Most plants that are planted on the grounds at Holden Forests & Gardens, especially at the Arboretum spend time in the nursery.  Many plants we propagate here, but we also purchase some in from growers both near and far.  These plants may be here from a few weeks to a few years depending on their end use. 

But how do we get these plants ready for the horticulturists to plant in the garden? Because we are a living museum, every plant is accessioned into the collection so that we can track and have accurate records of what we have, where it came from, where it is located on the property, etc. The nursery has an inventory of what plants are located here.

When the horticulturists and the Collections Curator decide to plant a plant, the Curator lists these plants on a Planting List with their accession number.  These lists are sent to me, and nursery staff print out labels to tag these plants for each specific garden. After we have located and tagged the requested plants, I send the list to the respective horticulturist letting them know that they are ready for planting.

Once the plants are planted in the ground, the horticulturists update the list with the new location and then sends it to the Plant Records Curator.  He takes the list and updates the plant records database indicating that the plant has moved from the nursery to its specific location in the gardens. The Planting List is an important tracking tool for keeping accurate curatorial records.