Plants shift and move in growth responses called tropisms that pull them toward light (through a process called phototropism) or away from gravity (gravitropism) or closer to water (hydrotropism).
Or they can just catch a lift from helpful humans who carefully pack them in the back of a truck to move them a few miles down the road to a more hospitable location.
The latter is what happened on September 9 to the School of Biological Sciences’ teaching collection as its plant inventory was relocated from the Felmley Hall of Science Annex Greenhouse to a temporary space at 1613 Clearwater Avenue in Bloomington that the University is calling the Biology Teaching Greenhouse.
The move represents improvements on multiple levels. The Felmley greenhouse had been closed to visitors since 2018 due to safety concerns; for the past seven years, plants were retrieved by authorized faculty or staff and brought to learning spaces when they were needed for study. The former greenhouse location was also overgrown and its nearly 200 unique species prone to infestations.
“I am very excited about this new greenhouse, which will allow students and the ISU community to enjoy and learn from plants that were previously underutilized,” said Greenhouse Gardner Sophia Reavley ’23. “It will now be much easier to control pests and ensure our collection is properly cared for, and we will also have room now to diversify the collection, which is very exciting.”
“(This) represents students and faculty regaining comprehensive access to the plants as teaching materials.”
—Dr. Rachel Bowden, director of the School of Biological Sciences
The greenhouse move is a visible step toward realizing the STEM Building, a proposed new campus construction project, which began in earnest with approval of the pre-construction services by the Illinois State University Board of Trustees in February 2023. Initial plans for the project call for a greenhouse on the roof of the four-story structure.
“The move to the temporary greenhouse space is exciting because it represents students and faculty regaining comprehensive access to the plants as teaching materials, particularly for botanically oriented courses,” said Dr. Rachel Bowden, director of the School of Biological Sciences. “It also gives us the opportunity to assess our collection of plants and to determine what, if any, new additions to the collection can be made to enhance the teaching and learning experience.”
The move was made possible through the coordination of Reavley and Bowden, as well as Dr. Laura Vogel, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences; Tyler Thompson ’99, assistant director in Facilities Planning, Design, and Construction; and Sydney Metternich, M.S. ’22, coordinator of botany outreach and instruction in the School of Biological Sciences.
The move was documented by University Marketing and Communications Senior Photographer Shea Grehan ’20.
Sophia Reavley, left and Dr. Laura Vogel take stock of the plant collection in the Felmley Hall of Science Annex Greenhouse. Nearly 200 unique species of plants were moved from it to the new Biology Teaching Greenhouse.
A mover wheels a fern palm (Cycas circinalis) from the Felmley Science Hall Annex Greenhouse onto a moving truck. 
Reavley and Dr. Rachel Bowden, left, share a laugh while discussing plans to move a staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum), one of the largest plants in the collection with a circumference of nine feet. 
Multi-colored rolls of tape are used to mark plants prior to the move to indicate placement locations in their new home. 
A moving truck fills quickly with the contents of the Felmley Hall Science Annex Greenhouse collection. 
Movers unload plants from the Felmley greenhouse at their new home: the Biology Teaching Greenhouse, located at 1613 Clearwater Avenue in Bloomington. 
Reavley places a cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamonea) in its new home. The Biology Teaching Greenhouse was outfitted with 60 new aluminum tables on wheels to serve as plant stands. 
A collection of small plants unloaded at the Biology Teaching Greenhouse await placement in the new space. 
Among the first to see the new space is Don “the Dean of Green” Schmidt, left, a retired greenhouse gardener who planted and tended to many of the plants that made the move from the former to the current greenhouse. 
Reavley can’t help but smile while telling Dr. Heather Dillaway, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, right, of the improvements created by the new space. 
Reavley recounts the whirlwind of the greenhouse move to Sydney Metternich, M.S. ’22, right, coordinator of botany outreach and instruction in the School of Biological Sciences. Metternich will be the first to bring a class of students to the new space. 
Cassie McGinnis ’23, a master’s student and graduate teaching assistant, inspects a flamingo lily (Anthurium andraeanum) in a visit to the new greenhouse.
A before and after look at the School of Biological Sciences’ space for its teaching collection.
Read more stories from the College of Arts and Sciences at News.IllinoisState.edu/Unit/College-Arts-Sciences. Follow the college on Facebook and Instagram to see more photos of the greenhouse move.