I've spent the last week at Cornell, just 40 miles down the road from Auburn. Each year the university hosts an event called the Seeley Conference, a floral think tank. By invitation only, about 100 very significant florists, growers, flower importers and people from other floral disciplines gather to discuss the state of our industry.

Normally, participants come from Canada, Holland, Ecuador and Colombia.

We often have participants from Ethiopia, China and Thailand. All are major players in the floral industry. Academia was represented by the University of Virginia, Texas A&M, the University of Florida and, of course, Cornell. This year the topic was “Chaos.” Where is the flower industry in these turbulent times? How does our industry address the problems caused by the worldwide economic meltdown? Are flowers still relevant? (Yes). And this year a lot of talk about our using social networking to reach customers.

But for me, the best part of the whole week is when it ends and I get to spend a couple of hours at Cornell's world famous gardens, “The Plantations.” Set just north and east of the College of Agriculture, the gardens comprise some 4,000 acres of land set aside for ornamental horticulture. Since there is never enough time to tramp through the whole area, I concentrate on the floral gardens. They are magnificent. It is only 40 miles away, a trip worth taking on a leisurely afternoon.

Park your car and head for the gift shop. It has a nice selection of books on flowers and plants, shirts and gardening items. Ask them to give you a parking permit and hang it on your car mirror. It is free. A ticket will cost you $15. The entry area at the shop is a botanical garden in itself. The beautiful beds are accented with pots of eucalyptus, grasses and all manner and sorts of different plants. Today the acanthis is in full bloom, bold flowers on strong green foliage. And the plants in pots display seems to be heavily concentrated with plants with red foliage, coleus, alternanthus and beautiful pots of croton (they'll go in a greenhouse in the fall). The newest plants I have seen all weekend are the red-leafed oxalis (large leaf clover). They are in here snuggled among the amaranthus and under a beautiful red leaf Japanese maple.

Now go through the wisteria-covered arbor, with its several benches for relaxation and contemplation, and head for the herb garden, a large lawn area fenced in by a 3-foot stone wall, all bordered with exciting types of larger herbs, there are four raised (stone bases) flower beds each featuring a different type of herb; for cooking, dying, medicinal uses and another for fragrant herbs.

Everything is labeled: English and botanical names. In the center of the beds is a handsome sundial on a pedestal. I saw beds of lavender, both French and English, medieval and antique herbs and bees, lot of bees. As you look out of the herb area and over the stonework, you'll see a large area devoted to flowering shrub and perennials. In this ever-changing garden, surrounded by low hillsides, you'll find huge rose plants, many of them in bloom and off. The whole garden is set in a hollow to protect it from the severe Ithaca weather and to take advantage of the morning and afternoon sun.

And one thing is very evident. I will have to return to Ithaca to have a look see at this veritable oasis of plant beauty.

Carmen Cosentino operates Cosentino's Florist with his wife, Anne Marie, and daughter, Jessica. He was elected to the National Floriculture Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2008, received the Tommy Bright award for lifetime achievements in floral education . He can be reached at cosenti@aol.com