BYU grounds crew ready for Spring

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    By Lindsay Clark

    The snow has melted and the sun has started to shine. Spring is here and it”s flower time.

    “During the winter all you see is white and everything is so dull,” said Shelly Morgan of Orem Floral.

    Flowers can brighten people”s day and that is what the spring season is all about, she said.

    BYU”s ground crew is also gearing up for the spring season and flower time.

    Roy Peterman, director of BYU grounds, said flowers will dot the campus as soon as it gets warm enough.

    “Typically we plant the spring flowers in the fall, and the summer flowers in the spring,” Peterman said. “The pansies are already in the ground and the bulbs are ready to pop out.”

    As far as the effect flowers can have on people, Peterman likes to take a deeper approach to his way of thinking.

    “I think we can view each flower as a creation,” he said. “In the Pearl of Great Price, happiness is described as being with God and doing what He does.”

    Peterman said the purpose of grounds is to create an atmosphere of inspiration and learning.

    “We think we are fulfilling our purposes and reaching our goals with the work we do and are apart of this intricate circle of what happiness is all about.”

    Peterman said grounds will plant hundreds of flowers this semester, hoping to beautify the campus and inspire onlookers.

    To some, flowers can bring a sense of happiness and a variety of other emotions.

    According to the aboutflowers.com web page, in a recent study done at Rutger University in New Jersey, the presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affects social behavior in a positive manner far beyond what is normally believed.

    For Julie Mackay, a home gardener in Orem, flowers put her in high spirits and they are definitely something she associates with spring.

    “I love looking for signs of new flowers and colors; it just puts me in a good mood.”

    Whether planting your own, or seeing them on campus, flowers are a sure sign of spring.

    “Flowers represent a rebirth and a newness of life just like spring does,” Mackay said. “Plus they make me happy and they”re just so pretty.”

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