BYU-Idaho Horticulture has been attending the landscape industry's "Student Career Days" for years and years now. Each year we've attended our students perform at top-notch. This year was no different. The 39th annual PLANET Student Career Days and National Collegiate Landscape Competition took place March 12-15th, 2015, at North Carolina State University. Over 850 students attended from the nation's top horticulture and landscape programs while competing in over 28 team and individual competitions (http://cals.ncsu.edu/hort_sci/scd/). Our team competed in 28 events overall, and drumroll please. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
Brigham Young University-Idaho earned the title of National Champion!!!!!!! Everybody involved- students and teachers, put a lot of time into preparing for this and their hard work really showed this year. 

The results are as follows:
1 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO 4139.80 
2 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY 4043.45 
3 CAL POLY - POMONA 3819.55 
4 COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY 3778.65 
5 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - PROVO 3708.34

Results for the events our students competed in and placed top 5:

1. 3D Exterior Landscape Design: 1 CAL POLY - POMONA WHITNEY REDFIELD 95.00 2 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO KIRK JEPPESEN 86.00 3 PENN STATE PETER CALARIE 83.00
2. Arboriculture Techniques:1 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS - AMHERST 150.00 NICOLETTE EICHOLTZ SHAYNE BRADFORD 2 PENN STATE 135.50 PAUL DECARLO ERIC MIDDLETON 3 ALAMANCE COMMUNITY COLLEGE 131.50 RENAE WILSON ROSS BAILEY 4 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO 129.00 TREVOR HAWKES & DALE SCHVANDVELT 5 NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY 
3. Construction Cost Estimating: 1 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ZACH VAN DYKE 85.00 2 VIRGINIA TECH MATT COX 84.00 3 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO ISSAC DOMAN 80.00 4 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO CHRIS LAMBERT 69.00
4. Exterior Landscape Design: 1 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - PROVO BEN PROULX 86.00 2 PENN STATE GREG SCHIVAL 84.00 3 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO KIRK JEPPESEN 82.00
5. Hardscape Installation: 1 ILLINOIS CENTRAL COLLEGE 196.80 107:30 JARRAD KULL JACOB FEHR 2 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - PROVO 196.80 109:54 LEVI JOHNSON BLAKE PUMPHREY 3 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO 196.00 JONNY CHURCH & KELLY HENDRICKS 
6. Irrigation Assembly: 1 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO 192.00 ISSAC DOMAN & CHRIS LAMBERT    2 KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY 190.00 LEVI VOGT BOBBY YOUNG 3 CHATTAHOOCHEE TECHNICAL COLLEGE 186.00 KYLE MCMICHEN JIM HUMPHREYS
7. Irrigation Troubleshooting: 1 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 200.00 ALEX HUDSON TANNER BAILEY 2 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY 200.00 BEN HARCEY PRESTON ZOELLNER 3 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO 200.00 ERIC ANDERSON & TREVOR HAWKES
8. Sales Presentation: 1 ALAMANCE COMMUNITY COLLEGE MICHAEL MASTRY 64.30 2 SANDHILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE JOEY KENNEDY 58.00 3 PENN STATE SAM ANTES 57.30 4 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO GARRETT SLEZAK 56.33 5 COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY KEITH MCCASKELL 54.33
9. Small Engine Repair: 1 ALAMANCE COMMUNITY COLLEGE MATT CASE 99.20 2 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO LANDON KNOWLES 97.40 3 NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY NATHAN GANTT 97.20
10. Tractor Loader Backhoe Operation: 1 NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY AVERY BLEVINS 98.00 2 MERCED COLLEGE JAMES PALMER 96.00 3 MILWAUKEE AREA TECHNICAL COLLEGE NICK WEBER 95.00 4 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO ERIC ANDERSON 89.00 5 SHASTA COLLEGE CHRIS LOUCKS 87.00
11. Truck & Trailer Operation: 1 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO 165.00 STEVEN KAY & RYAN MCBRIDE 2 CINCINNATI STATE TECH. & COMM. COLLEGE 163.00 006:59 TYLER TOOLE NATHAN WOLFE 3 CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE 163.00 0
12. Wood Construction: 1 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - PROVO 198.00 BLAKE PUMPHREY JEFFREY THOMAS 2 IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY 188.00 ADAM VAN EGMOND JORDAN RAUSCH 3 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO 182.00 DAVID HOKANSON & GARRETT SLEZAK 
13. Woody Ornamental Plant Identification: 1 BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY - IDAHO BEN DAHL 88.50 2 AUBURN UNIVERSITY CONNOR RYAN 87.00 3 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA WILL HEMBREE 85.00

Click here to see more details on the final results.

Of the other 15 events our students competed in, most placed in the top 10 and made huge contributions to our overall team score. Our first place win was truly a team effort and we are so proud of each of our team members. 

One HUGE advantage of attending PLANET and performing well is the opportunity to network within the industry and earn scholarship money for school. Six our students were awarded scholarships this year to fund their horticulture education.

• Kati Robinson- $1200
• David Hokanson- $2000
• Isaac Doman- $1000
• Garret Slezak- $1000
• Kirk Jeppesen- $1000
• Ryan McBride- $1000

Mississippi State University will be hosting next year and we're already looking forward to spending some time in the south.

