Teaching garden honors Purdue professor

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University campus recently became a lot greener with the addition of the Jules Janick Horticulture Garden.

The garden, which is located on Marsteller Street next to the Horticulture Building, originally was established in 1983 as a place where horticulture students could study.

“It was originally established in the ‘80s and done on a shoestring with not a lot of dollars available,” said Michael Dana, a Purdue horticulture professor.

Dana said individuals in the horticulture department over the years have looked forward to making it better and turning it into a quality space that is open to anyone on the campus.

Dana said that Jules Janick, a James Troop distinguished professor of horticulture at Purdue, whose career with the university has spanned seven decades, made a generous gift to kick start the construction of the garden.

“The garden is first and foremost a teaching land for horticulture undergraduates,” Dana said.

Dana said besides having chairs, tables and a pavilion, there also are a lot of new perennials and cultivars that will be used for students to practice their plant identification.

“The garden will be used as a teaching lab — the plant collection reflects that,” Dana said.