New Semester!

So, classes started back this week for the fall semester and I am so excited about what this year has to offer.  All of the students in the Public Horticulture Program are taking a class together: Experimental Methods in Horticulture.  This class is going to be so informative and helpful in setting up and continuing our research studies.  Probably what I am the most excited about in this course is the prospect of learning about writing grant proposals.  I have always been so intimidated by that process, but after this course, we will be prepared and that will help us to get funding for not only our research projects here on campus, but also  for any endeavor we choose to take on in our careers post academia.

Along with beginning classwork, all of us are getting started with our TA assignments.  This is always so much fun for me—I have discovered through this program that I really enjoy spending time with students and teaching them especially in hands on projects and landscape designs.  It is so rewarding to help a student have an “Ah-ha!” moment.  This semester I will be working closely with Hilary Heath in assisting teaching for both Intermediate Landscape Design and Interior Plants & Floral Design.  These were two of my most favorite classes to take as a student and I can’t wait to meet the students and help them from the other side.  

Please tune in next week for updates from Monte as the semester really gets going!

You can call me DOCTOR!

Saturday was my last day as a student at Auburn University. The arrival of the day was bittersweet, as I'm excited about completing the Public Horticulture Program and about what the future holds but I am very sad to leave this amazing job and all the wonderful friends I've made in the Horticulture Department.

During the last 3.5 years I've had the privilege to be a part of implementing the Public Horticulture Program at Auburn, to complete a huge research project and it's accompanying 300 page dissertation, to design 2 Public Gardens, to travel to 7 new states and 1 new country, to meet many new people in the public horticulture world and to discover all that it has to offer, and so much more.  These years have been some of the most eventful and enjoyable of my life and I look back on them with much joy and thankfulness.

Just a few days ago I walked across a stage and officially became Dr. Ann Fleener! I am incredibly excited about this and about where I'm heading next. After 24 years of school I am ready for a break, albeit a short one, and I plan to head out west to visit some friends in Colorado and then to drive down the west coast from Vancouver all the way to San Diego.  I'm so excited to visit several gardens in these areas and to explore a part of the country that, except for attending ASHS a couple weeks ago in California, I have yet to see.

Butchart Gardens, Vancouver Island

Denver Botanic Garden, Denver

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco

After returning from that trip I plan to settle into a job in an Education Department at a Public Garden. I have several applications out at garden's across the U.S. and am waiting with anticipation to hear from them. I will let you know the moment I accept a job but for now I'm just excited to be closing this chapter and taking a break for a bit.

War Eagle!

Ann Fleener