“Delaware’s Green industry is a big industry, but it’s not just plants” (Valaan Budishack). Tracy Wooten a horticulture specialist at the Delaware Technical Community College and Valaan Budishack, acting director of the botanical gardens of the University of Delaware, discussed with the University of Delaware’s students about the horticulture industry, how the plants are grown, careers within it, and what each of those careers entail. The horticulture industry, unlike many major plant production industries, is the cultivation, processing, and sale of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and ornamental plants as well as many additional services where plants are grown in nurseries and later sold to the customer or retail businesses for public purchase. Retail businesses, like many other consumer goods businesses, provide small quantities of plants or other goods in the desire of the customer through their development of advertising techniques, specialty plant lines, and other methods. Additionally, with the aspect of sales of plants, the creation of many other careers is associated with it.

Within this industry, there are producers which are the growers of the plants, landscapers, one that designs and cultivates properties for those who want to improve the look of their property or need help in sustaining and maintaining it, land managers, which “prevent environmental damage and harm to wildlife through careful management of the development and use of a region’s land resources” (Wikipedia), golf courses, and lastly suppliers, who provide the essential equipment such as fertilizer and other resources to help contribute to the success of the industry as well as those growing plants on their own. Essentially, with the many careers and growth of plants, the horticulture industry is able to continue to grow and sell plants as well as keep jobs within it which allows the industry to further continue to contribute to the sustainability of the economy and agricultural industry and in the sustainment of the beauty of the environment locally and worldwide.

Additionally, from this presentation, many things about the horticulture industry can be learned which can help myself and the other students develop a better understanding of the industry itself; and learn something that grabbed my interest which is that there is a lot of technical thinking and processes to grow plants, get them to the market, and sell the plants in a way that will attract the consumer to buy so the industry can continue to grow, market, and sell plants today and within future time.