The Cultivar UF/ifAS dEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HORTICULTURE NEWSLETTER, SPRING 2025 EDITION

The College of Coastal Georgia Wetland Restoration class visited the Adams Lab as part of a Florida Wetlands field trip. Adams Lab students talked through their research with students, showed them experiments and shared their backgrounds and inspiration for going to graduate school. The College of Coastal Georgia is an undergraduate college within the University System of Georgia.

UF/IFAS Environmental Horticulture Department and Autonomous Regional Corporation of the Atlantic Forge Partnership for Environmental Research and Conservation

Between March 11-14, the Autonomous Regional Corporation of the Atlantic – Corporación Autonoma Regional del Atlántico (CRA), from Barranquilla, Colombia, visited the Environmental Horticulture Department (ENH) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UF for collaborative research. The group was comprised of Dr. Jesus León Insignares, Director of CRA; Mrs. Ayari Rojano, Subdirector of Climate Change and Risk Management, Dr. Eduardo Verano de la Rosa, Governor of the Atlantic State in Colombia and two secretaries from the governor’s office. The group visited the laboratories of Dr. Kevin Begcy, Dr. Hector Perez, and Dr. Wagner Vendrame of the UF/IFAS Department of Environmental Horticulture. The group also had the opportunity to tour the HyperGator facilities and attend a field visit to Sweetwater State Park accompanied by Dr. Carrie Adams of the UF/IFAS Department of Environmental Horticulture and Dr. Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar of Family Youth and Community Services.

The goal of this MOU is to establish collaborative research in the areas of propagation and conservation of plants, including seed technology, wetlands management and conservation, coastal erosion, micropropagation, and socio-economic impacts.

We have established a similar and successful MOU with the CVC – Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca, from Cali, Colombia and this new MOU with CRA expands our international collaborative efforts in the Environmental Horticulture Department.

Florida Nurseries Call for Focus on Disease and Pest Control Solutions

The University of Florida hosted representatives from federal and state funding agencies and recently toured key nursery operations in the heart of Homestead in Miami-Dade County, where ornamental plants are the kings and queens of the nursery industry.

“The visit was to showcase the industry’s needs and explore solutions to sustain production and operations,” says Xingbo Wu, an Assistant Professor at the UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC), specializing in tropical plant breeding and genetics.

Dr. Wagner Vendrame and David Beleski were invited to spend a week at the Instituto Federal Goiano (IFG), in the city of Rio Verde, State of Goiás, Brazil

During the visit, the pair delivered two lectures and labs to undergraduate and graduate students for the course Micropropagation at the IFG, specifically on culture indexing and meristem culture.

Wagner and David also visited the institute and their labs and field operations.

The visit culminated on an agreement to create an MOU for collaborative work and this year Dr. Vendrame will be hosting two professors from IFG. One as a short term scholar (4 months) and another as a research scholar (12 months).

PhD student, Jamie Daugherty Hagyari, presented a poster related to her Dissertation at the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) Conference in Scotland

The Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE), established in 1984, is a professional organization for agricultural and extension educators who share a common goal of strengthening agricultural and extension education programs and institutions worldwide.

PhD student, Nelda Martinez Hernandez, develops a new training course for Greenhouse Training Online

Knowing when and how much to water is one of the most important skills in horticulture, and our industry has a lack of trained staff. To meet this need, Nelda Hernandez (a Ph.D. student in Environmental Horticulture) has developed a UF IFAS Extension course for grower managers who will train other staff on how to water in English and Spanish. The course, Professional Irrigator Train the Trainer, contains three modules (Irrigation Principles, 1-5 Moisture Scale, and Hose Watering) that include training videos, hands-on activities, and quizzes. As part of her PhD program, Nelda will help deliver the course and track the impact of the training on grower behavior and water savings. The course is currently in the testing phase, and will be available to all growers in July 2025. You can email to greenhousetraining@ifas.ufl.edu for more information.

This course is intended for grower managers who will train other staff on how to water. In this five-hour online course, you will review three modules (Irrigation Principles, 1-5 Moisture Scale, and Hose Watering) that include training videos, hands-on activities, and quizzes. Once you have reviewed the training materials and passed the quizzes, you will receive a personalized certificate as a professional irrigation trainer. You can then be able to train your staff and continue to access the UF/IFAS videos, hands-on activities, and quizzes.

