Members of the SF State club The Friends of the Greenhouse have a passion for vegetation that stems beyond an underground interest in plants.

The idea for starting the club sprouted over a year ago when botany students, Arlene Kennedy and Lisa Offringa, the president and vice president of the club, felt an urge to work hands on with plants and put their knowledge to use.

"We think it's important for botany majors to have some horticulture information," said Kennedy, a senior at SF State.

Botany involves the scientific study of plants, rather than the study of how to care and grow plants. Without a horticulture department at SF State there are no classes available for students interested in gardening, so the Friends of the Greenhouse is making up for it.

"We are trying to be a bridge since there is no horticulture major- we are trying to fill the void and offer that experience," said Offringa.

The greenhouse, situated next to the science building on campus is where members of the club do most of their work. In the past the greenhouse has only been used for experiments and observation, but now club members are taking charge to change that.

"So many people want to come in the greenhouse," Kennedy said. "We want people to meet Martin because he is a walking encyclopedia."

Marin Granthum is the greenhouse manager and the adviser for Friends of the Greenhouse. After speaking with the grounds manager on campus, Granthum suggested an idea to the club about starting a project at SF State.

"They (the club) have many good ideas towards the development towards a World Garden," said Phil Evans, the grounds manager on campus.

The World Garden project is focused on taking plots of plants all around SF State and creating informative labels to display in the beds.

According to one member of Friends of the Greenhouse, Eliza Shepard, the club is working on two plots, the succulent plot and Martin's plot. Martin's plot consists of two little beds in front of the greenhouse where Granthum has planted an array of plants, including climbing hydrangeas.

"I put some plants in there that can't do their repertoire in a pot," said Granthum about planting some of the larger vegetation.

Offringa said that the difficult part of this project is discovering which plants are in the beds, and then doing the research about plants specific characteristics.

"Next month we are hoping to send away for labels, but it's still in the works," said Shepard.

Evans expects that the World Gardens project is going to be an on- going project for many years to come and each year students will pick a garden to label.

One way the club is trying to raise money, as well as spread their love of plants, is through having plant sales.

"There is a plant sale twice a semester where we sell extra plants in the greenhouse," said Kennedy.

The club is trying to sell an array of different types of plants, from common house plants to more unique and hard to find steals. There were a lot of carnivorous plants in the greenhouse so some were being sold at a very good price for students.

"The money we raised with the sale is going to help buy more plants to grow for the next sale," said Kennedy.

In the future Friends of the Greenhouse would like to grow plants specifically for the plants sales every semester.

The Friends of the Greenhouse is a small club at present, but Kennedy hopes that their website and plant sales will help get more students involved.

"We have two art majors and it's really nice not to just be a bunch of science nerds," said Offringa.

In the future Kennedy said she hopes to have a graduate student botany speaker talk to the club. She hopes he will share about his research with plants and educate the group more about the inner-workings of plants.

With so much appreciation for plants and a drive to educate the campus about the plants students walk every day, the Friends of the Greenhouse is trying to bring gardening to the forefront of campus life.