Hudson’s Bay program savors deep roots

The back door of Hudson’s Bay High School’s horticulture classroom leads out to a 1 acre site with five greenhouses.

It’s basically a giant science lab where students can experiment with greenhouse management, as well as landscape and floral design. Some horticulture students will make corsages for prom, which coincidently has a secret garden theme this year.

There are 662 Vancouver Public Schools students enrolled in natural resources and horticulture classes. Every high school has wide-ranging programs, but also a niche subject. Fort Vancouver specializes in growing edibles and native plants. Columbia River focuses on sustainability — growing food without hormones or sprays, using native plants and turning food into fertilizer.

Teacher Steve Lorenz’ said Bay’s forte is nursery landscape. Bay’s program started in 1973, and Lorenz took over in 1994.

The horticulture program makes about $15,000 through its annual plant sale, which will be happening in a few weeks. Another $2,000 is generated by Bay’s natural resources program, which sells herbs and vegetables. All monies go back into the program, so students can travel, compete and do community service projects.

“They get an opportunity to market and sell and see the fruits of their labor. Pardon the pun. It’s an ‘aha!’ moment for some of these kids when 1,000 people come through here,” Lorenz says. “We are a self-supporting program. … That’s the whole point of the plant sale.”

The program is aligned with the National FFA Organization, which supports agriculture education. Hudson’s Bay has won so many FFA competitions that the fire marshal asked Lorenz to take down most of the banners covering his classroom wall. Lorenz put up photocopies of the banners in their place.

Last year, Bay’s horticulture program started growing show-quality chrysanthemums; students tend to the flowers and peel off side buds until they produce what could be a prize-winning mum. The Portland Chrysanthemum Society invited students to the national competition, being held in Portland in the fall.

Legacy of orchids

With horticulture, there’s always something new to work on, and opportunities arise unexpectedly. About 3,000 orchids were recently donated to Bay’s program after Greig Warner recently sold his home and cleared out his collection. Students visited his greenhouse that was filled with orchids that he used to grow and sell to Portland Nursery.

The orchids need some care, so they won’t be a big part of this year’s plant sale.

“By next year, this will be a main part of our sale,” Lorenz says.

Seniors Nathaniel Steinauer, 18, and Caylee Henry, 17, have been classifying and caring for the orchids, which need to readjust to their new climate. Steinauer sees it as a senior project of sorts, a way to leave a legacy.

“That’s why mainly I took it on,” he says.

He likes that he has options in how he spends his class time, whether it’s working in the greenhouse, doing paperwork or building a pond.

“It’s a very hands-on program, which is the best part about it,” Henry says. “If we ever wanted to get into it, we have the experience.”