About
OUR MISSION
The Friends of the Horticulture Farm is a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting, enhancing and promoting the significant plant collections and natural areas of the University of Vermont’s Horticulture, Research, and Education Center in South Burlington, Vermont.
WHO WE ARE
We are a non-profit member organization of citizens, garden club members, Vermont Master Gardeners, nature enthusiasts, professional horticulturists, landscape architects and designers—in fact, anyone interested in gardening.
The Friends offers a program of lectures, workshops, and other opportunities for plant enthusiasts from children to connoisseurs to explore the world of plants and nurture a love of horticulture. We also work in partnership with the University of Vermont to develop both short-term and long-term plans to preserve the exceptional plant collections on the property.
As a volunteer organization, our work is made possible by members’ generous gifts of time, skills, and essential financial support.
OUR HISTORY
The UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center (Hort Farm) is home to many unusual trees, shrubs, and perennials. Purchased in the early 1950s, this 97-acre facility is used by University of Vermont researchers and educators, UVM students, professional horticultural organizations, and gardening groups.
The Friends of the Horticulture Farm was established in 1994 when a group of interested neighbors and exercise enthusiasts who used the farm for walking and cross-country skiing, heard that the Hort Farm might be sold for development. They got together and convinced UVM that the land could be used to educate the general public about horticulture. In addition, the Friends would be responsible for maintaining and the preserving the beautiful collections that UVM had established.
Programs about horticulture, gardening, conservation, and plant preservation were created, and the public was invited to come to the Hort Farm and learn. Over the 26 years since, the Friends have expanded their programs, inviting professional horticulturists to speak and demonstrate, while working to preserve the collections with curators to care for them and volunteers to help preserve them.
In 2019, The Friends celebrated their 25th year of protecting the plant collections and offering programs on horticulture. We look forward to another 25 years with the help of our dedicated members and volunteers.
Board of Directors
Hayley Hornus, Co-President
Kitty Werner, Co-President
Dorothy Lovering
James Dixon Hayden
Kate Schubart
Mark Twery