Students at Allan Hancock College now have a special outdoor laboratory they can use for both learning and leisure. A group of staff members, faculty, and volunteers recently finished planting more than 50 varieties of shrubs, flowers, and succulents in a new botanical garden on the college’s Santa Maria campus. Located behind the science building, the garden includes species from several different global climates.
Biological sciences instructor Mary Perry, along with staff members and instructors from the life and physical sciences department, designed and planted the 9,600-square-foot garden. It showcases plants from seven distinct regions, including Mediterranean, California native, arid desert, tropical, Texas/Mexico, California coastal, and the Oregon coast. There’s also a section for flowers, featuring sunflowers and the California poppy, and a collection of rocks for geology students to study and identify.
The garden is sustainable, with recycled materials, drought-resistant plants, and drip irrigation installed to conserve water.
Perry said in the release she sees the garden as a place where students can get hands-on experience, but also sit and relax. She also hopes to expand the
This article appears in Dec 31, 2009 – Jan 7, 2010.