This course is available in English and Spanish and has a cost of $99 per participant. You can register through our website hort.ifas.ufl.edu/training/ or email us to greenhousetraining@ifas.ufl.edu for more information.

New Faculty

Dr. Jeb Fields

Dr. Jeb Fields is a production horticulturist who works with Florida's nursery industry to develop applicable solutions to routine and atypical issues. His extension & research program is focused on developing more efficient and effective production practices through his environmental nursery production lab. Dr. Fields’ primary interests include soilless substrate science, irrigation & fertilizer management, whole plant-water relations and plant abiotic stress physiology. Dr. Fields is an internationally recognized substrate scientists, the leader of the Beyond Peat project through the USDA Specialty Crops Research Initiative, and the national S3 (Soilless Substrate Science) team which pursues advancement of the global substrate industry and development of more sustainable substrate materials and practices, including substrate stratification

Jeb Fields was elected President-elect of Southern Region ASHS at the annual meeting in Irving, TX. Dr. Fields will officially serve as president of the society in 2026 overseeing the future direction and guiding the organization.

Spotlight

Spotlight on Faculty

Dr. Leynar Leyton

Dr. Leynar Leyton is a specialist in the breeding and genetics of landscape plants, with a focus on developing resilient ornamental plants from underutilized native species. In this Q&A interview, we dive into his efforts to enhance drought and heat tolerance, ecosystem services, and plant performance, as well as his leadership at the Gary W. Knox Gardens of The Big Bend, where he promotes urban horticulture, plant conservation, and the trialing of new plant varieties.

What are the main challenges in breeding landscape plants that are both aesthetically appealing and resilient to environmental stressors like drought and heat.

I believe is to choose a species! There are so many native species with a lot of ornamental potential, but so little time and field/greenhouse space (and money for UFarm costs) to study them all. And just because these species have ornamental potential, does not mean that they will work in the ornamental industry. There is a lot of research, breeding, testing, and time involved in developing new landscape plants. Luckily for me, our climate in Florida is exceptionally good to select for heat and drought tolerance.

I will give an example: Powderpuff mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa) is a Florida Native ground cover with good ornamental potential. It is not “prickly” or thorny like the Georgia species, has beautiful flowers, and it is a legume (fix nitrogen). But it needs to be improved. If you ever have grown mimosa, you know that it likes to “walk”. Mimosa can quickly take over your garden if you do not keep it under control, which is not a good thing. A longer and stable flowering variety would increase its ornamental value, as well as larger flowers and a deeper flower color.

There is some natural genetic variation in the wild species, and that is something I will be evaluating this spring/summer. Phenotype those wild collected genotypes will be step 1 for the development of a new ornamental mimosa cultivar.

How do you integrate genetic advancements and traditional breeding techniques to improve the performance of native and ornamental plants?

It is challenging to integrate genetic advancements in underutilized species. Sometimes, there are big gaps in the literature: we do not know chromosome numbers, ploidy levels, self-incompatibility systems, etc. And when you work with woody ornamentals, you are also dealing with long generation times and highly heterozygous genotypes. We can use genomics tools, but they are often very expensive, and I do not work in high value crops. But this is what makes it fun! Working with underutilized genera is very rewarding as each experiment let us understand more about these species and filling those gaps in the literature.

Can you discuss any recent breakthroughs or ongoing projects in your research that could have a significant impact on the landscaping and horticulture industry?

I am just starting my program. Breakthroughs are hard to obtain, and plant breeding takes time…

But I am very excited that we were able to patent four new rhizome ornamental perennial peanut varieties; developed and breed by Dr. Ann Blount and team – the former forage breeder at the North Florida Research and Education Center. This new varieties will be a game changing for the ornamental perennial peanut industry and should be available in the market pretty soon!

My Mimosa strigillosa project with the USDA-NRCS Plant Material Center in Brooksville, FL has a lot of potential, but we are just starting to evaluate genotypes this spring.

I am also very excited about our landscape practices for ornamental native plants and propagation project with Sandy Wilson and Gail Hansen. Our master student, Ashley Jackson started this Spring semester, and she is very eager to start running propagation studies and planting native plants in our testing site at the UF/IFAS Gardens of the Big Bend at the North Florida Research and Education Center.

