The Arboretum at Murray State University celebrated Arbor Day 2012 on Saturday, April 28. The event began at 10 a.m. with a presentation by Dr. Winston Dunwell, noted expert in the world of ornamental horticulture. A question-and-answer session was held following Dunwell’s remarks.
Light refreshments and guided tours of the Aboretum were available. The event was free and open to everyone.The Arboretum at MSU is situated on Pullen Farm just off Doran Road, with the entrance located at the intersection of Hickory Drive and Locust Street.
Dunwell is the extension horticulture specialist for nursery crops at the University of Kentucky’s Research and Education Center (UKREC) in Princeton, Ky. He came to the position in 1979 with a special area of interest in developing educational programs related to sustainable ornamental plant introduction, propagation, production, pest management and utilization.
He has developed the UKREC landscape into a small botanic garden for evaluation of ornamental plants.
Dunwell established the Nursery Crops Development Center to carry out trials on cultivated and native plants with unique characteristics of special interest to the nursery/landscape industry and the gardening public. The goal of the center is to increase the product mix at the nursery, increase the number of plants available for the landscape designer’s palette, and be useful in environment conservation and restoration.
A native of New York, Dunwell grew up where farming consisted of growing either nursery crops or vegetables. He worked in the nursery/landscape industry throughout his teenage years and part time through military service and postsecondary education. He is a graduate of the State University of New York-Farmingdale and the University of Wyoming. Dunwell earned the Ph.D. at the University of Idaho where he worked on the effects of cold stress on ornamental plants.
The Arboretum at Murray State is a fully-accessible horticultural display, public garden and education laboratory that consists of five major parts — open woodlands, savanna, open prairie, oak/hickory forest and wetlands — plus, display and community gardens.
Many of the operating expenses for the Arboretum, including the expansion of the gardens, are funded through donations. Students, individuals, families and organizations may become members of the Friends of the Arboretum. To find out more about joining Friends of the Arboretum and levels of donation, contact Paul Radke in the office of development at Murray State at (270) 809-3940 or by email at pradke@murraystate.edu.