the Green Revolution, was the first agriculturalist to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for his work. His efforts include developing a hardier, more nutritious variety of wheat, which has greatly impacted the effort towards reducing world hunger.
“Almost certainly, however, the first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all mankind.”
Those are just three of the amazing influences on the way that we grow, cultivate, and harvest plants today. Make sure you tell your favorite fatherly garden influence how much you appreciate him this Father’s Day!
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