Horticulture
221 ‑ LANDSCAPE PLANTS, Spring 2008
4 credits: 2 ‑ 1 hour lectures
2 ‑ 2 hour laboratories
Instructor: Dr. James E. Klett Office Hours: 9:00-10:00 a.m.
Tuesday or by appt.
Office: 219
Shepardson Office
Phone: 970-491‑7179 Home
Phone: 970-493‑3542
Email: jim.klett@colostate.edu Mobile: 970-218-0104
Teaching
Assistants: Jennifer Bousselot George Gruenewald
Phone: 303-908-3538 Phone:
970-492-9040
Email: jmbouss@simla.colostate.edu Email: geogru@lamar.colostate.edu
Texts:
There is no one text which fits the
needs of this course. However, the
following book will be used often ‑‑ Manual of Woody
Landscape Plants by Michael A. Dirr,
Stipes Publishing Company, 1998 (5th edition). Reference texts will be listed on a separate
sheet. There is also the "Photographic Manual of Woody Landscape
Plants" that you might want to buy to complement the regular textbook, but
it is not required for the course. It is
also available on CD-Rom.
Lecture
and Laboratory:
Lectures will be in Shepardson 212. The
majority of the lab time will be spent in the field (weather permitting) learning
proper nomenclature and identification of plant material. The current
week's plant specimens will be available in Shepardson
Room 112, which is open for study whenever Shepardson
Building is open to public. Labs will
meet initially in Shepardson 102 on Tuesday and on
Thursday. Past plant specimens will be kept in the refrigerator inside Shepardson Room 112.
Field
Trip:
An all-day field trip to the Denver
Botanic Gardens, Denver Washington Park, and Fairmount Cemetery in Denver is
planned. The trip will be in April to coincide with spring flower
color. It is important that you attend this field trip. Those unable to attend will have to do an
extra assignment. The extra assignment will be to include 50 plants
instead of twenty-five (25) for the spring flower color project.
Plant
Identification:
Plant list and pictures of woody
plants (trees, shrubs, vines and conifers) can be found on a website. To access course material go to the
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture home page at http://hla.colostate.edu. Click on “Student Info” and then click on
“Horticulture Courses”
Or
Go to the Department of Horticulture
and Landscape Architecture home page at http://hla.colostate.edu. Click on “Personnel”, “Faculty”, “Jim Klett”
and go to the bottom of the page and click on “Courses taught”.
Testing:
Nine plant identification quizzes
will be given during the semester.
(Eight will count for the final grade). The lowest grade will be
dropped. Quizzes may be either indoors or outdoors and will be
announced. Plants must be learned by leaf, stem and bud characteristics
for identification quizzes are cumulative and cover plants from the first week
of the semester. Three one hour exams covering both lecture and
laboratory material will be given approximately 5, 10, and 14 weeks into the
semester. The final written exam will cover the last fourth of the course
and the final lab identification exam will cover all the plant material
studied throughout the course. Generally quizzes will be given in
Thursday's lab of each week in Room 102 and Room 114. No make-up quizzes will be given. Only under extreme circumstances will a quiz
be allowed to count double since you can drop one quiz out of the nine to be
given.
Special
Project:
Each student will record the spring
flower color of at least 25 different tree, shrub, or vine species in the Fort
Collins or surrounding area. You should list the scientific name, common
name, spring flower color, date observed, specific location of plant material,
how utilized in the landscape, and if you think it is used properly.
(Listing must be in alphabetical order by genus and plants must be numbered. Use a specific species only once in
your list.) The plants must be showing
some spring flower color when you record them.
You will also be required to select three different woody plants and
record the first date of spring flower color observation and follow that plant
weekly until the flowering is done on the woody plant.
Example: 1. Aesculus
glabra, Ohio Buckeye, white-yellow, April
10-15, 324 12th Avenue, Fort Collins, CO. ‑ street tree and too
large for this residential property.
(This should be a teaching aid to help
you learn woody plants and can easily be done on your walks to and from
campus.)
Objectives
of Course:
The student will learn a systematic
approach to proper nomenclature, identification, ornamental characteristics,
culture, hardiness, pests, propagation, and use of hardy coniferous and
deciduous trees, shrubs and vines.
Approximately 270+ different plants will be studied including many
cultivars commonly used in the landscape nursery industry, many of which are native
to the Rocky Mountain area. Ornamental characteristics such as flowers,
fruit, fall color and winter texture will be stressed along with their
landscape use. Particular cultural and pest problems of various species
will also be discussed.
Grading
Allocations:
Plant identification quizzes: (total
of 8 quizzes) 40% of grade
(9th quiz or lowest grade will be dropped)
Three hour examinations
approximately on the 5th week,
10th week, and 14th week (3rd exam will include a take‑home 35%
part dealing with utilizing plant material in landscape situations)
Special Problem (spring flower color
project) 5%
Final Examination (half written;
half identification) 20%
(10% Final I‑D and 10% Final written exam over
the last 1/3 of the course) 100%
Total
Letter grades will generally fall:
92-100 = A; 90-91 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 82-86 = B;
80-81 = B-; 77-79 = C+; 72-76 = C; 70-71 = C-; 60-70 = D; below 60 =
F. Attendance will be considered in
borderline cases.
Grading
Allocations for Identification Quizzes:
Students often have problems
deciphering the grading allocations for plant quizzes. The following
examples should serve to alleviate the confusion.
Scientific and common names are
required: Ex. Acer
ginnala ‑ Amur Maple
5 3 2 =
10pts
Each plant is worth ten (10) points: Genus Name =
5
Specific
epithet (species) = 3
Complete
common name = 2
Every spelling mistake results in
the loss of one‑half point. If one misses in excess of three
letters per word, no credit will be given.
The common name must be
complete. Maple by itself means nothing, nor does the term Amur.
Together they refer to a specific Maple.
If a cultivar or variety is used as
a quiz plant the point distribution changes.
Example: Cornus
florida 'Fastigiata'
‑ Fastigiate Flowering Dogwood
5 2 1 1 1 =
10pts
Cornus florida rubra ‑
Pink Flowering Dogwood
5 2 1 1 1 = 10pts
The cultivar 'Fastigiata'
can also be correctly written as Cornus florida
cv. Fastigiata without single
quotes. The variety rubra can be written
Cornus florida
var. rubra. Both are acceptable
under the Rules of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. However, for this
course you will use the first two methods described.
The Green Revolution: It's in
your hands. Have an educational semester!
Eat, drink and sleep woody plants during this semester!
If any
student has a learning disability, please inform instructor during the first
week of the semester.
md/H221.Syllabus.S08