Portland Trip

Students from BYU-Idaho's horticulture program visited the Portland area
in June 2008 to explore jobs in the industry and network with potential
employers. Stops included, The Portland Classical Chinese Garden, Seven
Dee's Landscapes, Nike's Corporate Campus and Studio Concepts. Studio
Concepts designs and produces all of the floral floats for the Portland
Rose parade. All of the color on the floats is created by adhering
flowers, foliage and botanical materials to the float. Some of the
materials used include: popcorn, lentils, cracked wheat, onion seed,
flax seed, sesame seed, lavender, pampas grass, rice, coconut, corn
meal, raspberry powder, corn meal and a myriad of cut flowers and of
course lots of roses. The Floral Design Students worked for 3 solid days
from 9:00am-11:00pm and did such a fantastic job on their 6 floats that
they were invited to design for the Tournament of Roses Parade in
Pasadena, California this coming December, a very prestigious
opportunity. Well Done!!!

Five senior horticulture floral design students (Crystal Lyman, Sabrina
Law, Emily Gale, Christa Beaty, and Tyanna Jones) were invited to design
the fresh flowers on the floats. These students were the exclusive
floral designers for 6 floats and assisted on 3 others.



Information on the parade can be found at the following web site:

Rose Festival

Farmer's Market Idaho Falls

Students from the Horticulture Department have been involved in the
Idaho Falls Farmers market for over 3 years. It is all part of their
class room experience. Students learn how to grow and market, produce,
flowers, trees, shrubs and potted plants. It's been a great experience
for them because they are applying what they learn in class. It is a
living lab for them. Many students who have been involved in the market
have built industry contacts, been invited to speak at conferences and
have developed a better understanding of career pathways. The Idaho
Falls Farmers Market is held every Saturday 9-1 April thru Oct. at the
Key Bank parking lot down town.


Following are quotes from students:


Zack Lee, British Columbia, Canada said, "Working at the Farmers Market
was a highlight during my time here at BYU-Idaho. It taught customer
service as well how to run a retail outlet. I recommend that all
students given this opportunity should take it.



Seth Morris, Ventura, California said, "The Farmers Market is a
wonderful opportunity for students to learn the basics of retail and
expand their comfort zone. I had a great time and learned a great deal
at the farmers Market.

Student Career Days March 2008

For student career days we came in third place Nationwide this time and less than 10 points behind second! We are really proud of our students and we had many first place winners in the individual competitions.

More upcoming events

Brother Dewey and Brother Toll are also taking a group of students to the California Pack trials from March 26- April 9. We will meet and network with industry leaders, tour horticulture facilities and learn about all the new plant and greenhouse introductions for this past year. This is also a great opportunity for the students to make contacts for internships and future jobs.

On the 29th Brother Romney will be taking a group of floral students for a week on a trip to Southern California to study the floral industry.

The PLANET TEAM

The PLANET TEAM will be leaving March 25 - 30 for Atlanta to defend their title as #1 - that's NUMBER ONE! in the Nation. Brother Nelson and Brother John are preparing with the students for a great time!

ValleyCrest

The Horticulture Department has had a lot of great companies visit on campus this semester. It has been wonderful to develop these long term relationships.

I recently was invited to attend a faculty summit at Valley Crest in Los Angeles California. They offered great seminars on the future of the industry.

We were able to meat and network with other horticulture faculty from across the nation. We also visited various valley crest job sites and toured their corporate head quarters. It was really exciting to meet leaders in this industry. We appreciate the support they give to our students and to the horticulture department.