Photo credit: Katie Madigan

Tucked away in the corner of the third-floor B-building, room B315 is home to a lush assortment of houseplants in varying stages of life. With plants soaking up the sunshine against the window panes, it makes one wonder: how on earth does Spanish teacher Mandy Grattan manage to keep all of these plants alive?

Despite the self-described “jungly” canopy that is currently making up the far side of her classroom, Grattan held a very dismissive attitude towards gardening in her youth.

“When I was growing up, I worked in the garden with my grandmother, but often got myself in trouble for accidentally pulling flowers that I thought were weeds,” Grattan said. “So I never really thought I would get into it. But when we moved into our last house, my husband had planted some mums in the fall that he got. And I was like–maybe I need to reconsider this.”

With a newfound outlook on potting and planting, Grattan set out to add some life into her yard, but not without the guidance of someone very dear to her heart. 

“My grandfather was like, ‘well, you know, I could teach you a thing or two,’ and he had the most beautiful, amazing gardens,” Grattan said. “I ended up spending a ton of time with him in his [garden], and then we slowly would split the flowers that he had in his to put them in my garden. I ended up with this entire garden full of his flowers. It kind of became a passion [of mine] because it was a passion of his.”

Although Grattan’s grandfather passed away last August, she still carries on his legacy of “giving green” by sharing cuttings with friends, family and even interested students. 

“I joined groups where people will trade often, or they’ll give away plants for free,” Grattan said. “You can take all of these really nice things that have come together from other people. And then you have this beautiful garden that’s representative of your friends and community–something that’s really representative of people that matter to you.”