AULNA Plant Sale
The Auburn Landscape and Nursery Association (AULNA) Plant Sale is an annual event that stands as one of the staples of the Auburn community. This year, the sale took place from April 8th - 10th, during which the organization sold a variety of plant material, including shrubs, trees, vegetables, herbs, and houseplants. As Vice-President of AULNA, part of my responsibilities included setting up and overseeing the event. These tasks included advertising, pricing, labeling, transporting, positioning and watering plants on the lot. During the event, I focused primarily on plant sales and landscape consulting for customers, though I also spent time manning the cash register, loading plants into customer vehicles, selling apparel, and helping out wherever I was needed. I volunteered a total of 26 hours over the duration of the 3-day sale.
Every year, the AULNA Plant Sale provides me a unique opportunity to apply knowledge from coursework to real-life situations. Identifying plants for customers, informing them of their characteristics, and providing design advice not only helps them in their decision-making but also solidifies my understanding of plant material and my communication skills. As an aspiring landscape architect, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of plants, their cultural requirements (how to grow them), and their aesthetic value in the landscape. Moreover, knowing how to communicate these ideas in a digestible form to customers is critical as ultimately this will determine whether or not they choose to invest in a given project.
What I also love about this sale is that it is more than just simply a plant sale: it is a time of fellowship, outreach and community service. During my time at the event, I saw advisors, department faculty, professors from colleges across the university, friends and acquaintances alike, and many families. Seeing so many individuals from different educational and demographic backgrounds gather together over plants was definitely a sight to see. Making a difference in families’ lives by providing design and horticultural advice was exciting. Arguably the most impactful for me, however, was seeing so many children learning of and expressing interest in horticulture during the sale. I feel that the general public underrates the impact and opportunity present within agriculture and the Green Industry as a whole, and this stems from a lack of exposure and understanding of what the industries have to offer. I believe that exposing children to nature at an early age is a critical step in establishing interest, awareness, and appreciation for these sectors.