Horticulture students complete internships in Scotland

Contact:
Ray Barclay, Bumpers College Global Studies Program
rbarclay@uark.edu

June 23 , 2008

Three UA horticulture students are completing internships this summer in Scotland. John Gardner and Andrew Swayne from Hope and Sherwood, respectively, are working at the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG) in Edinburgh. Atsuko Akabane from Tokyo, Japan, is improving her knowledge and skills at the Scottish Plant Hunters Garden in Pitlochry. Atsuko also will spend a few weeks at Pitcairn Alpines, a plant nursery specializing in the production of unusual bulbs and ornamental flower seed. Atsuko will complete her summer placement with John and Drew at the RBG.

The UA horticulture department has established student placements with the Royal Botanic Garden since 2000 and with the Explorers Garden for the past four years, said Dr. Raymond Barclay, director of the Global Studies Program.

"The summer internships in Scotland provide a unique opportunity for our students to learn horticulture at one of the most famous gardens in the world," Barclay said. "Early discussions with the RBG staff began in 1998, which led to our first student placement in 2000."

Barclay says he works closely with Leigh Morris, head of the School of Horticulture at the RBG, who coordinates and assigns the horticulture students to various work placements throughout the garden. The students also have the opportunity to work at the RBG's regional gardens in Benmore, Dawyck and Logan.

Benmore is the Argyll's mountainside garden and Dawyck is home to some of Britain's tallest trees in the Borders of Scotland. Logan is considered Scotland's most exotic garden in Galloway.

The Explorers Garden in Pitlochry is relatively new, Barclay said, and is a tribute to the early Scottish plant explorers, who risked their lives traveling the world in search of new plants and trees. He said Julie Corden, the garden supervisor, works with our students and designs a highly organized schedule of work activities at the garden as well as visits to other gardens in the Scottish Highlands.

Barclay said horticulture students interested in participating next summer should contact their academic adviser during the fall semester.

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