Madison Yocks ’23 is doing her part to save the planet by propagating one plant at a time.
As the lead student organizer for this year’s Horticulture Center Plant Sale, Yocks dedicated the past several months to growing hundreds of starter plants from seeds or cuttings—including vegetables, herbs, and flowers—in Illinois State University’s Ropp Agriculture Building greenhouse.
After spending up to 20 hours each week diligently nurturing the seedlings, Yocks, a horticulture and landscape management major, is excited for the plants to take root in gardens across Central Illinois this spring.
“It’s rewarding to be able to watch them all grow up and then to know they’re going to someone who wants to watch them continue growing,” Yocks said.
In its fourth year, the annual Horticulture Center Plant Sale is an opportunity for local gardeners to fill their plots and pots with organically grown plants while supporting Illinois State’s Horticulture Center. Plants can be purchased online May 7-May 18. Remaining plants can be purchased in person on Saturday, May 20, from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the parking lot behind the Ropp Agriculture Building.
“The plant sale is like the essence of the center,” said Horticulture Center Director Jessica Chambers. “Ultimately, we’re trying to connect people to nature, and that means a whole bunch of things. It could be through prairie plants, it could be through houseplants, it could be through growing and cooking tomatillos and peppers.”
Each of those diverse types of plants are grown for the sale, and most of the proceeds will be used to purchase more plants for the Horticulture Center. Located off West Rabb Road in Normal and open to the public daily from dawn until dusk, the 23-acre center is a living laboratory that students, faculty, staff, and community members utilize to learn about plants and their care through hands-on practice and research.
“It’s important work, especially when you consider endangered plants,” Yocks said. “As horticulturists, we bring those populations back. Like, we are saving the world, in that aspect. But it starts little, at a university greenhouse doing a plant sale, and it snowballs from there.”
A transfer student from Parkland College, Yocks began volunteering at the Horticulture Center when she arrived on campus for her junior year.
“I love the satisfaction of being able to watch the plants grow,” Yocks said. “Through propagating, being able to see it grow and multiply 10 times over—it’s really satisfying.”
Work on the plant sale is a nearly year-round, team effort that involves students, staff, and community members. After last year’s sale ended, students and volunteers spent months cleaning and disinfecting containers for this year’s seedlings.
In the fall, two student workers—Joe Tulley, a junior recreation and park administration major, and Anna Benson, a senior at Bloomington High School—developed and began maintaining a detailed spreadsheet of the hundreds of seeds Chambers purchased for this spring’s sale. A particularly useful column for Yocks indicated when each plant’s seeds should be planted to be ready for a May 20 pickup.
“That made my life a lot easier,” Yocks said.
Perennials, prairie plants, and cotton needed to be planted in March, while cucumbers could wait until early May. Taking care of hundreds of seedlings became a time-consuming responsibility that Yocks took personally—even on Friday nights or Saturday mornings.
“Plants need to be checked every single day,” Yocks said. “Things dry out at different times. I might not have to water all the tomatoes today, but the peppers will be watered today. I have to come in, or they’re going to get past their wilting point.”
Yocks’ extensive experience gained through the plant sale, the Horticulture Center, internships, and Department of Agriculture coursework helped her land an “amazing” full-time job, post-graduation, that she begins this summer with the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.
As a horticulturalist at the nation’s oldest botanical garden, Yocks will help maintain the garden’s 79 acres of horticulture display, interact with visitors and answer questions, and even travel to biodiversity hotspots, such as Madagascar, to collect plants and seeds for the garden.
“Every single thing that I’ve been involved with at ISU helped me get the job,” Yocks said. “I’m very excited to get started.”
And although she will be in St. Louis, Yocks is eager to watch the Horticulture Center Plant Sale, which she personally cultivated for the past two years, continue to grow.
