Home | Department Info | Academics | Extension Resources | Research | News | Publications   Nittany Lion Inn Flower Arrangements If you been to the Nittany Lion Inn recently, have you admired the beautiful flower arrangements on display as you entered the front lobby? These arrangements are designed by two Horticulture undergraduate students, Mary Colson and Diane Schramm. These students are Seniors in the Horticulture Major and have taken on this project as an Advanced Floral Design Independent couse. Each week one of the students develops a concept of a new arrangement and then determines the types and number of flowers needed to complete the arrangement. Finally using the flowers they ordered, that student creates an arrangement and moves it to the lobby of the Nittany Lion Inn. A new arrangement is placed in the lobby every Thursday afternoon. During the Spring 2006 semester, Stephanie Lenhart, Patricia Stefanic, and Katie Sanford assisted Mary and Diane in making arrangements. Stephanie, Patricia and Katie are also Horticulture Majors. View a slide show of all the arrangements for Fall 2005 and Spring 2006. Click Here View a slide show of all the arrangements for Fall 2006 and Spring 2007. Click Here TJ Jastrem Hort 408 Student TJ Jastrem is looking at the cut end of a twig to see when water bubbles to the surface. The plant moisture stress pressure bomb exerts pressure on the leaf or twig forcing water to the cut surface. We use such devices to determine what level of water stress the plant is under. The more pressure it takes to bring water to the surface of the cut stem or petiole the more water stress the plant is experiencing in the landscape or container in which it is growing. Such tools can be used for irrigation management and well as other landscape and nursery diagnostic activities. Jeoffrey Kochem Undergraduate Student Undergraduate research opportunities are an excellent way for students to gain experience by applying theory they study to real world problems. This particular research project began when Jay Holcomb was talking to a greenhouse grower, Gary Hunter. Gary was interested in growing a plant called Callisia elegans on a year round basis and found that it flowered and stopped growing in the winter. He asked Jay how to prevent flowering. Jay got Jeoff Kochem involved in the research. The hypothesis was that Callisia elegans was a short day plant; thus it would flower in the winter. Gary Hunter provided vegetative cuttings to Jeoff. Jeoff placed the plants under 4 photoperiod treatments. Treatment 1 was a 9 hour day, Treatment 2 was an 11 hour day, Treatment 3 was a 13 hour day, and Treatment 4 was a 15 hour day. By November, the plants under the 9 hour day had flower buds as did the plants under the 11 hour treatment. The plants under the 15 hour day were vegetative. Jeoff concluded that Callisia elegans was a short day plant with critical daylength of between 13 and 15 hours. For more information contact: Department of Horticulture 102 Tyson Building University Park, PA 16802 Ph: 814-865-2571 Email: hortpsu@psu.edu Copyright Information This publication is available in alternative media on request. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce. This site is a product of Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. Please contact us with technical questions, comments or suggestions about this website. Last modified on 5/21/2007