On March 13, 2015, a few Hort students and Brother Toll travelled down to Idaho Falls to attend a seed seminar, presented by Bill McDorman of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance.

Our students that attended thought that the seminar would be about how to save seeds. But the focus was more on reasons why you should save seeds and why it's so import. They were able learn about the history of collecting your own seeds and creating your own heirloom seeds. 

Here are a few more things that our students learned:

• Local seed production makes it so that you have the correct genetics for your growing environment. Seeds are programmed for your growing climate versus ordering seeds from a different climate. 
• Seeds are the most powerful things you touch. A seeds grows into plant that produces 1000s of seeds that grow into plants that create 1000s of seed. Talk about Potential.
• Buying seeds forces you to start over with genetics. Saving seeds creates a diversity— everyone has a different set as opposed to everyone going to the store and buying the same seed every year.
  
• Some reasons why people don't collect their own seed include: it's difficult; people think it's not worth the time; they think the end result is not as good; people are afraid to make mistakes; it's easier to just buy. But McDorman emphasized that these mistakes can be beautiful and that we need to stop living in fear- especially when that fear prevents us from empowering ourselves.
• Were told about Snake River Seeds. Check them out here. 
• Libraries are starting to put heirloom seeds in their collection. You can checkout some seeds for the growing season. When you harvest that crop you save some seed for yourself and then return whatever amount of seed you "checked out" from the library. 

The highlight of the evening was before leaving Brother Toll bought gem corn seeds for our students.  

Our greenhouse and gardens have always been open to the campus and public for exploration. The horticulture students, alumni, and faculty have known this, but a large percentage of anyone outside of that don't know. In fact, anyone that has worked the Plant Shop in the MC on Fridays can tell you that MANY, many, many students don't even know where the Benson building is. Their knowledge of campus buildings ends at the Taylor Chapel. And while it is common to see people enjoying the beautiful outdoor Thomas E. Ricks Gardens, usually the only people in the greenhouse are horticulture students and faculty and occasionally a student wandering around and asking if it's okay for them to be in there. 

We’re hoping to change that with our “Explore the Greenhouse” promo. We’ve put this signage up around campus and on the school’s student message feed. 

We’re not keeping any official tracking system, but we have noticed a few more non-horticulture students trickling through to enjoy the warmth and beauty that the greenhouse offers.

And it does have a LOT to offer. Our greenhouse is divided into several [connected] houses, each serving a different purpose. 

• The head house contains the potting bench, germination chamber, soil cart, work benches, and cooler. It’s filled with a collection of interiorscape plants to keep students company while they work. 
• The breezeway connects the east and west sides of the greenhouse. Its entrance as you come through the head house is filled and decorated with Plant Shop materials.
• The east side of the greenhouse contains houses 1,2, and 3. House 1 is through the first door on the left (if you’re walking in from the head house). This is the Plant Shop’s home and is always filled with flowers, foliage, etc. for sale. Just behind the Plant Shop space is a holding space for interiorscape plants used for the Interiorscaping class. And beyond that there are several cut flower beds. The flowers in these beds are harvested and sent to the Flower Center downstairs. 
• The Flower Center, also located in the Benson Building, is staffed by horticulture students and is one of the best places in town to get a floral arrangement. 
• Moving south down the breezeway past House 1 will bring you to a set of doors that open up to Houses 2 and 3. There is no wall separating these two houses, but there a few significant differences between the two. Both houses have growing benches that are filled with class projects, student experiments, and growing assignments. House 1 has a few cut flower beds and usually is set to have supplemental lighting to extend the day length that plants experience. House 3 is all benches filled with plants. It typically runs a little warmer and dryer than house 2. Students use this difference in climate to get specific growth responses from their plants. 
• On the west side of the greenhouse across from the Plant Shop is the Hydroponic House. This room is FULL of hydroponically grown tomatoes. A recent addition has been made to the walls of this house and now lettuce is also being grown in rain gutters. The produce from this house is used to supply the university kitchens. 
• Next to the Hydroponic House is a glorified sand box. It doesn’t really have an official name. It’s a work room. A constant construction site. A practice room. Whatever you want to call it, it’s where many design/build students practice laying down hardscape construction designs. It’s a smaller space than the other greenhouses as it creates a balcony/overhead view of the Hind House below. 
• The affectionately named, “Jungle House,” is next to the practice room and across from Houses 2 and 3. It is infused with tropical plant materials, complete with a waterfall, pond, and sitting area. Most of the plants are labeled with a number. The accompanying plant names can be found on the list at the house entrance. This is a great place to study and relax. It’s also where students are quizzed on various plant identifications.
• If you follow the path through the jungle it will lead you down and around to the Hind House. This room contains a wide variety of plant material— from evergreens, desert landscape plants, and deciduous trees, foliage, and creepers. The Hind House is another fun room to explore and relax and it too is frequented for plant identification quizes. 

At the end of January the Nursery Management class attended the INLA show in Boise, ID. They had a great time meeting with several of the horticulture industry's leaders and innovative thinkers. By attending seminars during the day they were able to learn more about the art and science of horticulture and get more excited about what they study. The show is a fantastic place to network and explore future job opportunities. We are thankful to be a part of it each year, we even have our own booth! It's always fun to talk about what we do over here in Rexburg, ID. The Idaho Nursery and Landscape Association is a wonderful resource to be a part of. See their website for more information. http://www.inlagrow.org/index.html