• Red roses add fiery color spots along the entry to the campus from Barton Avenue toward the Henry Madden Library and around the parking lot on Barstow Avenue by the Mail Center, Printing Services, Shipping and Receiving complex.

• Rose fans will find dozens of other varieties of their favorites among 300 plants in the Rose Garden east of the Memorial Fountain and west of the Maple Mall. The colors range from pure white and ivory to bright coral and red.

• Jacaranda and hemp trees display lavender-blue flowers in stylish umbrellas and pink-tinged saucer magnolia flowers peek out through waxy green leaves.

• Euryops, one of the Valley’s favored landscaping plants for its evergreen foliage and yellow flowers, is a blooming feature of the Allergy-Free Demonstration Garden dedicated by Fresno and Clovis Rotary Clubs in 1985. The serene, sneeze-free garden is just north of the Smittcamp Alumni House.

• Mexican primrose, another fixture in drought-tolerant Valley landscaping, supplies pink and lavender-tinged flowers to the campus.

• Plants such as orange-golden marigolds and pastel to brightly colored zinnias have their places in beds around the campus.

Fresno State also is home to the Allen Lew Memorial Grove of Japanese maple trees, with benches that encourage quiet reflection or study; a small, shady garden between the Keats Building and the Memorial Fountain; and the Peace Garden, just north of the Henry Madden Library, where statuary and tall evergreens provide the a contemplative environment.

Numerous landscaped nooks in building courtyards make pleasant places to meet and to story. And one day they’ll be joined by the Library Magnolia Collection, on the library’s southeast side, where 24 species of the colorful spring-blooming trees are growing.

Upkeep of the arboretum at Fresno State is the responsibility of Ryan McCaughey, who has been on campus just two months after working at the Mohonk Mountain House, a resort hotel in New York’s Catskill Mountains noted for its sprawling, beautiful grounds.

McCaughey leads a staff of 22 people who care for the campus plantings, all athletics venues and University House, the president’s residence.

McCaughey is realistic about how things look, too. “I think the key thing that home owners need to realize is green is good when it comes to lawns. That means that there are some weeds, but it will reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilizers needed,” he said.

McCaughey plans to increase mulching of green waste material at the university – something home owners can do, too – to improve water retention in flower beds and around trees and reduce runoff.