School of Professional Horticulture in the Field: Brenden Armstrong
Posted in People on October 11 2011, by Brenden Armstrong
In their second year of the School of Professional Horticulture’s program, students go on six-month internships which allows them to expand their horticultural skills and to work on their professional development skills Brenden Armstrong wrapped up his internship at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., and will graduate in March 2012. SOPH students are required to write a monthly report from their internship. Brenden’s report from the month of August is below.
August was another eventful month at the National Arboretum. I’m beginning to love it here, and have thought more about if I would like to end up in this neck of the woods. The work environment is great, the people are wonderful, and D.C. has a distinctive culture that I enjoy. I’m glad that I have been able to experience it with Luis (another SOPH student) because we have become close friends now and I think he’s fallen in love with this city.
I have taught my last class at Bread For The City and feel lucky to have had that opportunity. I learned a lot about how to teach horticulture in a practical and meaningful way. Teaching has also been useful in reinforcing what I have been taught while it has allowed me to include my own ideas as well. I enjoyed the experience and would like to continue teaching in the future. Who knows maybe someday I’ll get to teach SOPH students!
I have continued to learned new plants, among them are many wonderful native plants. I’m glad that I have been able to study in such a landscape that is as diverse as the National Arboretum is. There are tons of wild-collected plants from all over the world, but also many that were collected in the United States. I used to dislike over-hyped native plants, but after my time here, I have come to love them.
A few of the plants I’ve seen are:
Rhamnella franguloides
Magnolia acuminata
M. macrophylla
M. ashei
HUGE Magnolia grandiflora
Vitex rotundifolia
Various Quercus spp. from Azerbaijan
Viburnum nudum
Hopefully all this exposure to plants will prepare me for our Plant Identification final. I can’t wait for it, it will be such a great way to wrap-up our knowledge about the plants we have learned. Once you can identify a plant, it gains so much meaning. It’s like learning the name of someone you have seen around frequently; suddenly you understand who they are. I’m glad that I have come to know so many plants.
I have one month left in my internship, and it will be gone before I realize it. This has been the most amazing summer of my life and I’ll be talking about it forever. SOPH has really hit the nail on the head with the required six month internship. It has not only prepared me professionally, but also given me perspective on what we have learned during the program. It’s been great and I look forward to completing the internship so I can see all my wonderful classmates once again in New York.
Photos from Bread for the City on Flickr.
