Department of Horticulture,

Forestry and Recreation Resources

2021 Throckmorton Hall

Manhattan, KS 66506–5506

The Kansas State University Gardens are designed as a lifelong

learning laboratory to encourage environmental involvement

with the university community and the public. An ever- changing

display of plants provides an opportunity for education, research

and conservation.

NEWSSPRING 2012

The Kansas State University Gardens are located on the cam-

pus of Kansas State University at 1500 Denison Avenue, north

of Claflin Road. Quinlan Visitor Center is part of the historic

Glenn H. Beck Dairy Barn.

www.ksu.edu/gardens

Attendees to the first 2012 TuesdayTalks in the Gardens were treated to avery informative talk on Rain Gardensby Lee R. Skabelund, Associate Profes-sor, KSU Department of Landscape Archi tecture/Regional and CommunityPlan ning. Lee (pictured at right), dis-cussed urban storm water runoff issuesand solutions incorporating rain gardens.He high lighted projects he has been in-volved with in Kansas including gardensat the KSU Inter na tional Student Centerand the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan.

Tuesday Talks in the Gardens are agreat way to spend your lunch break and

explore new and different topics pertinentto the gardening experience. The inter -active talks are scheduled on Tuesdays,from 12:15-12:45pm in the Quinlan Visitor Center (with exceptions) at no

charge. However, at times space is limited, so an RSVP is required by theMonday prior to the talk you wish to attend. For more information on upcom-ing talks and to RSVP, contact Judy F.Unruh at gfriends@ksu.edu.

Future topics include Back Health(Feb. 28), Community Gardening (Mar.6) and Roses (May 22) all to be presentedby generous individuals dedicated tohelping the KSU Gardens grow! You canhelp by becoming or continuing to be aFriend of the KSU Gardens. Thank youfor your support and see you in the Gardens!

The Fall 2011 Gardens Luncheon, Re-Think, Re-Design, Re-Invent for the Hol-idays, at Colbert Hills was a huge successwith our largest attendance yet! Attendeeshad a lovely lunch and learned new ideasfor holiday decorating and entertaining.

The Fundraising Committee hasplanned the following Friends of the KSUGardens Luncheon Series events for the remainder of the year—mark your calen-dars and reply early to save your spot!

March 28, 2012

Robin Macy, The Bartlett Arboretum

Manhattan Country Club, 11:45-1:00.

$30 includes salad buffet, dessert, and

drink. RSVP by March 26.

Original Dixie Chick band memberRobin Macy willshare the story of theBartlett Arbo re tumin Belle Plaine,Kansas and delightus with her music.Her life story isamazing and youwill find out how shecame to be stewardof this historic gar-den property. Thisspecial event will fill quickly, so saveyour spot today. Visit www.bartlettar-boretum.org for more information aboutthe Bartlett and Robin.

June 21, 2012Big Pond, Little Pond,Patio Pot:Water Gardening 101Home of Steve& Lori Levin,11720 Land- scape Lane, St.George, 11:45-1:00. Boxedlunch and bev-erage includedin $30 price.RSVP by June19.

Deb Spencerfrom Water’sEdge, a watergardening re-

tailer in Lawrence, Kansas will share ex-pertise for novice and experienced watergardeners alike. Participants will gatherfor lunch beside a large man-made pondstocked with bass and bluegill to learnabout the many facets of aquatic garden-ing on large and small scales. For moreinformation about Water’s Edge, visitwww.watersedge.com

November 8, 2012Fresh Holiday Ideas for the HomeColbert Hills Club House, 11:45-1:00.$30 includes salad buffet, dessert anddrink. RSVP by November 6.

Lori Able of Ann A Lee’s, a homedécor retailer in Manhattan, will share thelatest ideas and trends in holiday decorat-ing and entertaining just in time forThanksgiving and Christmas. Lori hasgraciously offered to give 10 percent ofsales that day to the KSU Gardens! Formore information about Ann A Lee’s, visitwww.annaleesinc.com

To reserve your place at any of theluncheons, contact Anne Springer atspr@ksu.edu or 785-532-1442 (M, T, Th,F 8am–1pm). Send payment to: Friends ofKSU Gardens, 2021 Throck morton Hall,Man hattan, KS 66506.

