Promoting
plant education in a practical way
Brooke
Tacker, posted Oct. 3, 2006
 |
A
bed of petunias grows outside of Jesse Hall in the Francis
Quadrangle with Swallow Hall in the background.
Photo
by Kyle Spradley. |
Standing
on Rollins Road looking north towards Jesse Hall, Swamp White
Oak Trees line Mel Carnahan Quadrangle on either side. A white
color shines from underneath the leaves topped by bright green,
highlighting the height of the dome that sits a top the biggest
administration building at MU. This straight-shot view with
Jesse Hall in the center is a dominant feature on campus,
Pete Millier, director of Mizzou Botantic Garden said.
“The
unique blend of plants and architecture on MU gives off a
strong sense of place,” Millier said.
MU campus is a registered botanic garden according to the
criteria given by the American Public Gardens Association.
In an average year, between 600 and 1,000 new trees and shrubs
are planted on campus, according to the Mizzou Botanic Garden
Web site. Many new long-lasting herb plants and several thousand
annual flowers are also planted each year.
These plants are strategically placed. Big shade trees over
major walks, streets to promote the vision of a tree-lined
America and subtle placements designed to get people on sidewalks
and keep them on sidewalks, Millier said. The location of
this botanic garden on a college campus, however, presents
unique challenges with maintenance.
“We
have 35,000 visitors everyday,” Charles Paxton, Landscape
Services assistant superintendent said.
Many events and activities are hosted on campus and Landscape
Services takes it as a compliment when these are held outside,
Millier said. “But, it is still a lot of wear and tear.”
Another challenge Landscape Services faces is the new Plants
of Merit program in which Mizzou Botanic Garden recently became
a full partner. Plants of Merit is a program that was created
in 1999 to “promote the planting of the tried-and-true
plant performers in Missouri,” according to the fall
200 edition of “The Leaflet,” a newsletter from
the Mizzou Botanic Garden. “The MBG Web site will contain
plant accession records and a greater volume of educational
information that can be distributed in print; virtual tours
of our plant collections, including the Plants of Merit, will
ultimately be offered.”
The biggest hurdle in this is making the accession records
available, over the Internet mainly, Millier said.
Paxton is also the curator for Mizzou Botanic Garden, meaning
he keeps these records. The plan is to combine GPS with campus
mapping so that when someone sees a plant on campus that he
or she wanted to identify or find more information about,
then that person could go back to a map and identify that
plant. Additionally, with trees, facts such as how long ago
it was planted and how fast it will grow could also be examples
of the information provided.
This would be useful for research also. Millier gave a scenario
of a scholar in China who is studying American Elms. On the
MU campus, there have been many introductions of American
Elms that are disease-resistant. The information on these
elms could be available to anyone, anywhere via the Internet,
Millier said.
“The
huge infrastructure of MU allows for programs like this,”
Paxton said.
Landscape Services works with many different groups on campus.
The Plant Sciences department, Mizzou Botanic Garden, Recreation
and Tourism classes, School of Engineering and the Columbia
Missourian are among the partners.
In addition to a map of the botanical garden, Landscape Services
also provides brochures with information on Plants of Merit,
different tree trails that have been mapped out on campus,
the butterfly garden around Eckles Hall and developing a personal
Daylily garden.
“The
botanic garden provides an invitation to general public to
come and enjoy what their tax dollars pay for,” Millier
said. “What we do, whether botanic garden or any other
aspects, all gets back to supporting academic purpose. Not
just students, but also faculty, public and worldwide.”
