Horticulture Trailblazer & Hampton Roads Hero, the Incomparable Asa Sims
When it came to understanding how to excel in all things gardening, renowned horticulturist Asa Sims clearly got the memo. In 1908 he arrived in the Tidewater area, a place he would call home for over six decades. Sims aspired to become a painter. Instead, the teenager enrolled in agriculture classes at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now known as Hampton University.) A position at the university greenhouse would last three decades with Sims rising to the role of General Manager.