Community Corner
"A Giant in Horticulture" Leaves UGA and the UGA Trial Gardens
An iconic figure in the plant world retired on Saturday from UGA--but not from plants.
A crowd surged into the UGA Trial Gardens on Saturday to say thanks and farewell to Dr. Allan Armitage, who is leaving the directorship of the garden after 30 years of service. Everyone who has met Allan Armitage is struck by several things:
1) The man knows plants intimately. He knows what they like to eat, where they like to live, how much sun they like, whether they can be moved. He knows their friends, their families and what they would wear to prom if they could go.
2) He loves plants. All plants. Trees, ornamentals, herbaceous. Doesn't matter. If you can put it in the dirt and watch it grow, he loves it. Poisonous, pretty or prickly, he adores them.
3) He wants everyone to enjoy gardening as much as he does. His enthusiasm is completely infectious. After talking to him for a while, you feel compelled to dig up your yard and plant flowers, even if your yard is paved.
4) If the subject is plants, he can talk the bark off a tree. Whether he's talking to a botanist, an industry rep, a master gardener, a timid gardening novice or a UGA student, he wants to share everything he knows.
5) He loves what he does.
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