June 4, 2025
Native Plants from Afar
In a Spring 2025 course led by 2024-2025 McHarg Fellow Leah Kahler, students explored the movement of plants across cultures and climates, as well as the relationships between recreational and productive landscapes.
By Jared Brey

Nitya Patel, a second-year Master of Landscape Architecture student, chose marigolds as her subject for Kahler's assignment. The flowers are “used extensively in India for every happy or sad event,” Patel says.
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Nitya Patel, a second-year Master of Landscape Architecture student, chose marigolds as her subject for Kahler's assignment. The flowers are “used extensively in India for every happy or sad event,” Patel says.
Kahler asked students to work on a plot of land known as Highline Park, a remnant of Penn Park near the corner of 31st and Chestnut streets, to examine the relationships between designed spaces and the places where plant materials originate or end up. Holly Smithberger, a third-year Master of Architecture student, designed a network of “conversation pits” for the site, sunken areas for seating surrounding plots for plant propagation.