Sowing Seeds of Sustainable Floriculture
When Amanda Solliday began her academic career in biology, she did not foresee herself digging into flower beds or delving into the complex world of floral supply chains. But today, she is a doctoral candidate with the Cognitive Behavioral Lab, making the floral industry more sustainable, community-driven and economically viable.
Her efforts were recently recognized with the NC State University Sustainability Award and the CALS Student Sustainability Award for her campus Red & White flower garden project, floral industry outreach, and broader dissertation projects.
Her passion was sparked as an undergraduate student at Illinois Wesleyan University when she took her first ecology and environmental politics classes.
“Between the two courses, I knew environmental issues were going to be a professional focus for me,” Solliday says. “But I didn’t yet know how.”
She gained experience working with drought stress in crops, pesticide risk mitigation and climate science communication before arriving at NC State University. Floriculture entered the picture when Solliday applied for the doctoral program and had a pivotal meeting with horticulture associate professor, Melinda Knuth, her doctoral advisor and principal investigator of the horticultural science Cognitive Behavioral Lab. “She told me about some of the sustainability issues the floral industry was facing, including green waste management, plastics use, and substrate sourcing,” Solliday recalls. The meeting altered Solliday’s professional trajectory, now firmly rooted in floriculture sustainability.
“Once I began this Ph.D. program, I also connected with the business sustainability group in the Poole College of Management and began taking classes through their certificate program,” she says. “It’s been invaluable to help me connect horticultural practices with business concepts.”
Cultivating Sustainability on Campus
The intersection of floriculture and sustainability blossomed into a student-led project with tangible impacts, inspired by other cut flower initiatives at Washington University in St. Louis and Mississippi State University. Solliday proposed a sustainable flower garden to provide locally grown blooms for NC State University events.
“I wanted to focus on the community element, with the goal of providing a collaborative space with shared labor and goals that centered on sustainable, local production of flowers,” she says.
Michael Palmer, the president of the Horticultural Science Graduate Student Association (HSGSA), helped find a home for the garden in an unused plot at the Horticultural Field Laboratories. “In this space, we thought it would be a good project for graduate students to join,” Solliday says.
The project gained momentum quickly, and Solliday secured the Sustainability Fund grant from the Sustainability Office, critical for purchasing key materials, including seeds, substrate, and an irrigation timer, among others. Coordinated through the Sustainability Office, Solliday collaborated with Courtney Eads, horticultural supervisor with university facilities, who helped identify which flower varieties to focus on, planting timing and growing schedule, and other early details about the space.
Early growth was slowed by a heatwave shortly after the first frost date, but the initial harvest yielded more than 100 flowers for the Department of Horticultural Science spring graduation and a picnic as well.
Campus-Wide Collaboration Makes It Work
Faculty, staff and students all rallied around the garden project, which became a true cross-campus effort. Tim Ketchie, a horticulture department research technician and staff member, provided compost and helped install the irrigation system. Horticultural science graduate students, including Michael Palmer, Emma Coogan, Moein Moosavi, Rick Shih and Madison Love, provided muscle for the garden preparation, planting and maintenance. Professor John Dole and Diane Mays, horticulture’s Plant Conservatory Curator, provided direction for graduation flower arrangements and pest control. Keondra Jenkins energetically coordinated on behalf of the Sustainability Office.
“The connections throughout campus went far beyond one person or group to make this idea a reality,” Solliday says. “I’m still in awe of everyone who stepped in to help with full enthusiasm once they learned about the project.”
Workdays in the garden provided more than just physical labor. According to Solliday, it was also a place to reflect and take a moment to socialize and connect outside of Kilgore Hall with a shared goal. The Red & White Garden grew into building of the community.
A Special Thanks To The Red & White Garden Contributors
- Courtney Eads advised on planting, provided tools, and topsoil
- Keondra Jenkins energetically coordinated on behalf of the Sustainability Office
- Tim Ketchie helped clear the space, set up the irrigation system, and provided compost
- Diane Mays, Alisha Ray, and Ivy Azzarita watered flowers in the greenhouse and kept the seedlings pest-free
- Melinda Knuth provided greenhouse and cooler space
- John Dole helped advise on planting and graduation arrangements
- Vanessa Woods helped set up the graduation arrangements
- Horticultural science graduate students, including Michael Palmer, Madison Love, Rick Shih, Emma Coogan, and Moein Moosavi, cleared, planted, and maintained the garden
Cut flower seedlings for the Red & White Garden in the horticulture department’s plant conservatory. 
