Eight years after he became Superintendent of the 

 Garden, George Hess 7 title was changed to that of Director. 40 

 During his twenty-eight years of service, Hess brought 

 several new dimensions to the Garden. He placed particular 

 emphasis on education, exhibitions, and plant distribution 

 as he sought to provide the Nation with a garden that would 

 stand unrivaled in this country, if not in the world. 



Eventually, he left Washington and gained additional ex- 

 perience through several different horticultural and land- 

 scaping pursuits. For several years he served as the 

 motivating force for the Boston Public Garden and later as 

 superintendent of the cemetery at Waltham, Massachusetts. 

 Hess also worked in Florida for the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



Hess took great delight in showing groups of school 

 children through the Garden and arranged special exhibits 

 for their benefit that he felt would be of particular interest. 

 These included displays of plants used for medicinal pur- 

 poses, plants mentioned in the Bible, and plants whose prod- 

 ucts were used in the home. Once these were prepared, he 

 then invited teachers throughout the Washington area to 

 bring their classes to the Garden to take advantage of these 

 special offerings. Hess personally conducted the children 

 through the Garden until interest in his programs grew to 

 the point that it was physically impossible for him to do it 

 by himself. 



Numerous articles appeared in the Washington Star 

 between 1910 and 1925 describing the special events occur- 

 ring at the Garden and the many plants that might be found 

 on permanent exhibition there. These stories gave Hess 

 ample opportunity to share proudly the Garden's most 

 unusual holdings with the Star's readers. 41 Given such 

 favorable publicity, it is not surprising that attendance dur- 

 ing the Hess years was consistently high, especially for the 

 Sunday openings that he initiated in 1915. 



Hess was also the first Director to hold regular seasonal 

 displays. His initial poinsettia show in 1916 was a huge 

 success, attracting 3,000 visitors on opening day. That success 

 started a tradition of Yuletide displays that has continued 

 to the present. 



40 41 Stat. 431. 



41 Mary Hughes, U.S. Botanic Garden Shines Brightly in Shadows of 

 Bureaucratic Jungle, Florists' Review, v. 168, September 28, 1978, p. 102. 



43 



