On Feb. 11 and 12, the Wellesley College Botanical Garden hosted its annual student-run light show in the Global Flora Conservatory. This highly anticipated event, meticulously planned each year by the Dorothy Thorndike Botanic Garden interns, transforms the conservatory into a dazzling celebration of nature. This year, interns Hana Husaani ’27 and Ximena Sanchez ’27 surprised the Wellesley community with their theme, “Plants in Motion.” 

“The purpose of the light show is to introduce people who normally don’t come into the greenhouse to plants and recognizing their beauty and admiring them with the Wellesley community,” Husaani said. She emphasized the importance of making  Global Flora accessible to the public, reinforcing its role as a community gathering spot. In that spirit, the event extended an open invitation to all local Wellesley residents. 

Each year, the interns come up with a new and exciting theme inspired by nature. Last year’s “Evolution of Love” explored themes of love and self-healing. This year, “Plants in Motion” took inspiration from a popular movie franchise. “The original idea was ‘Night at the Museum’ where the plants come alive, and so we kind of pivoted to focusing on how they move and the journeys they’ve taken,” Husaani explained. 

A key educational aim of the show is to spotlight specific plant characteristics. As such, the main focus of this year’s event was the movement of the various flora on display. To fully capture the plants’ motion, the interns and botanical garden staff turned up the speed of the huge overhead fans from 25% to 75% to create a swaying effect on the leafy, tropical plants in the wet biome.

One such standout was the sensitive plant, a favorite of Sanchez’s. “It was the most visibly on-theme plant we have,” she noted, referring to the way it curls inward when touched. To complement the plant and create a keepsake memory, guests were given the option to decorate and plant their own pots of sensitive plant seeds to bring back home. Apart from decorating plant pots, students and guests were encouraged to share snippets of poems and passages on the mezzanine to fully immerse themselves in the magical night.

In addition to emphasizing certain plants using string lights, the event featured artwork by Wellesley alum Isaac Zerkle ‘18, a printmaker and installation artist. The pieces, inspired by global flora and crafted from wires and printed paper mache with original illustrations, were internally illuminated to showcase the seed history of various plants. Among the depictions was the mangrove propagule, displayed near the Mangrove Tank in the Wet Biome, and the Durant Camellia seed in its dedicated exhibit. 

Although the lights have since been removed, the lightshow leaves behind certain remnants for students and guests to enjoy, including Zerkle’s art installations and the mesmerizing sensitive plant. For more information on visiting hours, students and guests can check out the College’s website.

Contact the editors responsible for this article: Norah Catlin, Nita Kelly