One of the greatest challenges faced by all who conduct programming in (and/or promote) horticultural therapy is the challenge of legitimization -- of the profession and of this natural phenomenon we call the "people-plant connection." This past May 6, during an important gathering of "green industries" representatives from across the nation, a huge step toward overcoming this challenge was realized -- when the horticulture industry in assemblage recognized "People-Plant Interactions as one of the nine research goals and objectives identified as furthering the competitiveness, environmental sensitivity, and sustainability of the U.S. production of the plants and services of the green industries."
In 1991, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA chose the director of the U.S. National Arboretum, Dr. H. Marc Cathey, to assume the new position of National Chair for Florist and Nursery Crops Review. In this capacity, Dr. Cathey was asked to conduct an intensive review of ARS, university, industry production, and marketing research needs and to assess future research objectives. A detailed report was commissioned, to be submitted in time to be considered in ARS' 1994-95 fiscal year budget initiatives. (The importance of this assignment is envisioned more easily when it is realized that the florist and nursery industries currently receive only .019% of USDA's research dollars, even though their production accounts for 11% of agriculture's cash crops.)
The landscape and floral products of the "green industries" enrich the lives and the environment of the population of North America. Research is the foundation for ensuring that the environmental qualities from plants will continue to contribute to the enhancement of the quality of human life and earth. Solutions to problems of the production of landscape and floral crops require multidisciplinary research that involves many sectors of agricultural research. Concerns about environmental quality and plant health (in relation to the production of the plants of the "green industries") require interdisciplinary research embracing expertise from a broad range of disciplines as well as the support and concurrence of growers, marketers, and the consumer as a whole. Limited resources for research dictate that high-priority, high-impact, researchable problems be carefully identified.
Fifteen convocations on research priorities for florist, nursery, arborist, landscape architect, interior plantscaper, garden designer, landscape installer, turf and lawns, grounds maintenance, and garden center operators, sponsored by the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and 60 cooperating research and trade organizations (including AHTA), addressed societal concerns challenging landscape and floral crops. The nine researchable goals include objectives for interdisciplinary research designed to determine factors that improve the quality of plant products, develop integrated plant production management systems, enhance plant health and performance, enhance efficiency of plant production, improve plant safety, ensure environmentally sensitive plant production systems, and develop methods to meet the complex needs of consumers.
Three of the nine research goals relate directly to the People-Plant Council:
People-Plant Interactions: Identify the factors related to improvements of
health/well-being of people.
Marketing/Consumerism: Enhance the global competitiveness of the green industries
by identifying their economic benefits and consumer preferences.
Resource Management: Provide safe, affordable, and responsible systems to insure
that the aesthetics, preservation, maintenance, performance, and the
reutilization of the environment occurs and plants are identified as the source
of the sustainability.
Steven Davis, AHTA executive director, presented the final report for the People- Plant Interactions priority. "The `green industries' stand to gain in many areas by seeking, through research, an understanding of the value of plants to people. This information... is critical in supporting the sustained growth of the `green industries.' The research will help identify and justify the spending for plants in public places, work places, health care facilities, and outdoor areas of use and reserve." Two branches of research are required--one that is therapy oriented, and one that is consumer oriented.
Research in People-Plant Interactions will:
a. Drive the overall-system approaches by defining what the consumer expects to
buy and the rewards they perceive;
b. Communicate the value of the "green industries" as major contributors to the
well-being of society, the community, and the environment;
c. Collect information on the economic benefits of all aspects of the "green
industries";
d. Provide the justification for investments in the "green industries";
e. Guide the information to support the values of plants to social and
environmental issues, healthy minds and bodies, a clean environment, and
sustainable gardening.
Three quotes selected from the 15 convocations underscore the importance to the horticulture industry of People-Plant Interactions:
From the Minnesota Convocation: "No other segment of production agriculture has a broader potential to affect the well-being of our citizens than florist and nursery agriculture."
From the AAN Convocation: Industry was urged "to support research identifying the benefits of plants to people. The extensive literature supports the concept of plants as providing well-being for all persons. These justifications need in- depth research to reveal their full importance and our interdependence."
Also from the AAN Convocation: According to Bruce Butterfield of the National Gardening Association, "By the year 2000, strategies must be developed to present the plant products of nursery and florist agriculture as solvers of environmental problems (not the cause), as alternatives to many ways of life, as renewable resources, and as therapy for all ages and traditions."
GENERAL TOPIC AREAS: The role of plants in human culture. Plant influences on community interaction. Psycho/physiological responses of people to plants. Horticulture as a prescriptive tool for treatment. Putting research into action: Implementation.
Individual Paper/Project/Case Studies can cover research broadly related to one of the five topic areas listed above as well as research design and implementation, and/or case histories of treatment interventions. Presenters will be limited to 25 minutes. In addition, groups of no more than four presenters, or three presenters and one chairperson, may submit proposals for an intensely focused session in which participants present their views about a common theme, issue, or question.
Workshops will create opportunities for participants to pursue methodology, rather than discuss existing research. These 90-minute presentations will focus on the development of research, program planning for collecting research data, and research skills, or they may provide an experiential exercise for participants.