What role do native and underutilized plants play in sustainable landscaping, and how does your research contribute to their adoption in urban and suburban environments?

Plant selection in crucial for a sustainable landscape. You need to pick plants that will perform their best in your specific garden conditions (light levels, soil type, etc.) with the least number of inputs. Native plants usually require less inputs, as there are used to our climate and rain patterns. But urban gardens are very different to natural areas. They have different soil types, soil is usually compacted and not very deep, they have a small footprint, and (most but not all) people expect picture perfect plants year-round.

Also, these plants need to work for the ornamental industry. They need to propagate easily and fast, they need to grow fast, be attractive in a pot, ship well, have decent disease resistance, and low insect incidence. That where my program falls into place! My program focuses on developing new landscape ornamental plant varieties that people will want because they are great landscape plants and that will work well for the ornamental industry; them being Florida natives would be a bonus.

I’m also working with ornamental perennial peanut, as I inherited half of Dr. Ann Blunt forage breeding program. Although not a Florida native, it a non-invasive, drought resistant, heat tolerant, nitrogen fixing (it is a legume) ground cover that requires very minimal inputs. I am working with growers and other faculties in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama to expand the knowledge and people’s awareness about ornamental perennial peanut.

How do you collaborate with industry professionals, extension programs, and the public to promote the use of improved plant varieties in Florida and beyond?

I have made an effort to connect with the local ornamental industry in North Florida and in the rest of the state. In fact, I was at Tallahassee Nurseries last Saturday at their Florida Wildlife Appreciation Day talking about Florida Native Plants. I have also getting involved with the Florida Friendly Landscaping Program, the Florida Association of Native Plant Nurseries (FANN), and have some small projects with native plant nurseries.

What inspired you to pursue a career in plant breeding and genetics, and when did you first realize your passion for this field?

I always have found fascinating how people get excited about new ornamental plant cultivars in garden centers and big box stores. If you have ever been to a garden center in spring, you know what I am talking about. This is not a new phenomenon, even Confucius said, “I buy rice to live, and I buy flowers to have something to live for.”

Since I started my undergraduate (back in Chile) I knew I wanted to work with ornamental plants. But I not only wanted to learn how to grow them; I wanted to be able to develop these new cultivars that bring excitement, joy, and happiness to people. It was not until I started working in the lab of my undergrad advisor that I realized academia, and being a plant breeder, could be a potential career path.

Can you share some experiences from your early education that influenced your decision to become a scientist?

I have always been interested in plants. When I was a kid, I used the “steal” produce from the kitchen and plant it in the yard. Funny enough, my biology teacher in high school only taught animal biology because she believed that plants were not that important…I don’t think that was the reason why I choose Horticulture as a major though - I always said that I wanted to be a medical doctor. When I did not get the minimum score to be a medical doctor [in Chile, there is a standardized tests to apply for college. Each university’s major has a minimum admission score. If you scored below that number, you are not accepted into that University], I thought Horticulture was a good fit for me as I was good at biology. I also could have studied biology, but I was not sure about the job prospects of being a biologist.

During college, I started working in my undergraduate advisor’s lab for free, because I wanted to get more experience in his ornamental breeding lab. As a side note, I always knew I wanted to work with ornamentals - I find row crops extremely boring. In Chile, our “Hort” major is more like a plant sciences major with a combination of agronomy, plant pathology, entomology, soil sciences, and horticulture. I had multiple classes and field trips about corn, soybean, and wheat that confirmed me that ornamentals were the right path for me.

How did your academic journey shape your research interests, and were there any mentors who played a key role in your development?

I could not have navigated college, or graduate school, without my mentors. And I have been extremely fortunate to have excellent mentors during my career. As a first-generation college graduate, college was an unknow territory. My undergraduate advisor, Dr. Eduardo Olate, helped me tremendously at showing me the impact of research, extension, and teaching in the ornamental industry. He had a very active program, and I was exposed to many opportunities that I could not have had without him. Thanks to him, I met Dr. Mark Bridgen (his PhD advisor. Mark is my academic grandparent!), who encouraged me to pursue graduate school in the US. Mark was instrumental in making me believe in myself and that I could do graduate school when I was in Chile.

