[Sca-cooks] Herbal Demos: National Herb Garden Turns 25

[Sharon Gordon]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ARS News Service" <NewsService at ars.usda.gov>
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 1:03 PM
Subject: National Herb Garden Turns 25


> STORY LEAD:
> National Herb Garden Celebrates 25th Anniversary
> ___________________________________________
>
> ARS News Service
> Agricultural Research Service, USDA
> Alfredo Flores, (301) 504-1627, aflores at ars.usda.gov
> May 20, 2005
> ___________________________________________
>
> The National Herb Garden in Washington, D.C., the largest designed herb
garden in North America, is kicking off a six-month celebration of its 25th
anniversary. The herb garden is located at the U.S. National Arboretum
(USNA), operated by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
>
> The celebration will include a series of special events, lectures and
demonstrations planned to help visitors understand the central role that
herbs have played in societies for many centuries. On May 21, the arboretum
will present "The Making of a Garden," expected to draw interest from
backyard and professional herb growers and others who love the sights and
smells of plants like rosemary, lavender, scented geraniums and salvia. On
June 18, the Potomac and Philadelphia units of the Herb Society of America
(HSA) will demonstrate the making of herbal crafts. On September 17, the
North Carolina unit will demonstrate its members' work with herbal liqueurs
and vinegar.
>
> Dedicated in May 1980, the garden began as a special gift to the people of
the United States from the HSA. The 2.5-acre garden, planned by landscape
architect Tom Wirth, includes hundreds of annual, perennial and woody herbal
plants. Interpretive signs help visitors understand the collection in the
context of the herbs' history and use.
>
> An integral part of the arboretum, the herb garden is tended by the USNA's
Gardens Unit, led by garden curator and horticulturist Jim Adams. Each year,
the unit's staff grows about 400 varieties of annuals, including 60 to 90
varieties of peppers, and they maintain nearly 75 containers of tender trees
and shrubs indoors during winter.
>
> Information about the anniversary celebration and USNA events, as well a
newly released virtual tour of the garden, can be found on the arboretum's
web site at:
> http://www.usna.usda.gov
>
> More information about the garden is also available in the May 2005 issue
of Agricultural Research magazine, available online at:
> http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may05/garden0505.htm
>
> ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
> ___________________________________________
>
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