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Bilderback to Direct Arboretum

Dr. Ted Bilderback, a horticultural science professor, has been named director of the  J.C. Raulston Arboretum. He has served as interim director since 2009.

In the early days of the Raulston Arboretum, Bilderback worked closely with the late Dr. J.C. Raulston, for whom the arboretum is named, and his students planted many of the older arboretum specimens and the older holly border.

Bilderback joined the horticultural science faculty in 1977. From 1987 to 2009 he was a North Carolina Cooperative Extension nursery specialist. He continues to serve as an educational adviser to the North Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Emporia State University and a doctorate from Kansas State University.

Bilderback’s research led to the development of cost effective and environmentally conscious cultural practices for growing nursery plants. Using distance education courses, workshops and publications, his extension programs introduced new technologies to the nursery.

The Raulston Arboretum, located on Beryl Road, is a working research, extension and teaching garden dedicated to evaluating, selecting and displaying plant material from around the world.