Getting Educated Horticulturally Speaking

I came back from the Kentucky Nursery and Landscape Association Conference a little wiser than I was before. Here's a few tidbits of interesting horticulture information:

• The infamous Callery pear was an introduction from the USDA Lab in Beltsville MD. Shame on them. Invasive pears are now ubiquitous around Washington DC. The Mama plant at the lab had to be cut down -- guess why? -- it was falling apart.
• For every 1.8 degree F increase in temperature, our electricity use increases 2.4%. Urban trees are great at cooling the environment and should be used to help reduce energy consumption.
• Sadly, budgets for urban forestry programs are down 40%
• The US has the greatest diversity of ash in the world (and watch out, here comes emerald ash borer)
• The Chicago Botanic Garden was built on a swamp and had to built up in a series of islands. They have a new building which is covered with rooftop gardens which are accessible to the public.