Students
Grow Along with Their Ivies
 Esther Mobley ’11 still
has hers. So does Mary Gowins ’11.
More than a year after they
arrived at Smith as first-year students and redeemed a Botanic
Garden certificate for a free ivy plant, Mobley and Gowins
continue to cultivate their Smith plants and display them
in their rooms.
“The ivy I received last
year is still going strong,” reports Gowins. “The
plant has gotten considerably taller since last year so I
repotted the poor plant.”
There’s no telling how
many of their fellow Smithies have held on to and cared for
their ivy plants. The tradition was started by the Friends
of the Botanic Garden some 15 years ago, says Sheri Lyn Peabody,
administrative coordinator in the Botanic Garden. Each first-year
student receives a certificate for a plant in her orientation
packet upon arriving at Smith, along with a card that reads:
| “An ivy plant
awaits you at Lyman Conservatory with greetings from
the Friends of
the Botanic Garden of Smith College. Please bring this card with you. Come
in the front entrance of the Lyman Plant House and follow the ivy signs.” |
“One reason the Friends
[of the Botanic Garden] started this was that they didn’t
want any student graduating without ever having been to the
Lyman Conservatory,” said Madelaine Zadik, manager
of education and outreach at the Botanic Garden. Therefore,
students claiming their ivy plants are guided through a maze
of signs into the deep recesses of the conservatory’s
greenhouses, where their ivies await, said Zadik. An ivy
care sheet accompanies the plants with tips on how to grow
it properly.
Esther Mobley ’11 carefully
tends her ivy. |
“I thought this was a
great tradition,” recalls Mobley when she first completed
the greenhouse maze to pick up her plant. “My Mom is
an alum, and I guess they didn’t have this tradition
when she went to Smith, but she thought it was really cool.”
“The plant is a reminder
that you were here, and as the plant grows, you have also
grown,” waxes Gowins. Like Mobley, she proudly displays
her plant in a prominent place in her room—on a windowsill
in direct sunlight, as her care sheet instructs—and
dutifully waters it twice a week.
“I keep mine on the top
of my desk,” says Mobley. “I’m really proud
of my ivy plant.”
For those first-years who still
haven’t claimed their ivy, it’s not too late.
Just bring your coupon to the Lyman Conservatory by October
1, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. and pick out the plant that
will be with you for the next four years and beyond.
|
