We're excited to announce this semesters industry trip to Seattle, Washington. All horticulture students are invited to attend. We'll be visiting Industry companies including Signature Landscapes, Skagit Nurseries, and Brickmann Landscaping. This is a great opportunity to meet industry leaders, build networks, and gain new experience. Please RSVP before  May 2nd to secure a spot. The trip costs $400 which includes lodge, travel, and food expenses

 
 
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On November the 7th the Hort. 322 class left, Phoenix bound. They spent the first day mostly in the car only stopping to eat and to play at Zion national park. Students loved hiking up the hill and beside the cliffs to get to that perfect spot to look down the canyon. Once back in the car they finished their first day travel to Marble Canyon, just inside the Arizona border and the starting point for the Grand Canyon. The group was off to an early start with breakfast in their bellies to the Grand Canyon. As they overlooked the Grand Canyon in sheer awe it erupted into a snowball fight. Students laughed along with professors as they joined in on the fun. After lunch on top of the rim they made their way to Phoenix, AZ. You would think they would have slept off their excitement, but not Horticulture students. The group was rearing to go bright and early in the morning. At Mountain States nursery they went to see their operations. Students learned about trademarks and patents on plants as well as irrigation solutions to problems. Some students’ favorite stop of the trip was AAA landscaping. After a tour of their office they heard some valuable advice from the owner as well as employees. With hard hats and orange vests they drove to Sky Harbor International Airport where AAA landscaping was working to put in an extensive landscape.  After a long day they settled for some grub and sleep. In the morning they headed over to the University of Phoenix Stadium where they got to play on the field and hear about how the whole field retracts out of the stadium. Later they traveled over to, Berridge nursery to see the many different plants the Phoenix area can paint with in their landscapes. Next they went to see Mayesh Florsist Wholesale. Not only were the floral students ecstatic about the many bundles of flowers, but all the students were excited to see and handle them. Before heading to Las Vegas, NV they stopped to see the Desert Botanical gardens. The next day students and faculty met with Plantworks to see their botanical replications. This company has grown to service many hotels in Las Vegas with their products. It’s hard to tell the difference between the their artificial plants and others live plants. That evening students and faculty toured downtown Las Vegas to see the many creative designs inside and out of the buildings. Click here to see more pictures.

 
Sawtelle trip 10/14/2011
 
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September 21st was the Plant Culture class’ Sawtelle trip. Students rode in a caravan of vans, making various stops along the way. The first stop was at the St. Anthony sand dunes, where the students discovered Dune Grass. They learned how and why it grows in the sand. This was their only freebie for the trip, for the rest of the stops Brother Dewey would not be handing out answers; he phrased all of his sentences very carefully. After a few more stops of looking at sagebrush and cattails, they finally stopped off near a wooden bridge. The bridge was built over a part of the Warm River that housed fish bigger than your own arm. They stay there because tourists feed them bread, and it’s illegal to fish there. The students all tossed out bread and some even hopped to the furthest rock out in the water and let the fish eat out of their hands. The question for that stop was why are there no trees on the hillside on the other side of the river, but behind them there’s a whole forest of trees? Eventually they got up to Mesa Falls and took in the sights. Soon they were on their way to their last stop. Driving up the mountain’s switchbacks was filled with anticipation to reach the top. Once up there you could see everything. After taking photos, the class discussed the yarrow that was growing there and why it grew so close to the ground. Finally after a fun trip the whole class made it back to the school. for more pictures click here.

 
 
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Bryan Randall, a junior studying production, has been fighting off the aviators swooping down to steal a taste of his small fruits garden near the orchard. Bryan is in charge of collecting data which includes the fruit of many cultivars growing on the outskirts of the orchard. Some of the types of small fruits that are there are 23 varieties of Raspberries, 16 varieties of Strawberries, and a few different cultivars of Gooseberries, Currants and Josta berries. All of the different cultivars are being researched to see how well they grow and produce fruit here in Southeast Idaho. The raspberries are almost done producing but the strawberries are starting to see a second wave of fruit. Bryan has recently put together long planters together to be positioned on top of the trellises bordering the strawberry beds. Next spring the trellises will be covered in grapes with lots of color atop of them. The strawberry beds are meant to meander through, head up there while the weather still permits it and take in the relaxing walk it creates.
 
 
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This weekend Boise will be holding the 81st State of Idaho Floral Convention. The convention has opened their doors to our students. There will be demonstrations, seminars, workshops, and more. Fill out the form below, and if you have any questions you may Contact Sis Infanger in-person or by e-mail.
 