During graduate school and during my postdoc, Dr. Carol Robacker, and Dr. Bodie Pennisi showed me what a good faculty should do as a citizen of the department, and how to train and mentor students. They also gave me the liberty to make mistakes (and learn from them), support my research ideas, and gave me their honest feedback when needed. They made me a better researcher, mentor, and person. One thing that they could not change in me is how stubborn I can be at times, although I am much better than I was before meeting them.

Here at the University of Florida, I have found great mentors inside and outside the department that have helped navigate this first year as a junior faculty.

What challenges did you face in your career path, and what advice would you give to aspiring scientists interested in plant genetics?

I have faced numerous challenges during me career. From language challenges when I arrived in the US (my English was not good at all, and the Georgia accent did not help…), to societal norms (based on my Chilean zip code I should not have graduate or even gone to college), to experiments that do not work, to job experiences that did not work. My advice to young scientist interesting in plant genetics would be get involved, find mentors, and have as many experiences as possible as a student. And keep trying! If something does not work, analyze the situation, learn from it, improve yourself, and keep trying. Also, work hard and do some service in areas the mean something to you. And finally, do not forget to wear sunscreen every day. I have gotten sunburn so many times in fields, doing plant collections, or when taking data outside that now I wear sunscreen every day, independently of what I do. It has become a habit.

Looking back, is there a particular moment or project that reaffirmed your decision to specialize in landscape plant breeding?

During my undergrad I worked breeding the Chilean native plant Alstroemeria sp. (Inca lily) for cut flower and the landscape. All the time doing wild collections, crosses, and evaluating hybrids in the field reaffirmed me that this is what I wanted to do. During my PhD, when we described the self-incompatibility systems in Abelia. It took me years to describe it. The self-incompatibility system in Abelia is probably relevant to a handful of people in the world, but it increased my knowledge of the genus, and it was pretty cool to be the firsts in the world to do it.

Last year, I heard that growers in north Georgia were harvesting their first crop of the native Aroniaberry (Aronia). I worked in the Aronia project during my postdoc at UGA. The project was twofold, we evaluated its potential as a specialty crop for Georgia growers and started a breeding program to develop an edible ornamental cultivar. It was very uplifting that Georgia growers were harvesting and making products (jelly and maybe ice cream this summer!) out of a crop that was not known in the state before our project.

Can you tell us about your lab team and students? How do you approach mentoring the next generation of scientists in your field?

My team is composed of Ashley Jackson and Gareth Chamberlynn. Ashely is working in propagation of underutilized native plants and landscape recommendations for native plants in Florida Landscapes as her master’s project. Ashley is co-advised by Sandy Wilson, and you might have seen her, as she is currently in Gainesville. Gareth is my BioSci at the UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center. Gareth started in August 2024, and he has been working hard maintaining and bringing my greenhouses and lab up to standard here at the research center. He has indicated that he wanted to work in his master’s degree thought the EEP. We also just got news that one of our S-SARE research grants got approved, so I will have another master student coming up this fall working in breeding Marigolds and Sweet Alyssum for companion plants.

My approach to mentoring the next generation of scientists is simple. I try to understand their interests and expose them to different opportunities in research, extension, and teaching for them to really know what they like. I also make an effort the explain to them how the academic and university system work and being as available as possible. Although sometimes is complicated to make the time, students take priority.

National Floriculture Forum 2025

Dr. Leynar Leyton hosted the National Floriculture Forum at the UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center during Feb 21-23. The meeting included tours to Monrovia in Cairo, Ga, Tallahassee Nurseries (voted one of the best garden centers in the South by Southern Living), Maclay Gardens, Oglesby Plants International, and Hackney Nursery, plus a preconference tour to Wakulla Springs.

The meeting was sponsored by the American Floral Endowment, Ball Horticulture, The Fred G. Gloeckner Foundation, Gardening Friends of the Big Bend, the UF/IFAS Department of Environmental Horticulture, and the UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center. The meeting also included 14 research and extension talks with the latest updates in floriculture and ornamental research. With a strong presence of UF/IFAS Environmental Horticulture Faculty and Graduate students, the meeting had 30 attendees from Florida Gulf Coast University, University of Georgia, NC State, Purdue, Louisiana State University, Kansas State, University of Maine, Penn State, Cornell, Ohio State, the American Floral Endowment, and Ball Horticulture.