Jim Orband: Horticulturist

Gardening can present a lot of unique challenges that require us to be flexible, from hurdles like unpredictable weather to hungry wildlife. Horticulturalists like Jim Orband have spent years learning the best ways to deal with these obstacles to make their gardens the best they can be. 

Jim started out gardening with his father, who was far more concerned with the useful aspect of gardening, focusing on vegetables. Although his father influenced him a lot, Jim eventually branched out to growing flowers as well. 

“I thought it was always interesting because my dad would say, ‘If you can't eat it, don't grow it.’ But Dad, Dad taught me a lot about vegetable gardening. Then I expanded to azaleas. I grew my mom's roses.”

People often will ask Jim to give them tours of his garden, because of his expansive horticulture knowledge, which he happily accepts. 

“Since I've done the labels on the plants, they're taking pictures of the labels next to the plant so that they can go home and maybe reproduce a situation…in their landscape. Very glad that I could be a part of that sharing of gardening expertise.”

A film by Joshua Wingard.

Produced by Kendahl Huber.