Garden Innovations: New Plant Developments from NC State University

Over the centuries, plant breeding has transformed and vitalized agriculture, civilization, and our gardens. And, we have barely touched the surface. The Mountain Crop Improvement Lab team has been working tirelessly to develop new plants with enhanced utility, sustainability, and dazzling garden appeal.

Meet Thomas Ranney, JC Raulston Distinguished Professor, NC State University

Tom has been a faculty member at North Carolina State University since 1989. He lives, works, and gardens in the Mountains of Western North Carolina where he has the good fortune to lead a plant breeding program at the Mountain Crop Improvement Lab in Mills River, NC. He and his team have introduced 80 new cultivars including mainstream crops like rhododendron/azalea, dogwood, flowering quince, hydrangea, deutzia, spiraea, and miscanthus to more obscure hybrids like desert orchid and mountain schimlinia ‘Schima Lina Ding Dong’.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher N.C. Cooperative Extension, New Hanover County