A guided tour of these facilities is arranged for our interns. The furthest we travel is northeast in Illinois to tour Chicago Botanic Garden. As part of the Cook County Forest Reserve, this botanic garden offers a commanding display of horticulture. At day's end, we retire to our hotel and the following day includes tours of the Morton Arboretum and the private garden estate of Col. James McCormick, known as Cantigny Gardens. On our return, the seed trials at Ball Seed Company allows us to evaluate perennials, seed grown and vegetatively produced summer annuals introduced for that year.
Interns always enjoy our visit to our good neighbors in Kansas City at Powell Gardens.
A botanical garden since 1988, it gives interns insight into a developing and beautiful private garden on the western edge of Missouri. Horticulture interns benefit from diverse experiences during a summer with us. This should include exploring their field of interest beyond our own Garden walls. These trips, the many networking opportunities available, the hands-on practical work experience, the projects they're assigned, even interns rooming together, all combine to become a positive part of their education process and helps to launch them into careers in their chosen professions.