“Every year students put together a learning activity so they’ll get the experience of what it’s like to put on (a museum exhibit) and what actually happens when people come through,” said Norman Lownds, associate professor of horticulture and 4-H Children’s Garden curator.

Each year, Lownds encourages students to highlight hidden treasures around MSU’s campus, some of which include the campus gardens, the MSU Dairy Store and the MSU Bug House.

Anthropology, history and Spanish senior Rebecca Richart, heard about the Spartan Garden Party through Facebook and said she came to the garden with her friends to enjoy the nice weather and relax before finals.

“It’s a beautiful day, and I love the gardens,” she said. “I think it’s a cool event to draw people out because I don’t think a lot of people know about the gardens.”

The event featured a number of different activities, including making your own herbal tea bag, honey tasting, a garden quest scavenger hunt and Web Design in the Garden, a station where students could decorate a steel spider web with recycled materials.

General management senior Dante Petrarca said his favorite station was the honey tasting table, which included honey from orange and lime blossoms.

“It was interesting learning about the different types of honey,” he said. “I didn’t know there were that many.”

Lownds said because the event was so successful, he plans on hosting the Spartan Garden Party in future years and hopes to get more students involved.

“We wanted to start a tradition,” he said. “(The students) have done a really, really nice job. I’m always really happy with what they do.”