OAKLAND - Sure, it looks like they sprouted naturally with the spring sunshine, but that's not how it happened at all. Room by room, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens was transformed into a fantasy of flowering bulbs by the power of many hands.

One pair of those hands belongs to David Geisler of Penn Township.

Geisler is a member of the Monday night master gardener class at the Phipps Garden Center in Shadyside. His class will graduate in mid-June.

In order to attain, and keep, the certification, master gardeners are required to perform at least 32 hours of volunteer gardening time per year. Those graduating from the Phipps class must devote half of those hours to the botanical center, explained Geisler.

"I love this space. I've been here so many times as a guest," said Geisler, who within moments of his arrival at the conservatory recently stepped into a flowerbed in need of a good raking after the pots from last season's show had been plucked from the soft dirt.Once done with that chore, he swept errant soil from walkways and later pushed wheelbarrows full of bromeliads from the newly deconstructed beds toward the lobby, where they are sold to the public.And he did it all with a smile on his face, because working with growing things brings him "personal growth," he said.Landscaping is a favorite of Geisler's, and by volunteering at Phipps during changeover time, he gets to see two different styles at once: the departing and arriving show.Orchids, ferns and bromeliads were the focus of the departing show. Thousands of flowering bulbs - 17,239 at any one time - will be on display in the spring show, "Colorful New Beginnings.""We know, down to the pot, how many 4-inch and 6-inch pots," it takes to fill the rooms that change with seasonal shows at the botanical center, said Karen Daubmann, director of horticulture at Phipps. "We do two rooms at a time, that way visitors always have plenty to see when they get there."

Eleven rooms at Phipps have some element of the show on display. The only two rooms that do not change with the seasonal shows are the desert and the stove room. The name "stove room" is a relic of the time when that part of the conservatory was heated by stoves, explained Daubmann.Using the landscaping designs created one year in advance of the show by Daubmann and exhibit coordinator intern Katherine Mazzey, Geisler and the other 50 gardeners work on the changeover.They do instant landscaping by planting pots filled with bulbs just on the brink of bursting into bloom. As the bulbs pass their prime, pots are swapped out with the same cultivar to maintain the design. The gardeners during the changeover comprise 10 staff members. The rest are volunteers, not all of whom are master gardeners."It's exciting to know I can be part of this," Geisler said.

"Of course I'll be bringing my family and friends. There's always something happening at the Phipps," he added, smiling at the chance to work in the conservatory's slogan.The name for the spring show, "Colorful New Beginnings," fits as well."Spring is a new beginning and we've just opened our welcome center," Daubmann said."(The welcome center) has been under construction for more than a year and meets the needs of our visitors with its new restaurant, gift shop, new ticket area, elevators and lockers."At home in Penn Township, Geisler maintains a large garden on about two acres, one-third of which is wooded."I have all flowers in nine separate flower gardens around the property and around the house. I seem to have a knack for it," he admitted."My mother loves birds and we make our property a natural place where birds and butterflies can congregate."

WHAT: Spring flower show, "Colorful New Beginnings"WHERE: Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at One Schenley Park in the Oakland section of PittsburghWHEN: Through April 10, with daily hours from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. regularly but expanded until 9 p.m. daily starting Saturday for Twilight EveningsADMISSION: $7.50 for adults, $6.50 for senior citizens age 62 and older, $5.50 for students with ID, $4.50 for children ages 2 to 12, and free for children younger than 2INFORMATION: 412-622-6914

Total bulbs in show: 74,252Total tulips in show: 34,776Total bulbs in show at any one time: 17,239. Plants are added and removed from displays as needed throughout the show.Total of all other plants in show: 2,670.