A plaster relief artwork.

Sights and Sounds

Woman tends to plants in a greenhouse. Play

Green Haven

Middlebury’s Bi Hall greenhouse is much more than a botanical laboratory.

We’re on the sixth floor of Bi Hall right now. It’s a geography floor. It used to be computer science. So it’s sort of like there’s not a lot of connection there. So I often feel when people find the greenhouse, it’s very serendipitous. Like, who knew there was a greenhouse on the sixth floor of Bi Hall? So once they come here, I like to think of it as sort of a secret garden. People often ask me, how do you choose the plants in here? And I would always say, first and foremost, my focus has been that I would like the students to walk in here and have their interest piqued in plants. That’s my mission statement, to get people excited about plants. So doing that, I think it’s fun to have some economic botany. So I’ve got chocolate plant, I have a vanilla plant, I have a fig plant, I have bananas, plantains. Then I go with plants that are kind of special to me that I really love. There’s a redwood plant in here, and I actually have a picture of my husband and I in front of a redwood in California. In case you don’t know what a redwood looks like, it’s phenomenal. Probably our most interesting plant here is one called amorphophallus titanum. And it is the largest flower in the kingdom. And when it flowers, it smells like rotting meat. I don’t know how this floor is gonna feel when we fill it up with this odor, but it will be a big event and very fun. There’s one called Queen of the Night, and she’s not very attractive all year long until she sends out a blossom that is huge. It’s probably eight inches across. It’s pink, it’s frilly, soft, and scented, but it only comes out at night. And in the log book, it’s noted of people coming up here just to see it blooming. Another one that’s kind of interesting here is a Kalanchoe that’s called Mother of Thousand and she grows her babies right on the sides of her leaves. So these can just scatter ‘em on the soil and they’ll grow. And this is fun. When kids come in, I always send ‘em home with a paper towel with some Mother of Thousand babies here. One plant that I have to keep on the table all the time, or people writing the logbook that they’re missing it, is the Mimosa. It’s also called Touch Me Not. And when you touch the leaves, they close up and they recover after about 10 minutes. And this is one of the most fun plants for kids and students to come and touch while they’re sitting here at the table. And the best thing about coming into the greenhouse is if you come in all the way and come around, you’ll see a little table. So I call that the hidden garden. And you are rewarded with a little spot to sit with your thoughts or your homework or whatever. The logbooks are quite amazing. So it’s a college composition notebook, the blue notebook everybody remembers writing in. And I buy it at the bookstore. And I always write the same thing on the front, which is Greenhouse Log: Please share a comment, thought, reflection. And then it’s whatever you wanna write. And people are great about putting a date and pouring their hearts out. So if it’s in the fall, it’s filled with trepidation and angst about being away from home, homesickness. And then you can kind of see that transition into self-discovery, depending what year the students are. Exam time is filled with self-doubt and stress. So much stress, so much stress, so much angst poured into these books. I feel like it has to be cathartic, what people are writing. Students really, for some reason, feel really comfortable pouring out some of their deepest thoughts. And I’m also struck by what a four-year experience, how it changes people and especially at this age. And it’s really lovely to read. Some of it is filled with angst and is kind of painful to read, but you know that at the other end of it, they’re reflecting on big things that have happened to them over these four years. And I love how that’s captured in the log book. And I feel like this place, sitting at the table with the babbling brook just allows people to pour out their thoughts and not censor themselves. And I love that. It makes me want to come in here every day.

News and Announcements

Essays and Commentary

An illustration representing a.i.

Vignettes and Portraits

J-term Classrooms

Winter term brings a feeling of endless possibilities. Some students travel the globe, while others hunker down for a deep-dive on campus. Here are just a few snapshots of what went on in classrooms this January.

Features

Ting Cui at the Olympics

Ting Cui’s Unlikely Road to Cortina

While injuries may have derailed her dream of competing in the Olympics, the elite figure skater, and recent February graduate, found a role at the Games with NBC.

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Featured Events

Axinn Center 229

The World According to Sound: Ways of Knowing

For one hour you are going to sit in total darkness, surrounded by loudspeakers, and take a sonic trip where you’ll experience the power of sound and the spirit of academic inquiry. More… 

McCardell Bicentennial Hall 216

Charles S. Grant Memorial Lecture: “This Land is Your Land"

Professor Beverly Gage, the John Lewis Gaddis Professor of History at Yale University and a Pulitzer-Prize winning historian, will deliver a lecture titled “This Land is Your Land: Grappling with the American Past on the 250th anniversary of the Nation’s Founding.”

Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall

Le Consort

This world-class baroque chamber ensemble follows up on its beloved 2024 series debut with a free concert inviting us to the baroque era, in which the trio Sonata was the most popular chamber music formation. 

College employees (and a guest) are invited to a pre-show reception with snacks and drinks at 6:15 p.m. The Museum of Art will be open during the reception.

Hepburn Zoo

NER Out Loud

Students from Oratory Now read selections from the New England Review and student writers read their own poetry and prose aloud on stage. 

View the full calendar of events here.

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