After three days of sitting in classes, students looked forward to getting the chance to get their hands dirty and propagate plants. Learning the biology of plants and all the extensive ways to propagate them made us even more excited to get to planting. Students broke into different groups based on their research groups and headed off to the University Greenhouse. After taking a short tour of the different parts of the greenhouse, including special rooms for exotic plants needing extra care, the time finally came to start propagating our plants! Marigold, parsley, and basil seeds were planted into a medium consisting of peat, coir, and pine bark and then they were labeled with students’ names so that they can check up on their plants during their stay.

Accompanying the activity of planting seeds was a pleasant tour through the University gardens. The gardens were developed around 30 years ago and many of the old features are still there. There are also many renovated features including a garden devoted to plants that sustain themselves, meaning minimal garden work. Otherwise, upkeep for the rest of the gardens falls to university students studying horticulture. Students were also taken through many different parts including water features with koi fish and gold fish. Overall, the garden and greenhouse tour was a much-needed and very enjoyable break from the classroom!

Elise LeVan, Josh Brown, Megan Delene, Kyle So, Caroline Elpers