The horticulture department at American River College hosted its weekly floral sale Friday in the student center, selling astronomia plants, sunflowers and mullet plants. This sale was designed and themed around the fall season.
The sale is used to give the students of Horticulture 200 and Horticulture 201 the experience of working in a floral shop.
“Some (students) don’t have experience in a sales environment,” said horticultural student helper Nina Railean. “So, it’s very useful.”
The money raised from each sale, held every Thursday in the student center, is just enough to cover the cost of flowers for the next sale.
“Their ultimate goal is to run their own shop, then they’re going to need the experience,” said horticulture major and student helper Jaime Decoudreaux. “It’s also quite fun.”
In these classes, students taught how to design corsages, identify different foliage types and properly care for flowers, as well as, the fundamentals of design techniques and practices used in the floral industry.
“This definitely helps me in the real world,” said Decoudreaux. “(I get to learn) how (the flowers are) priced and I get to practice my customer service.”
The amount of money made at each sale differs depending on what type of flowers are being sold and how many people go to the sale.
During the last sale on Oct. 8, the Horticulture department sold two-thirds of its stock.
The flowers used in the sale are ordered by horticulture professor Leslie O’Brien. O’Brien gets them from a floral warehouse located in downtown Sacramento called Flora Fresh Inc., who delivers flowers all around California.
“It’s a really good experience with customers, teaching them floral designs, ” said ARC student Mila Tumanova, a floral design major and student helper at the sale.
In addition to having these sales every Thursday, the Horticulture department will also be having a larger plant sale on Nov.10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. behind the technical education building near parking lot B.