—Lori Levin, Fundraising Chair

Friends of the KSU Gardens Luncheon Series for 2012

Tuesday Talks in the Gardens Scheduled Through May

“The KSU Gardens are an exceptionally beautiful placeto visit on our campus. I can’timagine a land grant university without public gardens because they arepart of our mission to educate students and thepeople of Kansas. We areproud of the KSU Gardens.They deserve our support.”

– Kirk Schulz, President,Kansas State University

Bidwell Family Fountain FocalPoint of Two Gardens Events

Please join us in the KSU Gar-dens Saturday, April 21, 2012at 10:00 a.m. for the dedicationof the Bidwell Family Fountain.This beautiful new addition tothe KSU Gardens is centrally lo-cated in the Conservatory Gar-den site (Phase II). This specialevent will be held during K-StateOpen House (9am-3pm). Visit

http://www.k-state.edu/openhouse/The 2012 Gardens Gala will be Friday, June 1. This year’s

theme is “Three Coins in a Fountain,” and will center aroundthis new water feature at the Gardens. Invitations will be mailedin mid April.

Attending the Manhattan Area Garden Show is the perfect way togear up for the new growing season. There are hourly educationalseminars, door prizes, great vendor displays showing off beautifulplants and best of all IT’S FREE!!!

Don’t miss out on the cool stuff

in the Ksu GarDens’ booth anD

silent auction Display.

UPCOMING GARDENS EVENTSThe 36th annual Professional Landcare

Net work (PLANET) Student Career Days(SCD) will be held on campus in Manhat-tan, March 22-25, 2012. SCD is an annualthree-day competition and networkingevent for students in horticulture programsat colleges and universities across the nation. This will be the first time for theevent to be hosted in our region.

There will be approximately 900 collegestudents from 65 colleges and universitieson campus for this magnificent horticulturalevent that also features the world’s largestgreen industry career fair. Student CareerDays provides green industry companieswith unparalleled opportunities to meet andrecruit next-generation green industry su-perstars.

Each school will participate in 28 indi-vidual and team competitions, such as treeclimbing, paver/hardscape installation,wood construction, plant identification,sales presentation, exterior and interior de-sign, irrigation troubleshooting, landscapeconstruction and maintenance estimating,

skid steer, personnel management, andsmall engine repair, just to name a few.

To make this event successful, approxi-mately 250 volunteers are required. We arereaching out to our local landscape pro-fessionals and the general public to ask fortheir help! Volunteers will be needed in avariety of capacities, from directing stu-dents to their various events to helping setup the competitive events.

PLANET SCD would not be possiblewithout volunteers and the support and spon-sorship from numerous industry leaders.

To learn more about this event and to reg-ister online as a volunteer, visit the websitehttp://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=1021.Please feel free to contact either Greg Davis,785-532-1417, gdavis@ksu.edu or CathieLavis, 785-532-1433, clavis@ksu.edu.

Scenes from last year’s PLANET StudentCareer Days competition pictured below.

Kansas State University

GARDENSConstructed and maintained

by the Department of Horticulture,Forestry and Recreation Resources

Stuart Warren

Department Head

Scott K. McElwain

KSU Gardens Director

Thomas D. Warner

Professor and Projects Director

Kim Schirer

KSU FoundationDirector of Development

College of Agriculture(800) 432–1578

Student Gardeners:

George DilleJoseph Hong

Amanda RiderChris Roesch

2011–2012 Board of Directors:

Cheryl Yunk, PresidentDeloris BerlandMarcia Cooper

Elizabeth EnglishNancy Farrar

Janice FlanaryMarilyn Galle

Lori LevinTim LindemuthJim Lindquist

Jo LyleMarti Meek

Mitzi RichardsJim RoushAnn Scott

Sharon SnyderPolly Stoecklein

Steve ThienJudy Unruh

Nathan Tinsley, KSU Student MemberRuth Ann Wefald, Honorary Member

Garden Gala Chairs:

Eileen HinkinLiz Ramsey

KSU Gardens

2021 Throckmorton

Manhattan, KS 66506

(785) 532–3271 phone

(785) 532–3273 fax

ksugardens@ksu.edu

www.ksu.edu/gardens

Hello, Friends!Not much longer now and the K-State

Gardens will once again be bursting withcolor. With the warm weather this win-ter, it definitely increases our anticipa-tion for spring. We hope you will stop byand walk through the K-State Gardens orjust come and sit for a while and enjoy.The gardens are open to the public.While at the gardens, stop by the Quin-lan Visitor Center to see the ‘futureplans’ for the Gardens.

