To become a Master Gardener, Schultz went through a 10-week course that involved weekly tests, a final exam and 40 hours of volunteering. She has continued to use gardening as a method for relaxation since completing the program roughly 15 years ago.

“Stress relief," Schultz said. "It’s total stress relief. You go out and you see all the wonderful nature that God provided and it takes your mind off things. It’s just fun."

Others who attended the event purchased plants for simple reasons.

Angelee Fuller, who is 10 years old, and Blakelee Fuller, who is 3 years old, chose their purple flowers because of the pretty color and because of the gardening their mother does, they said.

Pointing to the single purple flower in her pot, Angelee Fuller explained that even though she just bought one flower, it only meant that she would have more room to buy more to join the garden.

Though appearance played a role in biological sciences for secondary education junior Kathryn Schwartz’s decision to purchase plants, she did it primarily to become more self-sustainable.

This year, her apartment at school has a patio. She plans on taking advantage of it and growing herbs and experimenting with cooking food she plants herself, Schwartz said.

She said she sees the reward in growing her own food, rather than purchasing food from the grocery store, because she can see the start and finish process.

One purpose of the event is to raise money for events the association holds throughout the year.

Students receive donations from nurseries and greenhouses, purchase the planting material with these donations and grow all of the plants themselves.

Not only does this event provide the East Lansing community with plants, it also is an excellent learning experience for students in the association, horticulture senior Ben Harcey said.

“While there’s a lot of fatigue, a lot of drain, there’s also a lot of excitement," Harcey said. "We’re excited to have the chance to work with people, to share our passion for plants, to get other people excited for plants, especially when you have people packing out this entire place,”

Horticulture marketing professor Bridget Behe has participated in three terms as an adviser for the event and is impressed every year at the amount of work students put into it, she said.

Behe speaks highly of the importance of horticulture and said she loves being a part of bringing it into the lives of others.

“From what we eat, to what we see, horticulture really makes our lives come alive,” Behe said. “Can you imagine a world with just blacktop and shale? I mean, I can’t. I don’t want to live there.”