Times up!

Alls well that ends well! The Triad Internship proved to be an excellent tool to figure out what one might want to procure as a career in public horticulture. I was able to see all the different facets involved in running a botanical garden establishment from curation to plant production, director to research and budgeting to managing volunteers and then a whole lot more besides that. I got a great feel for the three different establishments and know that with every garden each will have their own mission statement and set of guiding principles they go by.

Not only did I get to shadow a prominent staff member each day but also got a chance to go on field trips, plant walks, attend an intern barbecue, extract honey, see a caterpillar as long as my hand, attend an ice cream social (yum!), do maintenance on the giant lily pads (Victoria’s), etc, etc, etc. Yes, I could go on and on. So, if you are interested in Public Horticulture I highly recommend this internship. Rental car and transportation to Pennsylvania is reimbursed and housing is provided by Longwood Gardens.

I had a wonderful time and will never, ever forget it. Thank you to everyone for my incredible eight weeks back East.

Last Week at Chanticleer

OMG! I just saw the biggest caterpillar of my life today! I was working with Lisa Roper in the Asian Woods Garden at Chanticleer and we’re riding along in one of the work carts when all of a sudden she screeches to a stop. A huge, metallic, mint-green, as long as my hand from fingertip to wrist caterpillar is inching along across the path. It turns out he is a Hickory Horned-Devil and one day turns into Citheronia regalis, common name Regal Moth. Really impressive. I was glad I got a chance to see him. I can’t wait to share pictures of it with my friend Bridget whom I took an entomology class with at Cal Poly.
She will love it!

In the morning on Tuesday, I worked with Joe Henderson in the Ponds Garden. He gave me a nice tour and then I helped him weed and deadhead around the pond area. In the afternoon I worked with Robert Herald the Curator for Chanticleer. One of the horticulturists called up and asked about a mystery Clematis. It was labeled Clematis occidentalis but C. occidentalis is a purple bell-shaped flower and this one was yellow. Robert and I went back to his office and went through the dichotomous key to see if we could figure it out. It turns out it is Clematis virginica.

Wednesday, I was back with Joe in the Ponds Garden and helped him plant Phlox divaricata, Phlox stolonifera “Sherwood Purple” and Pachysandra procumbens. In the afternoon, I worked with Doug Randolph the artist extraordinaire. Doug makes most of the fine furniture, drinking fountains, bridges, etc that you see about the garden. I have included one of the drinking fountains that Doug has created. He is now in the process of creating a bench for the vegetable garden which will be adorned with hand-carved carrots for the front legs, asparagus for the back and lima beans shaped seats. I’d like to see it when it is finished. Maybe he can e-mail me a picture when he is done completing it.

Thursday and Friday of this week I am helping Yvonne get Jonathan Wright’s Teacup Garden in shape. Jonathan is out of town and has a whole list of things for us to do while he is gone. I am working on an area that is next to Doug Croft’s Rock Garden. All day I deadheaded, weeded, and mulched. A lot of work but got a wonderful sense of satisfaction at the end of the day.

I’d like to thank all the staff at Chanticleer. The interactions between them seem more like a family that just a working staff and I appreciate the time you all gave to me. Thank you all for sharing your very unique Pleasure Garden with me!

First week at Chanticleer

At Chanticleer there is a staff meeting every Monday morning before everyone goes out to do their respective work. This keeps communication lines open and lets everyone know what everybody else is doing. Ryan (the other triad intern and partner in crime) and I got a chance to sit in on the meeting and be introduced to the whole staff at one time. Today, I worked with horticulturist Laurel Voran and Chanticleer’s intern Shanti taking care of the Ruin Garden. What a great garden to work in! It amazed me to hear that the previous director had the risk-taking foresight to tear down a perfectly good building in order to create this imaginative and artistic ruin in its place.

Then it was off to the vegetable and cut flower garden with Doug Croft. Doug was out of town the previous week so there was plenty of dead-heading and weeding in his garden. I also sowed beet seeds, harvested beans, and planted sunflowers.

I loved working in the woods with Przemek Walczak. He maintains the woodland areas around Chanticleer editing invasive plants and incorporating natives. Today’s lesson was how to untangle girdled tree roots from a nursery container and how a tree (in this case, a maple) like this should be properly planted. “The site is prepared”, he said. Hmmm, but I didn’t see any hole. A very shallow bowl-shape depression was dug in the ground, the tree centered above it and the roots were then laid out into shallow channels that were splayed out like a sun’s rays and covered with the natural soil. I was amazed that planted this way no stake was needed, for the tree was steady and could stand on its own!

Thursday, I got a chance to rake the circular Zen Gravel Garden. Dan Benarcik showed me some secret techniques and then challenged me to come up with my own design. O…Kaaaaay… “And do it by 10:00 am before the garden is open to the public”, he says. “Oh and I also need a new flower arrangement for the water bowl in the outside living-room area”, he adds. But it’s already 9:15 am, I think to myself. Well, Dan just wants to give me a little taste of what he does every day. A busy fellow he works around the house by the pool, designs and maintains 140-plus container plantings, takes care of the outdoor living-room, rakes intricate designs into the gravel garden and a multitude of other chores. As I’m raking I think to myself, “This is not as easy as it looks”!

