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 Did we mention roses? One gardener in particular, Mike Drake,
Lincoln Christian University’s landscaping genius, will affirm that
growing a display of roses . . . and many other floral miracles for
that matter, is not a “tip-toe through the tulips.”
Yet, the campus of Lincoln Christian University provides just that .
. . an incredible display of floral masterpieces that beckons to the
horticulturalist and the amateur alike. The talents of Mike Drake
and his team of student workers make for a worthwhile trip to campus
and a walk about her estate to take in spectacular roses, flowering
trees and bushes, and a huge variety of other flowers brought to
life and placed in creatively designed gardens. LCU’s catalogue of
trees includes 18 different species, with several varieties within
the species, and 16 species of bushes. One half of the tree and bush
species are flowering, making for a very beautiful campus landscape.
One campus site that this prejudiced writer would say holds the
“bragging rights” of possibly the finest display of beauty expressed
through flowers and design in this area would be the campus Prayer
Garden, located just west of the Earl C Hargrove Chapel. This site
was taken to a new level of display because of a dream of former
head groundskeeper, Steve Barmes who was employed by LCU from 2000
until his untimely death in 2004. While his dream was partially
fulfilled, there was much yet to accomplish; and Mike Drake, who
followed Steve as Head Groundskeeper, dared “to grasp the thorns” as
he carried out and expanded Steve’s dream in the Prayer Garden, as
well as orchestrating a remarkable display of trees and bushes,
flowering and non-flowering annuals, and perennials throughout the
entire campus.
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Thousands of hours are invested annually in making LCU’s
campus a showcase of beauty. Plants and trees are carefully
selected to appropriately meet the needs of each center of
interest. Grooming is continual. Weekly fertilization and
watering during the growing season makes for an explosion of
growth and color.
Even the seasons do their part, all a testimony to God’s amazing
miracle of new birth, of living out life, and of death as the seeds
fall to the ground to be hidden under the winter snow, only to
surface again to re-live the cycle and to declare even more boldly
the miracle of the soil and the seed.
“He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also
set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God
has done from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11, ff.
[Submitted by CHRISTINE THOMAS,
LINCOLN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY; Written by SUE ROGERS]
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