sometimes homework is cool.

on the first day of class, dr. dennis werner informed the students in his "gardening with herbaceous perennials" class that we'd have a semester long project that would be due during the last week of classes.

we had to take pictures of flowers every week for eleven weeks. seriously.

i was looking forward to this; i love taking pictures and i love plants. but let me tell you - it is a challenge to find things in bloom in early february. i managed to find a few, and it was worth it to watch new things pop up over the weeks. in fact, i ended up with so many pictures that it was kind of a pain in the butt to organize everything to turn in.

here, i've selected some favorites from the final project to share. most are from the j. c. raulston arboretum, but i did get the chance to visit the sarah p. duke gardens in durham and the north carolina botanical garden in chapel hill. they are both great local gardens that i'd recommend anyone to visit - multiple times!

jc raulston arboretum & nc state horticulture club!

sunday i was bummed. it's the weekend. andrew is home. jane is home. little buddy the cat is home. and i am home and we're all in the house, and we are supposed to be enjoying the day and hanging out before the work week begins again. but, i'm in the office. doing homework. i. was. bummmmed.

after a couple hours of work, the door creeked open and andrew stuck his head in.
"how are you doin?"
"fine," i said. i was not fine.
"what's wrong?"
"i want to do something fun."

he asked if i wanted to go out and walk through a nursery. yes i did! what a wonderful guy. upon further consideration, i suggested the arboretum. neither of us had been, and i had to go to do a class project anyway. it was beautiful. i brought the camera along:

i can't wait to go back. it was a hot day, and andrew's stomach was talking, so we headed out after about an hour. (lunch at jasmin mediterranean bistro on hillsborough. super good.) i want to learn about how to get involved and what kind of programs are offered. i've been stalking the website since we got home: http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php. i highly recommend visiting. they also hold a plant sale in september, sponsored by the horticulture honor fraternity. i'll definitely be there!

last night, i attended the first nc state horticulture club meeting of the year. i really enjoyed it, and i am looking forward to the next one. the club goes on a few field trips each year to different gardens and nurseries. this fall they are going to ASHEVILLE (!) and in the spring they are going to THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY (!!!!!!). and they just roam around reveling in horticulture! i was geekin out last night. i prattled on to andrew and my mom and dad and to myself in the car on the way home. i would absolutely love to go, so i can't wait until the organizational meetings for the trips start happening to that i can find out more.

tomorrow is the first day of state's campus farmer's market. i am pumped.