Cut flower sprouts that were later planted in the Red & White Garden. 
Madison Love, Rick Shih and Michael Palmer planting cut flowers in the Red & White Garden. 
Amanda Solliday planting cut flowers and laying irrigation tape in her campus sustainability garden.
Laying the Groundwork For A Long-Term Impact
This season served as a pilot program with room to expand the cut flower garden. Solliday plans to continue managing the sustainability project until her anticipated December 2025 graduation. To help fund future seasons of the Red & White Garden, Solliday and the HSGSA are planning summer and fall flower sales. She is documenting best practices in planting schedules, crop selection and resource management for the next student leader.
“Right now, we have two irrigated rows of flowers and some open space, so an expansion to more cultivated space seems reasonable,” Solliday says. “We could start bulbs and other flowers in the winter and get some earlier spring cuts, too.”
Red & White Garden Sustainability Practices
- Strengthens our university community by advancing hands-on floriculture education
- Supporting our community by donating surplus flowers to Feed the Pack, local school partners, and others
- Offers student volunteer and leadership opportunities through garden maintenance and events
- Hyperlocal cultivation means fewer transport-related emissions compared to flowers sourced from off-campus
- Low-impact pest management: Insect pests are managed with insecticidal soap; fungal issues are addressed with neem oil; weeds are controlled through hand-pulling and mulch suppression
- Promotes water conservation by using drip irrigation and solar-powered irrigation timers
- Waste is minimized by reusing containers from floral arrangements
- Topsoil and mulch are sourced on campus to support a closed-loop system
- Use of organic fertilizers through on-campus composting
- Green waste, such as weeds and spent blooms, is composted on-site, diverting organic matter from the landfill
- Our flowers offer resources for bees and other pollinators through continuous blooming cycles
Addressing Industry-Wide Sustainability Gaps
Beyond the garden, Solliday’s dissertation research tackles major environmental pain points in the floriculture supply chain. Funded by the American Floral Endowment’s Sustainabloom initiative, her national survey gathered data from growers, wholesalers, florists and suppliers.
“Dr. Knuth and I gathered information from just over 100 floral businesses nationwide on sustainability practices they are currently using or would like to be doing, as well as barriers and incentives,” Solliday says. “For floral businesses that want to implement sustainability strategies, they need to believe that there is a return on investment of resources.”
The key takeaways are all sectors prioritized plastic reduction, but sustainability goals varied by segment. Retail florists focused on vehicle emissions, while growers looked to replace peat in substrates. Across the board, participants emphasized the importance of better consumer communication once sustainable practices are in place.
“More broadly, there’s a robust discussion right now around waste in floriculture, such as how to minimize or reuse (compost) green waste, how to recycle or replace plastics, how to use the exact right amount of water, and how to cut carbon emissions from transporting flowers,” Solliday explains. “It requires careful measurements and comparisons. I see a lot of promise in this area.”
An array of cut flowers grows in the Red & White Garden during early summer. 
An array of cut flowers grows in the Red & White Garden during early summer. 
A bee visiting a snapdragon in the garden. 
Harvested flowers in a bucket from the sustainability garden project. 
Flower arrangements for the summer plant sale to fund next year’s Red & White Garden.
From Student Projects to Career Path
The journey thus far for Solliday has been one of discovery, opening doors to an industry and career path she had not considered before and a love for sustainable floriculture.
“I did not come into this program expecting to want to continue academic research and teaching,” Solliday says. “After working across the university and presenting my work at various conferences, I see so much potential, and I would jump at a chance to continue this work as a scholar and an educator.”
Harnessing several diverse skills and talents applicable to her floriculture sustainability research, Knuth has honed in on Solliday’s scientific communication abilities. “Amanda is able to marry together her journalism experience and high-level academic jargon to make accessible educational content for floriculture industry members,” Knuth says.
While her sustainability garden project may have started with a simple seed grant, its reach is already spreading and building a foundation for NC State University’s horticulture and sustainability communities.
