Hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos) was the main species worked with to develop elite selections based on foliage color, flower color and pest resistance through traditional breeding, ploidy manipulation, and inheritance testing. Induction of polyploidy was tested by soaking 1,397 seedlings in an oryzalin solution over several dates during Spring and Summer 2017. Approximately 6.6% of treated diploid seedlings were converted to tetraploids and were crossed with select genotypes of their natural diploid form. Approximately 5,300 putative triploid seed were recovered from crosses, and from the 2,004 seed sown 2018 and 2019 there was a total of 433 seedlings identified as triploid (~22%). The remaining approx. 2,300 seed were not sown due to contraints of resources and time, and the priority of seed that was sown was based on likelihood of triploid status. Two trial plots were planted with replicates of 25 Hibiscus spp. and H. moscheutos hybrid genotypes at the University of Georgias research sites in Blairsville and Watkinsville, GA in 2017. These plants were evaluated during the growing seasons of 2017 and 2018 for feeding damage from the hibiscus sawfly (Atomacera decepta), which can devour susceptible genotypes if populations are left unchecked. Genotypes having a greater amount of pubescence on foliage had less feeding damage than those with glabrous leaves. The inheritance of several phenotypic traits (e.g., foliage color, foliage pubescence, flower color) of intraspecific H. moscheutos subsp. moscheutos hybrids and interspecific hybrids of H. moscheutos subsp. moscheutos with H. moscheutos subsp. lasiocarpos and H. grandiflorus were evaluated. Results indicate a red foliage phenotype is controlled by a single locus with a dominant allele for red foliage to green foliage among and within the two subspecies of H. moscheutos. Outside of the work focusing on Hibiscus spp., the tissue culture propagation method of somatic embryogenesis was evaluated using dormant buds and immature fruit of a select genotype of Liquidambar formosana but was not successful. This selection was released as the cultivar Formosan Gold from the ornamental breeding program in 2018. The efficacy of two plant growth regulators (PGRs) at different rates via treatment of the native swamp sunflower (Helianthus simulans) was investigated for reducing overall plant size for greenhouse production. The first experiment was initiated 25 June and the second 7 Sept. 2018 and results from these experiments suggest a substrate drench application of paclobutrazol at 6.0 or flurprimidol at 4.0 mg a.i./pot can be used to produce smaller plants compared to non-treated plants, which are ideal for the ornamental market. Lastly, the visually-uniform shrub Illicium parviflorum was subjected to gamma irradiation to induce mutations. Cuttings at three different stages of growth (i.e., soft-, semi-hard-, and hard-wood) over two years were irradiated and evaluated as rooted cuttings. Two irradiated clones have demonstrated a slight degree of distinct morphology.