Potager Garden 09/13/2011
 
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Its Harvest time here in the horticulture department. Terri Lee, a production student, has been spending most of her time recording information on the many different cultivars growing in the Potager on the east side of the Apple Orchard. A Potager is a form of gardening that creates a formal Kitchen garden. There are pathways, shape designs, and even a maze made out of everyday fruit and vegetables. In the last Six weeks Terri has harvested almost 700 lbs of Summer squash and is just now coming into her winter Squash. She has planted 76 varieties of tomatoes and 43 different peppers. She also has a specialty heads of lettuce, quite a few varieties of cucumbers, celery, carrots, and even eggplant. Terry has harvested 105 lbs of cucumbers since July 15th with the Mini white cucumbers being the best yielding. Mini white cucumbers are a sweet variety great for sandwiches, snacks, and salads. On August 29th we were all excited as we discovered our first watermelon ready for the picking. Harvest time is what makes everything worthwhile. Our plant friends give back for all the hard work we’ve endured tending to them. If you have some extra time definitely head up to the Potager and see what has been growing and the things you can do in your own backyard.
 
 
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This past Wednesday, June 29th, BYU-Idaho Department of Horticulture had the wonderful opportunity to host the Regional Master Gardener conference of our area. The Master Gardeners were from all over the southeast Idaho area and a few even from out of state. The day was packed full of many seminars that our own Horticulture faculty taught alongside of the University of Idaho faculty. Some of the classes included: Espalier and Fruit Pruning, Small Garden Big Harvest, Turf Grass Management, and Plant Propagation. After sitting in the Orchard for a delicious lunch catered by the BYU-Idaho Food Services the Master Gardeners were just beside themselves. They loved our campus and were awestruck at our many different gardens. The most talked about garden was the Italian garden, with its detailed walls and wonderful plantings some Master Gardeners just didn’t want to leave. See more Pictures here.

 
 
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Come and kick back with your fellow Horticulture students and faculty at Bro. Romney's house for the end of the year social. It will be held on the 13th of July from 6pm-8pm.  We'll have Bro. Dewey's famous steaks and more. Please RSVP so we know how many people to accommodate for and bring your immediate family(no roommates please) to have some end of the semester fun.  The address is 4328 North 740 West Rexburg, ID 83440.   North 740 West is a dirt road and once down it, his house is just after the bend .There is a map below to  find it.
 
 
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Bro Dewey, his Horticulture 201 class, and Bro. Toll all left for Utah early on Tuesday morning to introduce beginning horticulture students to different career paths in the horticulture industry.  They arrived in Provo at BYU where they met Max Darrington, the Provo Campus Arborist who taught them how to climb trees, and a little bit about his job and he let them even practice their climbing skills on some of the larger trees. After finishing they headed to Intermountain plantings, a design build/maintenance firm, to hear from Seth Reed, (a former BYUI Horticulture Graduate) who manages the commercial design build aspect of the company. He took them to downtown Salt Lake City to look at all the work Intermountain Planting is doing at the city creek project,.  Next they headed down to Lehi. In Lehi they went to Thanksgiving Point  to see Tony Latimir the Head Gardener. They saw all the different garden styles created at Thanksgiving Point. The students really loved the Italian water fall. The Students then headed back to the motel to gain some rest for the long day ahead of them. The first stop of the day was at Meadows Brooke Design where they met Ginger Belnap, a Residential Designer and a former BYUI Horticulture Graduate, who took them to different landscapes she has designed. Later they headed over to Rio Tinto Stadium to hear from Nick Takas, the Sports Turf Manager. They toured the facilities and saw the stadium mowed. The next stop was Modern Display, an Event Planning Company, where Raylynn Johnson an Event Designer/Florist showed them around and spoke with them about the large events her company puts on. Finally they ended up at Willard Bay Gardens where Owners Barney and Della Barnett talked about the in’s and out’s of Retail Nursery’s and each student was given a perennial plant to take home by the Barnetts. See more pictures here.
 
 
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Students and Faculty Left on the 16th of May for a 12 hour drive over to Portland, Oregon, a week long tour of the Horticulture industry in the Northwest. Near the end of their drive they stopped off to see the Multnomah Falls and take the Scenic Falls drive.  The students loved seeing the scenery and even climbing into old tree trunks. On the 17th one of the highlights of the day was seeing the Japanese Garden and the Classical Chinese Garden. Students were excited and awestruck by the architecture and the landscaping in the Gardens. On the 18th they visited Iseli Nursery, a nursery production company and Pacific Landscape Management, a landscape management company.  Other stops included Dennis’ 7 Dees Landscaping and retail nursery, where Bro. Toll picked up some strays to add to the jungle greenhouse. The 19th was the talk of the Department. The students tested their sea legs and went crabbing in the Grand Pacific Ocean at Newport, Oregon. Miquela Moreno said “Crabbing was a lot of fun; it was interesting that we could only keep the Males”. After an eventful Friday they all headed back to Rexburg to continue the semester in classrooms.
See more pictures here.