Mizzou shows its colors
Campus beauty earns a national award
This fall, a Mizzou team triumphed on fields of green. No, not the football team. The crew at Landscape Services had its own winning season by earning first place in the university category of the “America in Bloom” competition.
Competition judges gave Mizzou's campus a “four bloom” rating on a scale of one to five. Such ratings are high praise from a highly selective group, says Pete Millier, landscape director. “They're tough graders,” he says.
The judges, who came to campus for two days in June, looked at such factors as color, environmental efforts, community involvement and historical preservation. One category in particular caught their attention, though, Miller says. The judges highlighted Mizzou's urban forestry, including tree preservation and memorial tree programs.
Facilities and landscaping workers plant between 600 and 1,000 new trees and shrubs each year, along with several thousand flowers. They blend well-maintained nature with architecture and icons, and the Mizzou Botanic Garden covers campus. This award provides a third-party perspective on the beauty students, faculty and staff get to enjoy every day.
“Part of me really wanted the evaluation done,” Millier says. “I wanted somebody else from the outside to come in and say, 'You guys do a good job.' ”
Mizzou in bloom
There are stately specimens of the Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba) east of Lafferre Hall on Francis Quadrangle. Ginkgo has the most prominent yellow fall color of all the trees on campus.
Toadflax (Linaria maroccana) is used for an early spring display to add beauty to campus during commencement ceremonies.
Girard’s Rose Azalea, a hybrid Rhododendron, provides masses of seasonal color north of Jesse Hall.
