There’s a new bamboo garden of delights outside of Kilgore Hall, home of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Department of Horticultural Science. Called the “Kilgore Bistro,” the shady retreat is made up of bamboo gazebos (“gnome domes”) and whimsical touches like “Kirby,” a pizza oven with the face of a pig, made out of cob (clay, sand, and straw). It’s all the work of Will Hooker (above), CALS horticultural science professor of landscape design, and his students. The rebuilding of the bamboo sitting area in front of Kilgore was done by Hooker’s HS 400 landscape design studio, he said, “with help from my HS 357 site planning course.”

Hooker himself was honored in April as a winner of one the first annual City of Raleigh Environmental Awards, presented as the capital city celebrated Earth Day 2008. The awards program recognizes and rewards sound environmental stewardship. Hooker received the Legacy award in recognition of a lifelong contribution to the environment by a person or organization.

— Terri Leith