Help a local high school raise money through plant sales

I can’t speak for other states or countries, but schools in California are suffering from ever tighter budgets, forcing cuts to programs that are deemed expendable. Often these are disciplines like art and music which have a far lower priority than English, math or science. Some schools are lucky enough to have parent-teacher associations which provide funding for such programs, others don’t fare so well. You can imagine that if art and music classes are on the chopping block, anything related to plants—like horticulture or landscape design—must be even lower on the totem pole.

Greenhouse at Woodland High School

My friend Sue, whose garden I profiled in this piece, has been volunteering at Woodland High School (WHS) in the nearby town of Woodland for over a year. Woodland High has commercial greenhouse facilities that had fallen into disuse after its horticulture program was cut. Working with Eric Dyer, the chair of the WHS agriculture department, Sue has breathed new life into the greenhouse and, with the help of student volunteers, has started to propagate succulents and other plants. The goal is to raise money at plant sales and farmers markets to offer more plant-related extracurricular activities for students.

Succulents in greenhouse

Succulents in greenhouse

Sue has been a gardener all her life, but she’s fairly new to succulents. However, when she saw how popular succulents have become—especially in potted arrangements that are a staple at plant sales and in higher-end nurseries—she jumped in with both feet.

Succulent arrangement in hollowed-out lava rock

Succulent arrangement in hollowed-out lava rock

Hanging succulent basket

The plants she has collected for WHS are from a variety of sources. Some were donated, some Sue bought with her own funds, and some she obtained as freebies from Craigslist and Freecycle. Since many popular succulents are quick and easy to propagate, Sue is building up a collection of stock plants which will be a reliable source of “babies” for years to come.

Sue’s stock plants

Portulaca grandiflora started from seed

Mammillaria segments

Sedum spathulifolium ‘Cape Blanco’ cuttings

Sedum makinoi ‘Ogon’ and Crassula ovata cuttings

A secondary goal of Sue’s efforts is to beautify the campus of WHS. Like the majority of schools, it was built with little attention to esthetics so anything that will break up the monotony will help. Studies have shown that the more attractive a school campus is, the better students feel, but only affluent communities have the funds for large-scale beautification projects.

Outdoor succulent bed created by Sue

Many of these plants were donated…

…or freebies

The columnar cactus (Trichocereus?) will be magnificent when in bloom

Vegetable beds created by Sue next to the greenhouses

If you live in the Sacramento area and would like to help out with plant donations, or if you know of any plant sale venues where the plants propagated at WHS could be sold, please drop me a line and I will put you in touch with Sue.

This is an opportunity where gardeners like us can step up and make a difference in the lives of high school students who might otherwise never be exposed to plants, botany or horticulture.