Wheaton Wire

Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Photo courtesy of Diane DeMelo and Jane Young Former student Kaitlin Gorman tends to the plants in the green house. In this picture she performs pest control to make sure the plants are safe and healthy.

The greenhouse is offering a community-wide open house and repotting clinic on Friday, Dec. 5 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. The open house, which is the second of four that the campus offers every year, will allow residents of nearby towns and of the Wheaton community to visit the greenhouse, which is not normally open to the public.

Visitors attending the open house are suggested to bring their own plants to the repotting clinic. Soil and pots will be provided by the greenhouse. The greenhouse staff will demonstrate and teach proper house or office plant maintenance.

The greenhouse is maintained by Greenhouse Caretaker and Biology department staff member Jane Young and a team of students with either Federal Work Study or Wheaton Work.

According to Young, "the greenhouse serves many roles on campus," including hands-on classroom study. Students studying plant biology, introductory biology, environmental science, and genetics use the greenhouse plants in their labs. The lab is also used by students who are doing independent research or thesis work. Currently, student projects are ranging from the "dormant seed bank study to erosion prevention and pest control."

Apart from science, the greenhouse is also used by art students for sketching and photography. According to Young, the nursery school also makes regular visits to the greenhouse and Young herself visits to nursery school to give presentations.

The open houses began in 1994 in order to increase community outreach. Local garden clubs, public school classes, and home school students were invited to visit. The greenhouse has a small region of the greenhouse where Young sells plants to the community in order to maintain and renovate the greenhouse when the need arises.

The greenhouse, which consists of two houses located behind the Science Center, was built during the 1960s from an Esso Education Foundation grant. One of the houses is kept warm and dry and the other humid in order to increase the variety of plants that the greenhouse can maintain.

Other open houses this academic year are scheduled on Wednesday, March 18 and Friday, May 5. According to Young, "turnout for the open houses is variable, depending on the weather, day of the week, time of day and time of the year." However, Young is constantly working to increase community visibility of the greenhouse. "I keep a sign in log to constantly improve attendance. Many folks from the neighboring communities attend every open house offered."

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