The bright, beautiful blooms of the petunias and impatiens draw gardeners to plant the annuals in their beds.
But the greenhouse class at Russellville High School has learned the early color must be clipped to encourage the plant's energy toward growth and not blooms.
"I didn't know that before this class," Jennifer Maier said.
This semester, the class has been tending to more than 1,000 plants, which will be available for sale on Saturday.
"I didn't really like plants before this class," Harley Waggoner said.
She took the class to expand her agriculture knowledge since she hopes to become an ag teacher.
And she has enjoyed learning about the different types of plants and root systems, how to transplant and what can go wrong with bugs and other environmental concerns.
Ashley Kirkweg intends to major in equine science. The greenhouse class taught her there's a big difference between caring for animals and for plants. "I think plants take a lot more care," she said. "I thought it would be easy. But there's a lot to watch for."
The Russellville FFA Chapter Agronomy Team similarly had to learn a lot about weeds and other crop management concepts to prepare for this season's contests.
Earlier this month, they became the first Russellville team in several years to earn a district first place. This weekend they will compete at state.
"I didn't know much when I started," Jamie Porter said. "But we studied and learned a lot."
Teammate Elizabeth Wyss agreed.
"My first experience in the greenhouse was growing weeds to practice looking at plants," Wyss said.
Many plants have only minor differences, she said, so the team practiced getting close with flashlights for accuracy.
"I didn't realize there were so many details," said team member Collin Maharas. "It's good knowledge to know."
Taylor Young, the fourth team member, already is putting her new plant identification abilities to work as she tends to her strawberry beds.
"It's cool to know what it is and its life cycle," Young said of weed removal.
At a contest, the agronomy team must identify seeds and plants, then there's a judging portion and an exam.
"It's a hard contest and there's a lot of things to know," said Young, who plans to major in ag education.
From helping in her grandparents' garden, Madison Hoff said she already had a bit of a green thumb. But the greenhouse class has taught her some new tips, like using rubbing alcohol to get rid of mealybugs.
Preparing for the plant sale also has been a good lesson in responsibility, she said.
Last year was the first year for ag teacher Alicia LePage to organize a plant sale. And it sold out quickly.
This year, with the help of Longfellows Nursery, the number of plants has doubled.
Plants will be available 8 a.m.-noon Saturday and 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays, until they are sold. Proceeds will supply next year's greenhouse class.
Varieties include wave petunias, dianthus, impatiens, wax begonias, coleus, vinca, geraniums, salvia, snapdragons, gerbera daisies, portulaca, hen and chicks, peace lillies, wandering Jew and sweet alysum.
"I'll probably end up growing flowers after this," Kirkweg said.