We are currently in phase 2 of a fourphase expansion project. Phase 2 is theConservatory Garden. Future areas willinclude the Wetlands Garden, the AlumniGarden and the Children’s Garden. TheK-State Gardens will be even more beau-tiful when the project is completed!

The new fountain in the gardens, partof the phase 2 expansion, will be dedi -cated this spring. The dedication willtake place in the gardens during theK-State Open House on April 21. Watchfor more details. Hope you can join inthe festivities!

No matter if you live near or far awayfrom the K-State Gardens, we value yourFriends of the Gardens Membership. Onbehalf of the Friends of the GardensBoard of Directors, I’d like to take thisopportunity to ‘THANK YOU’ for yourGarden Friends membership. Your con-tinued support means a lot and is vital tothe growth of the gardens. In addition,thanks to those of you who support thegardens through the Friends of the Gar-dens Luncheon Series, the Poinsettia andnote card sales and the Garden Gala.

We look forward to your continuedsupport and hope you can join us at ourfuture events.

Sincerely,Cheryl Yunk, PresidentFriends of the KSU Gardens Board

From the President of the Friends

Online membershipregistration now available:www.ksu.edu/gardens

THIS IS ONE EVENT YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS!K-State to Host PLANET Student Career Days

Pavestone’s ChristmasGift to the Gardens

The KSU Gardens received a wonderfuldonation from Pavestone. The PavestoneCompany manufactures a wide range ofconcrete products to enhance commercialand residential landscapes. With the recentaddition of the Bidwell Family Fountain tothe KSU Gardens, new walkways leadingvisitors to the main gardens and up to andaround the new fountain were needed.Since we wanted to add some new productsto this area of the gardens and since Pave-stone values the educational experiencethat the KSU Gardens provides, we gavethem a call to see if they could help. Whenthey heard what we were working on, theysent five semi-trucks of Pavestone prod-ucts. What an awesome donation!

This is an exciting time for the KSUGardens. We hope you’re excited to comesee these new features and watch the gar-dens grow in around them.

To learn more about Pavestone products,go to Pavestone.com. To view a short videoabout the Pavestone delivery go tohttp://www.facebook.com/kstate.gardens

Manhattan AreaGarden ShowSaturday and Sunday,Feb. 25 & 26, 2012

Tuesday TalksFeb. 28, 12:15–12:45pmYour Back When You're Backin the Garden with ScottJohnson

Tuesday TalksMarch 6, 12:15–12:45pmCommunity Gardening in Manhattan—A Whole New Ballgame! with Chuck Marr

2012 Luncheon SeriesWednesday, March 28,11:45am–1pmRobin Macy of Bartlett Arboretum

KSU Open HouseApril 21, 9am–3pm

Iris DaySunday, May 13, noon–4pm

Tuesday TalksPlease note datechange!May 22, 12:15–12:45pmStop and Smell the Roseswith Jim Roush

Annual Garden GalaFriday, June 1“Three Coins in a Fountain”

2012 Luncheon SeriesThursday, June 21,11:45am–1pmWater Gardening, DebSpencer of Water’s Edgeat the home of Lori andSteve Levin

Iris SaleSaturday, July 28, 8am–noon

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PLANET Student Career Days is an eyeopening experience bringing studentsand professionals from all over the coun-try with the same interests and passionsto one location. I’m proud to say this yearit is Kansas State University’s turn to hostthis great event. Hosting PLANET hasbeen a huge task but I feel very privilegedto be part of this great experience and Iknow as a student this is a great place tomake connections in the industry and tointeract with other students that portraythe same passions I do. The KSU Land-scape Contracting Team and I look for-ward to making all of the currentstudents, faculty, and K-State alumniproud by placing first on our home turf.GO STATE!!!

Chris Roesch, President,KSU Horticulture Club

Pavestone’s generous donation of paving ma-terials are pictured surrounding the BidwellFamily Fountain. Scott McElwain receives de-livery of a truckload from Pavestone’s KansasCity facility.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD,VOLUNTEER, AND

HELP MAKE K-STATE’SPLANET SCDA SUCCESS!!