Way to use botany in a burn!

[AU_tiger_2000 0]

I like this, does anybody know of any orange and blue flowers?

LSU uses nature in a burn

(U-WIRE) BATON ROUGE, La. -- Some Tiger fans are scheming a clever way to remind University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban of the decision he made to leave LSU -- "Forget-me-not" flowers.

"The idea is for us to get as many people as possible to take seeds of purple and gold flowers and throw them along the interstate [five miles outside Tuscaloosa, Ala.]," Pike Barkerding, 2006 University alumnus and former Daily Reveille cartoonist, said.

Barkerding started a Facebook.com group called "Botanical bombs over bama," asking Tiger fans to purchase handfuls of LSU-colored flower seeds and throw them from their car windows to the interstate median as they approach Tuscaloosa. Barkerding's group has nearly 700 members as of Thursday evening.

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"It's not like we're defacing anything," Barkerding said. "We're not vandalizing. We're actually planting flowers, which is considered a good thing. But at the same time, we're putting our little LSU stamp on Alabama."

Barkerding said he hopes Saban will see the "forget-me-not" flowers once they bloom, forcing him to remember the school he led to a national championship.

"If it's not Saban [who sees the purple and gold flowers], then it's all the fans," he said. "It's going to make them bitter."

Barkerding said he discussed the idea with a family friend who is a landscape architect. He said she researched which flower seeds would be best to scatter -- Birdsfoot trefoil and yellow coreopsis for gold and purple verbena for purple.

"In terms of height and chance of growing, she thought these would be the best," Barkerding said. "But it comes down to whatever kind people can find."

Barkerding said he spent $30 on 15 packets of seeds. He said fans wanting to scatter seeds should read the growing instructions on the back of the packets to make sure the seeds they buy will sprout.

Jeff Kuehny, LSU horticulture professor, said the choice of seeds was appropriate, but he was skeptical of the idea. He said it would take up to a year to see a result. He said the flowers may not bloom because interstate medians are often mowed.

"You want to spread it in an area where they don't mow a lot and also where the grass isn't real heavy," Kuehny said. "Otherwise, the grass will crowd them out and shade them out."

John Clark, assistant professor of biology at the University of Alabama, said the seeds would have a better chance of growing if planted in the spring. He said planting flowers was a great way to show school spirit and hopes his university will follow suit with a similar idea.

"I think it's a great idea," Clark said. "Highways are a particularly good area for planting wildflowers. But I don't think it's going to be as much of a visual impact as they think it's going to be."

Martha Earnhardt, spokeswoman for the Alabama Department of Public Safety, said there would be no legal ramifications of tossing seeds from a car window as long as it does not create a traffic hazard or roadway obstruction.

"Throwing seeds out of a vehicle does not constitute littering," Earnhardt said. "So from that perspective, it wouldn't provoke [law] enforcement activity."

Tony Harris, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Transportation, said students should be cautious of cars behind them to make sure seeds do not interfere with other drivers. He said students should not stop on the side of the interstate to scatter seeds either.

"From the standpoint of school spirit, it's understandable," Harris said. "But we would urge people to not do that from a safety standpoint."

Barkerding said only LSU fans would go as far as scattering school-colored seeds to make an impact for their team. He said his plan is one that embodies the spirit of LSU fans.

"Sending someone flowers is considered one of the best ways to establish closure after a bad breakup," Barkerding said. "Suggesting that -- should this work -- LSU fans just might be able to get over Saban's departure and move on with their lives."