My work at Cornell Botanic Gardens has been a constant thread through my Cornell career. Since joining the Learning by Leading (LxL) Horticulture Enterprise as a team member my sophomore year, and now serving as a Co-Leader for the team LxL has shaped my Cornell experience.  

An experience throughout the years that sticks out to me in particular is our flower bulb preparation project. Last year, we purchased bulbs in the fall and planted them in a soil mix. These planted bulbs were then placed in an industrial cooler and left to stratify (a process that breaks plants' dormancy) over the winter. After their stratification process was completed, we then arranged the bulbs into floral arrangements and sold them to help raise money for our program.  

This entire process taught us a different perspective on propagation, one that we had not done in the past. We followed a crop planting cycle and learned how much planning and attention to detail it takes. In the fall of my junior year, I took a plant propagation class, and we learned all about the process. Although we were unable to do this as a lab, I’m glad I got to apply my knowledge through this project. I’m extremely excited to share what I learned in class with my team of volunteers as a Co-Leader this year.  

I’m forever grateful for the experience this gave me as a team member. Now, I get to do this all again as the Co-Leader for our team! We have a lot of fun plans for the year. This year, we will focus on developing a cut-flower garden bed. The entrepreneurial possibilities with these flowers are endless. In addition, we will keep propagating plant material for plant sales, as well as repopulating our bioswale that was recently dredged and requires replanting.

Shameless plug — purchase your bulbs from Bloomin’ Bucks with Brent and Becky’s Bulbs. Choose to order under "Cornell Botanic Gardens", and 25% of your order total will come back to support our program. You can buy bulbs at any point during the year. With your help, we can keep learning and having fun!  

-Nathan Rhoads '26

Learning by Leading Horticulture Enterprise Co-Leader