When people note thatYou reap what you sow,the connotation isnt always positive. But a horticulture student at West Virginia University has given it a happier spin with a summer-long project.

Emily Kaminski, a senior from Beckley who is studying horticulture and pursuing a minor in agribusiness management in WVU s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, spent the past few months planning, preparing and nurturing cut flower beds at the colleges agronomy farm.

I took a floral design course from Sue Myers, the manager of the Plant and Soil Sciences Greenhouse, and I thought it would be a good way to provide materials for that course,Kaminski said.

She planted beds of cut-flower favorites like zinnias, celosia, sunflowers and others, and also has been nurturing some perennials for planting this fall. The bedsyield of blossoms was so strong that the greenhouse has decided to start offering cut flower arrangements for customers, using Kaminskis blooms.

This isnt the first time Kaminski has taken advantage of opportunities outside of the classroom to further her education. She spent the previous summer as a horticultural intern at a Beckley golf resort, planting annuals and designing perennial beds to accentuate the landscape.

I still go back from time to time to see how theyre doing,she said.

Shes an active member of the Davis Colleges Plant and Soil Sciences Club and has received two awards available for horticulture students, the Caroline B. Vierheller and the Henry W. Miller, Jr. scholarships.

After graduation, she hopes to start her own business, focusing on nursery plants, cut flowers, and landscape design. Myers thinks her extra-curricular activities will give her a good foundation.

For more information about Kaminskis project or cut flower arrangements, call the Plant and Soil Sciences Greenhouse at 304-293-4480.