About Dr. Leon C. Snyder

Dr. Leon C. Snyder joined the University of Minnesota staff in 1945 as an extension horticulturist, traveling throughout the state. He was promoted to head of the Department of Horticultural Science and superintendent of the University Fruit Breeding Farm in 1953, and also appointed the first director of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in 1958. 

Under Snyder's leadership, the Arboretum blossomed to include public gardens featuring thousands of species evaluated for cold hardiness and landscape value. He wrote a weekly gardening column for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, had a monthly call-in program on WCCO radio and was the author of several gardening books. Snyder nurtured the Arboretum into a place for research, education and public outreach and his legacy lives on today. 

Learn more about the Leon Snyder Heritage Society