 Graham F. Blandy bequeathed 700 acres of his 900 estate known as Blandy Farm to Virginia to use horticultural research.The farm's first director, Orland Emile White, established the arboretum a year after Blandy's death and upon White's retirement in 1955 it was named in his honor upon his retirement.Early research focused on cytological reconstruction of plant phylogenies and the consequences of irradiation-induced mutations.