Celebrate National Garden Month With These Hall of Famers

As the weather warms up and flowers begin to bloom, you may find yourself looking to nature for inspiration on everything from outfits to activities and even invention! You’re not alone – at the National Inventors Hall of Fame^®, we’re also thinking of new ways to explore this spring by celebrating April as National Garden Month. The best way to start? Learn about these awesome Hall of Famers and their plant-related inventions! Then, put a plan into action for your own nature-inspired project.

Pamela Marrone

Entrepreneur and entomologist Pamela Marrone created effective, environmentally responsible, nature-based products for pest management and plant health that have transformed farming while protecting the planet. Driven by a love of nature from an early age, Marrone earned a doctorate degree in entomology and went on to found companies including AgraQuest Inc., Marrone Bio Innovations and Invasive Species Corporation. She has led the development of groundbreaking products including Serenade^®, the first broad-spectrum EPA-approved biofungicide for crops including blueberries, cherries, green beans, peppers and walnuts!

George Washington Carver

Agricultural chemist George Washington Carver might be most known for his peanut products, but his innovative crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in soil and his discovery of hundreds of new uses for crops revolutionized the entire field of agriculture. From a young age, local farmers recognized his ability to improve the health of fields and crops, and as he grew up, he continued to study new ways to improve agriculture. With the success of his crop-rotation methods, he noticed farmers had a surplus of peanuts and sweet potatoes, so he found alternative uses for these crops. His largest success was with peanuts – developing 325 different uses including milk, cooking oil, paper, soap and wood stains.

Sylvia Blankenship and Edward Sisler

Horticulturalist Sylvia Blankenship and biochemist Edward Sisler identified 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), a novel compound that significantly extends the freshness and storage life of fruits, vegetables and cut floral products. The co-inventors’ work has both reduced food waste and allowed us year-round access to fresh fruits. In fact, their 1-MCP product known as SmartFresh^™ is used on more than 30 different crops, including 50% to 70% of the apples harvested in the United States!

Spring Into Action

We hope you’re feeling inspired by these planet-changing innovations and the visionaries behind them. If you’re ready to test your own green thumb and make your corner of the world a bit brighter, we encourage you to check out our blog to help you start your own garden or compost.

Keep Exploring

To meet more incredible Hall of Famers, we encourage you to check out our website!