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- AgCenter researcher named life member of horticulture society
(02/26/16) BATON ROUGE, La. – Charlie Johnson, professor emeritus of horticulture in the LSU AgCenter School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, has been awarded life membership in the Louisiana State Horticulture Society.
Johnson served on the AgCenter faculty from 1980 until his retirement in October 2015.
Johnson’s career focused on developing fruit varieties, including several peach varieties during 16 years at the AgCenter Calhoun Research Station near Ruston. He also developed some of the first watermelon varieties to have disease resistance.
Johnson also resurrected the AgCenter fig program, which released the fig varieties LSU Gold, LSU Purple, Champagne, Tiger and O’Rourke. Another fig variety, Scott’s Black, was just released, and a seventh variety will be released in 2016-2017.
Johnson’s most recent research has been in breeding ornamental plants, including a collection of vitex germplasm. He has also worked with AgCenter faculty on other ornamental plant releases, including hibiscus, parsley hawthorn and duranta.
The Louisiana State Horticulture Society is a statewide organization comprising individuals involved in growing plants, creating gardens and developing landscapes.
The LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture