Central Michigan University

Educational oasis: Alum helps create living classroom

By Sarah Chuby, ’03

James Fabiano Sr., ’65, watched college students teach children hands-on lessons about plant life when he visited the Chicago botanical gardens. And he thought, “This is something that Central needs.”

Fabiano, CMU trustee emeritus, met with President Michael Rao and biology chairwoman Claudia Douglass to show them where he’d like to see the CMU Botanical Gardens.

“We walked to the pond area in front of the University Center and between the library and Washington Street,” Douglass says. “Mr. Fabiano told me he envisioned a beautiful garden that was used to educate students. Then he announced he would financially back the project’s start-up.

“I had to do a double take. I’ve been (in the biology department) since 1976, and I’ve wanted to do something with that area for quite some time. I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

Fabiano knew where he wanted the garden and what purpose it would serve, but he left the plant choices up to the experts.

“He said to ask the faculty what they would like to see in the garden – what they could use for teaching,” Douglass says. “The faculty gave me several plant lists – nature study plant lists, aquatic plant lists, ecology plant lists. In the planning stages, we needed to incorporate those plants in the garden.”

Areas in the botanical gardens, which will be named after Fabiano, will include:

• Native Plants and Natural Communities Gardens – emphasizing the rich diversity of Michigan’s natural flora.
• Children’s Garden – highlighting the senses by allowing children to watch, taste, and learn about what it takes to make edible plants, such as raspberries and tomatoes, grow in mid-Michigan.
• Landscape Demonstration Gardens – featuring ornamental plants and landscape features including an outdoor pavilion, geology display, babbling brook, and waterfall.
• Plants and Society Gardens – introducing, educating, and heightening awareness of the interaction of plants with the earth and society.

Construction on the botanical gardens will begin in August. A botanical gardens coordinator and horticulture manager will provide overall direction for the gardens and manage educational programming and community outreach.

Douglass says many CMU courses and internship experiences will be woven directly into the design of the gardens, which will enhance learning opportunities for hundreds of CMU students each year.

Biology professor Joanne Dannenhoffer says she teaches her dendrology class about native Michigan trees and shrubs. To supplement the course, she usually takes her students to Midland’s Dow Gardens.

“It is the only place that we can find certain native species – like spicebush – in conditions that they would naturally be found in,” Dannenhoffer says.

But starting next fall, she and her students will only have to walk a few feet from their Brooks Hall classroom to the new botanical gardens for first-hand experience.

“In the class I try to show them the more than 100 species of Michigan trees and shrubs. Those plants are not always easy to find,” Dannenhoffer says. “It will be beneficial to have many of those plant species on campus and in a natural setting.”

CMU planners got design help from Michigan State University agriculture faculty and students.

“The gardens were conceived by biologists and gardeners with a passion for plants, their history, and their ecosystems,” Douglass says. “We worked together closely on this project with Michigan State, and we plan to work together closely with them in the future. The Michigan State faculty plan on using our gardens as teaching tools for their students.”

But most importantly to Douglass, Dannenhoffer, and Fabiano, the botanical gardens will enhance educational opportunities for CMU students.

“CMU is a treasure. It was when I was a student, and it is now,” Fabiano says. “It continues to grow and improve. These gardens will be yet another educational resource that sets our university apart.” •