From Melissa Kitchen, horticulture research support specialist who accompanied Hortus Forum members on their trip.
Members of Hortus Forum Cornell’s undergraduate horticulture club, spent a week of their winter break touring Florida to get a behind-the-scenes look at the floriculture and horticulture industries most will soon join.
The tour began with a visit to Miami International Airport to explore cut flower importation. Other destinations focused on pot production of orchids, bromeliads and foliage plants. In Homestead, club members visited the Fruit & Spice Park, home of more than 500 varieties of fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, nuts, and other commercially important plants from around the world, caught a camellia show at Harry Leu Gardens in Orlando, and attended the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition tradeshow.
Next up were tours of citrus groves and processing and packaging plants, and fruit tasting. And no trip to Florida would be complete without stopping at Disney! Students enjoyed flamboyant topiaries at the Walt Disney World Nursery, while learning about large-scale event coordination. Epcot’s Behind the Seeds tour showcased hydroponic and vertical growing systems.
A kayak tour of the mangroves gave the students an opportunity to get wet and soak up some sun. And last but not least, they visited the University of Florida’s Indian River Research Center.
Hortus Forum would like to thank everyone who patronizes their plant sales for helping make this trip possible!
Awesome trip, great group of HoFoers, and as Melissa said, a big THANK YOU to plant lovers at Cornell whose patronage of the plant sales allows the group to travel and see horticulture worldwide! Bill Miller, Hortus Forum Faculty Advisor