Horticulture mini-course focuses on plant pollination

Sex in the Garden, a five-week mini-course in the horticulture department, teaches the ins and outs of plant breeding.

Dale Lindgren, professor of plant science department of University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is teaching the course Wednesday in Plant Science Hall on East Campus.

"We began by wanting to try this class for two years," Lindgren said.

When a grant for the plant science department came through, the first Sex in the Garden course was created. Because of its popularity, it was offered again this semester.

"We don't have any outside support this year, but the cost isn't too bad," said Deana Namuth, an assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture.

Each week, the students take a plant home to work with outside of class.

Jeff Gibbens, a freshman agronomy major, signed up for the class as an elective.

"The flyer really grabbed my eye," Gibbens said.

In class on Wednesday, students started their learning by tearing apart different types of flowers to take a peak at their reproductive organs.

Lindgren also instructed the students on how to emasculate the flower. The flower's male organs were pulled off, revealing only the female organ, allowing the plant breeder to manually pollinate the flower.

Cheri Hobson, a student attending the class for her Master Gardener program, enjoyed looking into the flowers and finding the different organs, as well as smelling the array of fragrances.

Later in the class, teacher's assistant Jessica Kelling, a UNL graduate student in horticulture, then led the students to the greenhouse to pot flowers to be used later for cross-pollination.

The flowers, snapdragons, were a mix of red, white and lavender.

It was clear why they were called snapdragons. The flowers get their name from the way they snap open and close when pinched just right, which many of the students enjoyed demonstrating.

Andrew Fullerton, a junior diversified agriculture major, chose this class to learn more about his hobby, horticulture.

"I thought there was no need to waste credits; I might as well learn something with my electives," he said.