08/09/1995

Kessler Brings Industry Knowledge to Academic Job

AUBURN, Ala. - To truly understand what another person needs, you have to walk a while in their shoes. Raymond Kessler has walked on the business side of horticulture, and he has brought to Auburn University first-hand knowledge of the needs of Alabama's blossoming horticulture industry.

Kessler, who grew up in Clayton, Ala., joined the Auburn University faculty in May and has been busy setting up a research program that will focus on production of new flowering plant varieties in Alabama.

Kessler received his B.S. degree in ornamental horticulture from Auburn in 1978, his M.S. in floriculture from Mississippi State University in 1980 and the Ph.D. in floriculture from the University of Georgia in 1989. He held a post-doctoral position at the Iowa State University until 1991 before taking a job in the floriculture industry in Indiana. In between degrees, he also worked in the floriculture industry in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

According to Kessler, he and his wife wanted to come back to the Southeast, and coming back to his alma mater made the move even sweeter. "My wife and I were really ecstatic that we could come back to Alabama," he said.

Alabama's horticulture industry should be ecstatic, too, since Kessler's research programs are focusing on new options for the industry. He is exploring new plants for greenhouse and nursery production in Alabama.

"The nursery industry in Alabama has been growing more rapidly than Alabama's greenhouse industry, though there are a few large greenhouse growers in the state," said Kessler. "The Horticulture Department has noticed that there is a demand for larger container flowering plants, both perennials and annuals. Landscapers have been coming to the nursery industry and asking for these plants, and the growers have realized they need to know more about which plants to produce and how to produce them."

To meet this need, Kessler's research will focus on the production of herbaceous flowering plants grown in both greenhouse or nursery settings. He will be investigating new varieties for production in Alabama, including such perennial garden plants as cone flowers and black-eyed Susans.

According to Kessler, some of these plants already are being used in Alabama landscapes, but there are hundreds of other plants that might be introduced into the state. The first step is to find out which of these plants will grow in Alabama, which Kessler will do through trial gardens, then to help commercial growers find the best ways to produce these plants.

He noted that Alabama has a potential edge over the northern states for production of these plants because of our warm climate and long growing season. His research may provide a way for Alabama producers to tap into those advantages, and the result could be a more beautiful and economically strong Alabama.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Katie Jackson, 334-844-5886 or smithcl@auburn.edu

August 9, 1995