Madison Yocks ’23 was just a sophomore in high school when the seed was planted for what would later become a blossoming career in horticulture.
As a teenager in Decatur, Yocks was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities, ranging from volleyball to band, but she soon realized she wouldn’t be able to devote her time to all of them. After weighing her options, Yocks decided to leave the band to focus on volleyball. With the removal of band, Yocks then had a blank space in her schedule that needed to be filled.
“The school filled my next semester schedule with horticulture, and by the second or third day, I knew that it was what I was going to be doing for the rest of my life,” said Yocks. “Being around and working with the plants made me so happy.”
From then on out, Yocks was dedicated to learning more and being involved in horticulture. Following high school, Yocks spent two years studying and earning her associate degree at Parkland College. Initially, she planned on continuing her education at the University of Illinois, but after working with her academic advisor, Yocks decided to pursue her passion for plants at Illinois State.
Yocks transferred to ISU in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to help fully adjust to life in Bloomington-Normal during this challenging time, she took a lighter class load and got a job at Growing Grounds, a local garden center. As an employee, Yocks got to spend more time doing what she loved, and she developed an affinity for indoor and tropical plants.
In the following semesters, Yocks became more involved on campus as a horticulture and landscape management major. As the president and treasurer of Horticulture Club, Yocks traveled to the National Collegiate Landscape Competition, where she partook in plant identification competitions.
“For the competitions, I always did interior plant identification. They give you a list of 200 plants, but you’re only shown 50 plants. You get about a minute per plant to identify the common name, scientific name, have the proper capitalization, and the proper spelling,” said Yocks. “My first year, I placed second overall and my second year, I placed fifth. It was an exceptional experience, and I had such a good time.”
In addition to Horticulture Club, Yocks also got involved at the ISU Horticulture Center, where she worked under Jessica Chambers, the Director of the Horticulture Center. From completing an independent study to working part-time, Yocks spent a great deal of time volunteering there.
“Madison was such a gem to work with. She really knew houseplants. I’ve never met a student who knew houseplants like her. She was so passionate about the work she was doing, and she worked to get other students to take part in the greenhouse,” said Chambers.
As Yocks time at Illinois State came to a close, she was on the hunt for a job, and little did she know, a last-minute trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens would impact her career.
“I grew up going to the Missouri Botanical Gardens because my grandparents live in St. Louis. One day, my boyfriend, who lives in Texas, flew into St. Louis, and we had some time to kill. So, we decided to spend some time at the gardens,” said Yocks. “While we were there, I noticed some pests in an exhibit, and I planned on emailing them to make them aware. However, while I was visiting the website looking for an email to contact, I happened to stumble open their job openings. I decided to apply, and I had an interview scheduled that same week.”
Before she knew it, Yocks was offered a full-time position as Horticulturist II in the Climatron, a major exhibit featuring the first geodesic dome to be used as a conservatory. Since opening to the public in 1960, this climate-controlled greenhouse has been the home to over 2,800 tropical plants that Yocks works with daily. Little did Yocks know she would be able to pursue her dream of working with tropical plants right here in the Midwest.
“Every morning, we test the PH and hand-water all of the plants, which is a large part of our integrated pest management,” said Yocks. “This process takes about two to two-and-a-half hours, but it’s calming and beneficial. It allows me to be up close and personal with the plants.”
After watering the plants, Yocks’ schedule varies by the day. Sometimes she has meetings or educational presentations to attend, and other days, she spends time updating the Living Collections Management System, an organizational system that tracks everything from the exact coordinates of a plant’s location to its origin and any maintenance done on it.
“With how fast tropical plants grow, they have to be constantly taken care of. There are some days I go into the Climatron with plans to spend maybe an hour working on a plant bed, and before I know it, I’ve spent four hours in there,” said Yocks.
In addition to her day-to-day work in St. Louis, Yocks also gets the opportunity to take her skills to teach and learn from others abroad. Within her first six months at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, she was presented with the opportunity to travel to Columbia for the Botanical Bridges Congress. At this conference, horticulturists from across the globe, including Yocks, came together to discuss challenges the industry is facing and how to combat them.
“It was so inspirational to hear from people all over the world. I’ve never been around so many people who have the same ideas, interests, and a mission to preserve and reserve plants,” said Yocks.
Yocks and her team also got the opportunity to visit Columbian botanical gardens to offer their expertise on several issues the horticulturalists there were facing. Additionally, Yocks assisted with a workshop to teach other attendees about the Missouri Botanical Garden Ex- Situ Field Collection process. During this workshop, Yocks collected seed samples to showcase the best practices and schematics of planning a field collecting trip.
Typically, when taking trips of this sort, Yocks would partake in the seed collection of critically endangered plants to try and conserve these species by growing them back in the United States. However, due to policy issues, they were unable to do so on this trip to Columbia.
“Usually, after receiving extensive permits, we propagate the plants and try to grow them here. It will take a couple of years, but if we’re able to grow these plants and bring them back to life, we can share them with other botanical gardens, including the ones we got them from,” said Yocks. “Conservation horticulture is a whole different ball game. It’s for a greater purpose and it’s very fulfilling.”
As Yocks works to preserve these species of plants, she also works to preserve the industry that is near and dear to her heart.
“Horticulture is becoming a dying industry, and we’re really trying to combat this with education. We do a lot of outreach at the Garden. We have tons of schools that bring their kids on field trips, and we use this as an opportunity to start them early and educate them on what horticulture really is.”
With her blossoming career at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Yocks hopes her story and work can plant the seed of inspiration in the next generation of horticulturists.
