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    Rachel Deodato 

Q News

Beautiful and Groundbreaking 


Mariana H. Qubein, High Point University’s First Lady, love for gardening began when she was a little girl who watched her parents work with roses and flower beds. This love for gardening would soon grow into a passion that has brought life and beauty to the High Point community and college campus. At the start of her husband's presidency at HPU, “the landscape became like a painting for us to envision a garden here and there.” 


The Eleanor Horsey Ridley Rose Garden

The first garden to be  planted was The Eleanor Horsey Ridley Rose Garden located in front of the Smith Library. The development of these gardens and the expansion of the tree canopy became known as the Mariana H. Qubein Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. HPU now consists of 28 gardens, nine plant collections, and more than 700 trees. 


“I have a lot of favorites but each is so different. The Ridley Rose garden stands out because I love roses, and it's my first garden.” said  Mariana. 
Mariana expresses in her book “Planting Seeds of Greatness” that the gardens model a place of “serenity growth and struggles in the same space.” The book is made up of eight chapters that consists of hundreds of pictures taken by students of these gardens in all of its seasons. In the last chapter of “Planting Seeds of Greatness”, Beyond the Beauty, it explains both the academic and spiritual aspects of these gardens. 

“My husband, Dr. Nido Qubein, said to me one day, ‘your gardens are so pretty, you should put a book together and model it after our Faithful Courage book.’ I loved that idea but it was not as simple as putting pictures together. It took about five years to get it done,” said Mariana. 

Arbor Day 2019

With the help of the HPU Arboretum Committee, which consists of  students, volunteers, and staff,  Marianas team was able to come up with “ ideas for different gardens, suggest things like the tree program we do for schools, they helped edit ‘Planting Seeds of Greatness,’.” Marina and the committee also plan Arbor Day, which is an event on campus that celebrates the growth of the trees and botanical gardens over the years.

Mariana is an alumna of HPU which was then- High Point College where she earned a degree in biology. In her senior year she took a botany class which sparked her interests in different trees. Mariana expressed that “Our gardens are not only beautiful, but they function as a learning lab for our professors as an instrument to teach and experiment.”


Professors use these gardens as subjects for art, observe the trees for  environmental preservation, are used as subjects for poems and essays, and provide a place for  “meditation, serenity and observing life around you”. 


The new Caine Conservatory, which opened this Fall 2020, takes these learning opportunities to another level, and not just for the students of HPU but the surrounding communities as well. The plant displays, speakers, and workshops is open to students, and soon the surrounding community, to attend. Along with classroom space the conservatory consists of a bistro, The Butterfly Cafe, which serves as a place for students to eat and gather.


“It's an amazing learning lab for our students as we will have research areas in the wings of the conservatory. It's a learning tool as well for all our students with it's beautiful display of unique plants from around the world.” said Mariana. 


High Point University is gaining attention from botanical experts for having such a unique conservatory on a college campus, however Mariana isn’t done yet. High Point University is developing to become a phenology station as well. The botanical gardens and new conservatory are providing students to partake in cutting edge research and potential careers thanks to the help of Mariana Qubein and many others.





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