IU BLOOMS

Suddenly there are more people on the sidewalks and more faces that haven’t been seen in class for months. The flowers have sprouted and students are basking in the sun in the Arboretum.\n“It feels like it happened all of the sudden, the trees were suddenly prettier and the flowers just appeared out of nowhere,” sophomore Molly Kopp said. \nHowever, this heavenly atmosphere is not by chance. It is a combined effort of the Department of Physical Plant’s Campus Division as well as the Department of Facilities Landscaping Design team. \n“Our goal is to get as much color interest on campus for as long of a period as we can,” said Mike Crowe, director of the Department of Facilities. \nThe landscape team consists of 45 grounds-crew members in charge of maintenance and three nursery-crew members who also work in installation. \nThe department also hires anywhere from 25 to 45 students each summer to help the grounds crew maintain the campus.\nAll of the beautiful flowers and plants on campus are personally grown by the University in a nursery just north of campus.\n“We have been growing plants on our own because we feel we can do it better than if we were to buy them commercially,” Crowe said.\nPreparation for spring begins in late fall when the bulbs for daffodils and tulips are planted. Flowers such as pansies are planted in late February because they can withstand the weather.\n“We try to have a lot of plant variety so that we won’t have to cut back on growth during the winter months,” Crowe said.\nMost of the budget for the lush landscape is set by the University, but contributions are also made by the IU Foundation.\nCrowe said the departments are constantly thinking of new ways to improve the campus. They are planning a project to create and landscape a bike and pedestrian path on the north side of the IU Auditorium.\n“It is a lot easier to walk \nto class now and much more enjoyable,” freshman Ally Jung said. “I like to study outside now that things are \nso beautiful.”