The BYU groundskeepers uprooted the annual summer flowers to make room for new growth on Sept. 23.
The annual flowerbeds on campus are switched out twice a year: in mid-May and mid-Sept. During the fall planting, BYU Grounds employees will be planting 32,110 bedding plants for the winter and just under 78,000 bulbs that will bloom next spring.
Anne Stahmann, BYU landscape manager, said that they space out the planting for different seasons.
“There’s an early, a mid and a late season of bulbs, so they come up at different times,” Stahmann said. “The bulbs are always our favorites to kind of play with, because you get three seasons out of one planting.”
Because of the different blooming seasons, a single flower bed can cycle through half a dozen different color combinations before spring is over. Stahmann said beds are designed by one of 14 gardeners on campus, whose inspirations range from sunsets to ice cream flavors.
“It is always like a new and exciting design,” Jonathon Jensen, a UVU student who works on BYU Grounds, said. “You get to try out different flowers that weren't there last year and see how well they do, and sometimes it looks really good.”
Once beds are designed, it is up to BYU Grounds employees, like Jensen, to make those plans a reality.
Jensen stated that there are a variety of considerations when planting a bed. Bulbs need to be planted six inches down and arranged by height, color and season to make sure the beds are always full.
“It is always so unfortunate that the students all come back and then we pull out the flowers,” Stahmann said. “It’s mostly for water and temperature purposes.”
In mid-October, the campus watering system is shut off to prevent pipes from bursting as the first winter freezes begin, and the plants need time to establish roots before then.
The transition between seasons is not without its perks, as the grounds employees let students pick flowers as they work.
“As long as it's not slowing us down too much, it's fun to spread some joy and put a smile on people's faces,” Stahmann said.
Kennedy Taintor, a sociology and German major, saw a friend walking around with a handful of flowers he’d gotten from the flower beds outside the library.
“I went over and picked some flowers, and there were a ton of people over there,” Taintor said. “It's kind of fun ... all those people with their little bouquets.”
During replanting, flowers from the previous season were sprinkled around campus; even the library security desks sported blossoms in little plastic water cups.
“People walk by, and they compliment [the beds],” Jensen said. “It just feels like we're doing something important here, making the campus a beautiful place.”
So, when the flower beds are full and blooming again, take a moment to stop and smell the roses — or daffodils, hyacinths and pansies.