Plants, Places and People

Horticulture and Landscape Architecture

Colorado State University

October 2022

Dr. Mengmeng Gu

HLA Department Head

In the recent International Plant Propagators’ Society-North America Southern Region conference hosted by University of Georgia Department of Horticulture, I was very pleasantly surprised to ‘meet’ three HLA colleagues, Dr. Jen Bousselot, Shannon Mason and Zach Johnson. One of CSU online students’ mom told me how much her daughter enjoyed Dr. Bousselot’s HORT100 AND the lab. Max, a graduate at LSU told me how much he had enjoyed Shannon’s class. John Hoffman, the owner of the largest ornamental grass nursey in the nation, asked me whether I knew Zach Johnson (of course, I do!), because he was really impressed by his dedication to students through collegiate landscape competition hosted by National Association of Landscape Professionals. That’s our HLA national recognition!

HLA Fall Fest

We had a blast, to say the least. We had a visit from a flying dragon. Drs. Tony Koski and Allison O’Connor did an amazing job with the succulent pumpkins. Many thanks to our Student and Social Committee led by Dr. Jessica Chitwood-Brown, Karen, Lori, Sam, Tony, Sarah, David, Jim and Katherine.

New Social Media Chief

Catherine Ford has started working in us to promote HLA on social media platforms. She is creating personnel spotlight Infographics for our HLA social media pages. Please fill out the information here https://forms.gle/2Yx77oxEiFK9FuhR6.

HORT 412 Visiting Arrowhead Dahlias

Shannon Mason teaches HORT 412 Floriculture Crops. She took students on a field trip to Arrowhead Dahlias, a 4-acre family run flower farm situated along the Platte River on the Front Range of Colorado on October 5.

Field trips like this are great opportunities for students to experience real-world production and management practices.

Women in Horticulture

On October 6, Colorado Nursery and Greenhouse Association's Women in Hort Luncheon took place at Denver Botanic Gardens. I heard inspirational stories from Mandy Gerace, CNGA President, Bridget Bloomquist, DBG and Lindsay Squires, Tagawa Garden Center and the best part is meeting HLA alumni, such as Sheila and Emily, both at Arbor Valley.

Keynote Address by ASLA CEO

Oct. 11. We welcomed students, alumni, and local professionals to join us for a keynote address by the CEO of American Society of Landscape Architects, Torey Carter-Conneen in the Bernard Rollin Knowledge Well, followed by a reception in Aggie Commons.

Solar Panel on Hydro at Spur

Oct. 12. Dr. Jen Bousselot and I got to tour the roof top of Hydro at Spur campus with two graduate students. Solar panels were being installed. Dr. Jen was super excited about all the rooftop agrivoltaics research possibilities. A week later, she was attending CitiesAlive 2022 in Philadelphia with FIVE of her graduate students.

Homecoming gathering

Oct. 14, ‘Adopt a plant baby’ by Drs. Tony Koski and Allison O’Connor was well attended at the Oval. Their line was LONG! Student Organization of Landscape Design and Contracting also had a very nice booth.

CSU Student Ambassador is a role model!

Read more about Jazmin, a sophomore majoring in Environmental Hort with a concentration in Landscape Design and Contracting and a minor in Horticulture here.

Fall All College Meeting

Oct. 20. HLA had a very good presence at the Fall All-College Meeting in the Bernard Rollin Knowledge Well of the Nutrien Agricultural Sciences Building. We heard updates from university, college and department leadership, including Interim Vice President for Engagement and Extension Kathay Rennels.

Hort Extension PRU meeting

Oct. 26. The statewide Extension horticulture faculty met to discuss various topics, including the overall "state" of horticulture in Colorado, language justice with outreach and education, and conversations about programming at Spur.

Consumers’ favorite by Dr. Jim Klett

What nine plants made the list? Here’s the answer. Congrats to the CSU Trial Gardens for the ESP Distinguished Team Award! Extra congratulations and kudos to Dr. Klett!!

Opportunities

Nov. 10 Nutrien Day----Nutrien reps will be tabling on the first floor inside the south entrance of Nutrien Ag Science building from 11am-2:30 pm, offering swag and bagels before lunch.

1. There's still time to apply for a paid internship program through the American Floral Endowment (AFE). The deadline for the Mosmiller Intern Scholarship Program has been extended to Thursday, Dec. 15th.

2. Nutrien Distinguished Scholar of Agricultural Sciences (Due Dec. 5).

3. Lots of opportunities are available for the ASHS 2023 conference (Orlando; July 31 – August 4).

a. Professional Awards (due Feb. 4)--- Hall of Fame; ASHS Fellow; Outstanding Extension Educator; Outstanding Graduate Educator; Outstanding Industry Scientist; Outstanding International Horticulturist; Outstanding Researcher; Outstanding Undergraduate Educator; Outstanding Leadership and Administration; Professional Early Career.

b. Student Awards (due Feb. 4)--- ASHS Scholars Award (Two annual scholarships of $1500); ASHS Graduate Student Scholars Award (Two annual scholarships of $1500)

c. March 15th deadline for Oral and E-Poster Abstract submissions

d. April 1st deadline for Early Career Competition submissions

e. More information on ASHS Awards will be provided in a live webinar “ASHS Awards - How and why you should nominate your colleagues” on November 17th at 2:00 pm EST. ASHS members can register here https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iHVkM9rxTrejZAt2WFswaA

Where was the Department Head?

· Oct. 6--- attended CNGA Women in Hort Luncheon; visited Blanchard Winery in Denver.

· Oct. 10--- visited Gulley Greenhouse.

· Oct. 11--- ASLA CEO Keynote, Reception and Dinner.

· Oct 12--- DBG collaboration; Spur campus and Tagawa visit.

· Oct 12-13--- I had a great conversation with Sarah and Teresa at SLV, and learned a lot about potato certification. After the Colorado Certified Potato Growers Association meeting, Mr. Jim Ehrlich of Colorado Potato Administrative Committee toured the packing facility of White Rock Specialties, LLC in Mosca, CO with Dr. Jessica Chitwood-Brown and myself.

· Oct 16-20--- attending International Plant Propagators’ Society-North America Southern Region conference hosted by University of Georgia Department of Horticulture.

· Oct 20--- provided HLA update at Fall All-College meeting.

· Oct 25--- meeting with new faculty and staff in CSU Extension and CAS.

· Oct 26--- meeting with Advisory Committee for HLA Landscape Design and Contracting concentration.

Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Seminar Series

Every Tuesday from 12-1:00 p.m. Nutrien 163

Microsoft Teams meeting

Click here to join the meeting