Tyler School of Art and Architecture Landscape Architecture senior Owen Lambert has a very rare distinction among his fellow students. He hasn’t worked on just one award-winning Philadelphia Flower Show exhibit; he’s worked on three!
Think of it as a Flower Show hat trick!
“This year for Temple’s Flower Show exhibit (Reflections on Regeneration: An Artful Response to Our Changing Environment, which received several top awards), I contributed as a student Greenhouse worker helping to assist the Directed Studies students and the Greenhouse Manager (Benjamin Snyder) in keeping the plants up-to-date and on track to make sure that they properly leafed out or flowered for the show,” said Lambert, who will graduate with a degree in Landscape Architecture with a concentration in Horticulture. “That involves a bunch of different tasks from moving the plants, checking for pests, watering and fertilizing, all of those tasks that are necessary for the plants to thrive.”
To have Temple University’s exhibit be part of the Philadelphia Flower Show “is such a unique experience,” Lambert said.
“2025 was the third time I was involved in the Flower Show with Temple, and I really love it because it like nothing else in the world,” he said. “You get to see this all come together from the initial designs to the actual creation and installation of the exhibit at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.”
Rewind back to 2023, and Lambert entered the Tyler School of Art and Architecture Greenhouse Education and Research Complex at Temple Ambler for a Directed Study course of his own getting the plants ready for that year’s Flower exhibit, entitled The Power of Nature — Plug Into it, which also received numerous major awards.
In 2024 for the Landscape Architecture Junior Design-Build Studio, Lambert was part of the Landscape Architecture student team that developed the top award-winning Piers, Progress and Processes: Charting a Course for a More Bountiful Future while also continuing to prepare the plants for the show as well.
“Being part of creating Temple’s exhibit is such a unique process. There are so many things that go into it,” he said. “You’re seeing the plants start off dormant and become these very green, lush foliage plants, and you’re seeing the design go from some rough concept sketches to a fully built hardscaped installation. To see that from start to finish is amazing.”
While at Temple, Lambert has regularly combined his Landscape Architecture experience with caring for the plants in the Ambler Arboretum and the Greenhouse.
“Temple’s Landscape Architecture program is unique in that is has a strong focus on sustainability and hands-on learning. These experiences help you understand more of the process of landscape architecture and helps you determine where you want to focus in your career — employers in the industry are looking for people with that new knowledge of sustainability practices,” he said. “I decided I wanted to work with plants — I started as an Ambler Arboretum student gardener and then became a Greenhouse student worker — because I wanted to gain a better understanding of the plants and how they contribute to the world around me. The Landscape Architecture program is so well integrated with the Horticulture program that what you are learning from these hands-on experiences really complements what we’ve learned in the classroom.”
According to Lambert, what initially drew him to landscape architecture “was that I had a strong passion for architecture and engineering throughout high school fostered by some great teachers.”
“I started in Architecture and subsequently had an AED (Art and Environmental Design) presentation with Kate Benisek (Associate Professor of Instruction and Program Head of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture in the Tyler School of Art and Architecture). She went through the Landscape Architecture program with me and during that interview I realized I had finally found exactly what I was looking for,” he said. “It was that combination of architecture that I was originally interested in combined with the study of plants — I always had a fondness for the outdoors growing up. It was that perfect niche that I was looking for.”
The roots that connect him to Temple Ambler run deep, Lambert said.
“I arrived at Temple because my brother was a previous graduate who took classes at Temple Ambler. The campus was always in close proximity to where I lived and that got me interested in learning about the different facilities,” he said. “I didn’t understand then that the campus was an arboretum but as I learned more about how the campus was a living, learning experience, it got me very interested. I got to engage with the campus more than I could have ever dreamed, more than any other university I could have ever gone to.”
Temple Ambler, Lambert said, has provided “a great experience for me getting involved in different clubs and working on campus.”
“I can apply what I’m learning in class right on campus outside with the different gardens and all of the different plants that we have here at Temple Ambler. As a student worker for the Ambler Arboretum and the Greenhouse, I’m working directly with other student gardeners and other student Greenhouse workers,” he said. “It’s such a great experience getting to collaborate with them — I get to talk with them about my courses, and I get to discuss some other courses I’m not currently taking. It really makes me just appreciate the campus more. I love to come back to campus with friends even when I’m not attending school or working just to create more memories with them and relive some great experiences.”
Degree nearly in hand, Lambert said his goal is to “go into a horticulture-related field.”
“I’m very interested in ecological restoration as well as stormwater management. I would love to work in urban forestry and help to revitalize forests in the Philadelphia area; I want to work with people and communities locally,” he said. “With urban forestry and ecological restoration, I think that would be a great combination of my passion for plants and working with people and bringing those things together.”
Learn more about the Tyler School of Art and Architecture and the Landscape Architecture and Horticulture programs at https://tyler.temple.edu.