James Wilhite, owner of Wilhite Landscaping and Lawn Care Ltd., will be the guest speaker for the SFA Gardens’ monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series, slated for 7 p.m. May 10 in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.
Wilhite became hooked on gardening at the age of seven when he took a shortcut through a neighborhood nursery on the way home from school. He purchased a seedling petunia in a peat pot, brought it home and, with the help of his mother, planted it. The rest, he explained, is history.
In 1980, Wilhite graduated with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from SFA before moving to Tyler. He spent several years in production horticulture before starting his own company. Wilhite Landscaping has around 50 full-time employees and provides a complete line of landscape services to Tyler and the surrounding areas.
Wilhite served as past president of the Texas Association of Landscape Contractors, which he helped merge with the Texas Association of Nurserymen to form the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association.
The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month and includes a rare-plant raffle after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series fund are always appreciated. Parking is available at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center and next door at Raguet Elementary School, located at 2428 Raguet St.
For more information, call (936) 468-4129, or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.