CLIENT REASONS FOR USE OF FOLIAGE PLANTS IN COMMERCIAL INTERIORSCAPES S. J. Lewis, Department of Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68501.
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS J. McGrew and A.M. Hanchek, Department of Horticulture Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108.
INFORMATION SEARCH PATTERNS OF PERENNIAL PLANT CONSUMERS W. T. Rhodus and L. Widhalm, The Ohio State University, Department of Horticulture, 2001 Fyffe Court, Columbus, OH 43210.
INTERIOR PLANTS IN A CLASSROOM IMPROVE AIR QUALITY AND THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT G. K. Goodwin and V. I. Lohr, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6414.
CONSUMER RESEARCH IN THE FLORAL INDUSTRY B.K. Behe, Department of Horticulture and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, 101 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849-5408.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS ON CHANGING MARKETS DUE TO PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS: TURFGRASS AND LANDSCAPE W. H. Culpepper, Director of Government, Public and Industry Affairs for DowElanco, 9002 Purdue Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268.
MASTER GARDENERS' PERCEPTIONS OF ADEQUACY OF TRAINING IN PESTICIDE USE AND ORGANIC GARDENING B. R. Lerner, M. N. Dana, R. Gann, T. Gibb, G. Shaner, F. Whitford, and R. Kemery, Department of Horticulture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907.
PESTICIDE USE AND SAFETY PRACTICES OF INDIANA MASTER GARDENERS M. N. Dana, B. R. Lerner, R. Gann, T. Gibb, G. Shaner, F. Whitford, and R. Kemery, Department of Horticulture, 1165 Horticulture Building, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1165.
ENCLAVE EMPLOYMENT AT VIRGINIA COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY GROUNDS DEPARTMENTS G. S. Dobbs and P. D. Relf, Department of Horticulture, Virginia Polytechnic Institure and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0327.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL INTERVIEWING: A USEFUL RESEARCH TOOL FOR THE HORTICULTURE INDUSTRY S. L. Wilson, Department of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37901-1071.
MARKETING CUT ORCHIDS TO THE TOURIST TRADE J. W. Brown and J. McConnell, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam 96923, USA.
DO PLANTS AFFECT HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN INTERIOR SPACE? C. Hillenbrand-Nowicki, J. Bowker, and P. D. Relf, Department of Housing, Interior Design, and Residential Management and Department of Horticulture, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0327.
CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE OF SPECIALTY CUT FLOWERS K. Gast and A. Stevens, Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources, Waters Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506.
Each participant has a specific role in the process. There are also three different guidebooks that are easy to read and easy to implement complete with prewritten letters waiting to be used (inserted where necessary). For more information, contact Philip Tinsley, WF&FSA, P.O. Box 7308, Arlington, VA, 22207, 703/241-1100.
April 4, 1992 at Tokyo Noko Diagaku -- Present situation of the research and education on "Human Life and Horticulture," by Dr. E. Matsuo, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University (Present address: Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University).
October 9, 1992 at Tottori University -- People long for green plants. Research notes on the plants in the shopping area in Osaka, by Dr. T. Shimomura (Osaka Geijutu Daigaku; Osaka Art University).
April 4, 1993 at Tsukuba University -- Horticulture in education, especially in the primary school and the junior high school in Japan, by Dr. H. Knoshima, Faculty of Education, Shiga University.
The fourth workshop will be held in October 1993. For more information, contact E. Matsuo, FAX 011/81/92/641-2928.
Dr. Charles D. Safley, North Carolina State University, received $4000 for his project, Identifying Important Factors that Influence Consumer Purchase of Nursery Products.
Dr. Mark S. Henry, Clemson University, received $3000 for his project, The Contribution of Landscaping to Housing Prices.
Georgia Solberg and Dr. Virginia I. Lohr, Washington State University, received $1750 for their project, The Impact of Adding Plants to a Stressful Setting.
Dr. Diane Relf, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, received $1000 for her project, People-Plant Council, Linking Horticulture with Human Well- Being.
March 24-28, 1994
The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations; People-Plant Council and
University of California, Davis
August 21-27, 1994
International Horticultural Congress, Kyoto, Japan
The HIH Committee will serve the AABGA as a source of information and help individual members gain insight to human dimensions and their importance. For more information, contact Charles Lewis, 708/719-2463.
1990 Symposium Abstracts and 1992 Symposium Abstracts. $5 each.
Industry Article Packet: Better Business through People-Plant Research. $5.
**** All prices include shipping and handling ****
PPC Affiliation and Contributors
The PPC is not a membership organization, but rather a link or affiliation
between organizations. Affiliation is open to all organizations within the
horticulture and social science communities and allied or interested
organizations.
Affiliates of PPC
American Society for Horticultural Science
Associated Landscape Contractors of America
Wholesale Florists and Florist Suppliers of America
American Horticultural Therapy Association
Society of American Florists
American Association of Nurserymen
Contributors to PPC
Horticulture Research Institute
Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association
Address correspondence to Dr. Diane Relf, Chair, People-Plant Council, Department of Horticulture, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0327. FAX: 703- 231-3083. Telephone: 703-231-6254
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Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Department of Horticulture Blacksburg Virginia 24061-0327