Southern Horticultural Laboratory

Small Fruit Research

The mission of the Small Fruits Research Station is:

• to develop new and improved cultural and management practices for small fruit
• to develop new and improved small fruit cultivars adapted to the Gulf Coast states.

Ornamental Plant Research

The mission of the Ornamental Group at the Small Fruits Research Station is:

• to develop strategies for breeding new and improved woody ornamental germplasm adapted to the southeastern United States that exhibit host-plant resistance to
  • diseases
  • insects
  • other pests
• to elucidate the genetic/genomic basis of host-plant resistance to microbes, insects, and nematodes in woody ornamentals
  • especially those characteristic of the southeastern United States
• to apply that knowledge to increase host-plant resistance, either genetically or through cultural practices.

This work encompasses classical breeding, molecular genetics, plant pathology,and entomology.