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| MICHELLE HOFFMAN / Scroll |
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| The statue garden outside of the Church Office Building provides a romantic spot for couples.
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At the 175th Semiannual General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the overflow of thousands of people streamed between the buildings on Temple Square as they poured into the Conference Center.
Protesters grouped on corners, shouting to transcend the conflicting voices of saints assembled in choirs singing hymns, and the wind played with the primped hair of girls struggling to keep the strands out of their eyes.
Amid the excitement, the wind waved softly through the oblivious flowers. Within the gardens, Sarah Maranto found the rare relief of peace and quiet.
“The flowers help set the tone of conference and send a sense of reverence and peace,” said Maranto, a freshman from Shreveport, La.
Elden Cannon understands Maranto’s appreciation for flowers. Cannon is the group manager for Grounds Services with the general responsibilities of all of the flowers and landscaping within the 35+ acres of the Church. It is his careful coordination and execution of the precise planning of his predecessor that results in the gardens that attract so much attention.
As a small boy working beside his father in gardens, Cannon developed a love for horticulture and botany. He studied at BYU in Provo, Utah, and obtained a degree in horticulture with a minor in botany. Cannon began working in his current position after Peter Lassig, group manager for 47 years, retired.
Cannon applied for the position and was hired after an extensive interviewing process.
“I’ve been very happy, very blessed and very pleased to have been considered [for the job],” Cannon said.
And yet with all of his talent and love for landscaping, Cannon could never accomplish the job alone. A team of 29 gardeners tackles the design aspects while hundreds of volunteers serve twice a year during the spring and fall to pull out and plant vegetation.
Tim Bullock, a sophomore from Boulsbo, Wash., said that the overall result is more than pleasing to the eye.
“These flowers help us to bring the Spirit of the Lord. It helps us to relax and reflect on the words of the speakers [in general conference],” Bullock said.
While Cannon thinks peace can be felt anywhere, he believes the special feeling experienced by those who appreciate the gardens has something to do with the fact that flowers are a creation of the Lord.
“A person can have that same feeling in the church or out in the ocean, but it’s just that natural creation that the Father gave to us,” Cannon said.
Whatever the case, as attested to by Maranto, the gardens cannot go unnoticed. In spite of all the protesting and the rush of the crowd, there was something unique about these flowers that slowed at least one young woman’s footsteps this weekend.
