This paper summarizes the establishment and development of the new Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center (OPGC) of the US National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), its initial accomplishments, and future plans. We recount its genesis from a concept to the signing of a Special Cooperative Agreement (SCA) in 1999 between the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and The Ohio State University (OSU). The roles of the NPGS Herbaceous Ornamental Crop Germplasm Committee (HOCGC), the creation of an OPGC Ad-hoc Advisory Committee in shaping the foundation of the OPGC leading to the appointment of an interim centre programme director, and the employment of the centre director and curator are described. The Center was officially inaugurated in July 2001. At this initial stage of the Center's development, a decision was made to concentrate initial efforts mainly on four economically important genera (Begonia, Impatiens, Petunia and Pelargonium). To date, 966 accessions of herbaceous ornamental species conserved at other NPGS repositories have been transferred to the OPGC and more than 700 new accessions have been acquired. The accomplishments of the past two years of operation are highlighted, and the first year annual report is posted on the OPGC Web site: http://opgc.osu.edu.