And last but not least I spent Friday with Jonathan who takes care of the front entrance to Chanticleer which involves the Teacup Garden, Tennis Court Garden, Upper Lawn area and a multitude of container pots. He was drawn away to speak to a group of visitors from Quebec which I unobtrusively listened in on and was fascinated to hear him speak and then hear his orations translated into French by the group’s interpreter. I helped his assistant Yvonne weed, water and plant some small bulbs into the Tennis Garden. I also got a chance to get some “hot tips” from Jenny, a previous photographer from Fine Gardening magazine. Thanks Jenny for the indispensable advice!

All in all I had a gratifying but ephemeral first week at Chanticleer and am looking forward to my next and last week there. Boo-hoo. :(

Last Week at Longwood

What?!! Last week?! How can that be? This has gone too fast! Well, Monday I had an incredible “behind the scenes look” at Longwood with Mark Richardson, Student Programs Coordinator that was just the best! He took me up on the roof of the Conservatory, above the arabesque glass ceiling of the Ballroom to show me the elaborate tracking equipment used to clean the panes, under the Outdoor Theatre to the performers dressing rooms and then to the basements and tunnels of Pierre Dupont’s vacation home. Really cool! Thanks Mark. I really enjoyed it. Then that afternoon I got a chance to sit in and help out Joan McClintock and her team, Julie and Susan, annotate next years Course Catalog. We had a fun time brainstorming. Powerful, Smart and Beautiful. Oh, my!

Tuesday, I worked all day with Lee and Marie in the Banana display room, removing and recabling plants for safety and health reasons. Then the rest of the day was helping Marie repot Phalaenopsis and Cattleya orchids.

Wednesday morning was spent helping Designer Jim Sutton and Karl Gercens decide on which plants to substitute in the Conservatory and Brick Walk areas. And in the afternoon I got a chance to visit with Missy in the Visitor Center dealing with ticketing and later with Jane in the gift shop. Each took time to show me their respective areas and explain challenges they encounter.

We took an intern field trip to Wave Hill in New York on Thursday. What a beautiful place. An unbelievable panoramic view of the Hudson River, a water garden (check out the cute frog I took a picture of), conservatory, art museum and eclectic vegetable and herb garden are what await you at Wave Hill. It was a long bus ride there and back but totally worth it!

Friday morning, I got a chance to sit in on a meeting with Kate who is in charge of the K-12th grade education program. She and the staff of the Ashland Nature Preserve are planning a 3-day workshop for teacher’s to learn how to install a nature habitat into their respective schools. They discussed training the teachers on how to construct raised-planting beds, composting techniques, after-installation maintenance tips and logistics involved. With the way these three coordinated the meeting I have no doubt they will have nothing but success come next June. And in the afternoon I got more research training helping Plant Research Intern, Jason process soil samples.

And last but not least, I’d like to thank all the staff at Longwood who took the time out of their days to let me see into a piece of their very busy workday.

Third Week at Longwood

This week was again filled, shuffling between several different people starting with the Indoor Display and ending with the Outdoor Display garden sections. Karl Gercens and Mary Allinson head the Indoor Display. Both are busy getting ready for “Autumn Colors” at Longwood. Amanda, another intern, and I helped with covering a giant cornucopia with grape vines which will later be filled with artisan glass pumpkins. I wish I could be here to see the final end product. It should be pretty impressive!

Harold Taylor and Bob Scanzarolli gave me a tour of their respective grdens. I worked on the Hill Garden Path with Susan from California and then a tour of Pierce’s Woods with gardener Pandora. Next, I talked with Jeff who takes care of the parking lot and area in front of the Visitor Center. He has the extra challenge of dealing with the heat generated from all of the concrete surrounding the planting beds. On Friday I worked with Ed Broadbent who is in charge of the "Brick Walk". There I helped him deadhead Cannas and spent Hibiscus blossoms.

The highlight of this week though had to be the field trip to Dumbarton Oaks and the US Botanic Garden in Washington DC.

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection is an institute of Harvard University dedicated to supporting scholarship internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships, meetings, exhibitions, and publications. Oh, and lets not forget about the gardens! The public is invited to see the garden in all its glory with its many added ordornments such as statues, benches, brickwork, and cobblestone art. My favorite is the Ficus pumila room. Gail, our guide, gave a humorous but informative talk taking us through the impressive gardens that Beatrix Farrand designed in 1921.

Then it was on to the US Botanical Garden which features the exhibit “One Planet-Ours” which will be on display through October 13th of this year. I especially liked the “Cool Globes”, an exhibit of more than 40 sculptures of “whole-earth” solutions to the problems of living unsustainably.

Next week I am looking forward to going to Wave Hill in New York. I’ve never been to New York before!

Second week at Longwood

This week started with working with Production Grower Dave Wheatley, moving several pots of salvias to the Brick Walk where they were being planted. I then watered an entire greenhouse full of begonias and then spent time potting up poinsettias. One grower said they are over 3500 pots of them in the garden during Christmas time. I am sorry I won't be able to see the display during that time. Some employees here have told me its a must see and really a most incredible time to be in the garden during the Christmas season and one not to miss. One of these days I'll have to come back to Longwood to see them and the display of lights.

Monday afternoon was spent going to Chanticleer Garden to an "Interns" BBQ and Pool party. Director Bill Thomas and staff of Chanticleer Garden was nice enough to host this event for all the interns participating in nearby neighboring gardens. We were treated to a wonderful tour of the garden, BBQ dinner, and a cool and refreshing dip into the pool. Very nice!! I had a wonderful time getting to know more of the interns... and their respective gardens. Thank you Director Bill Thomas for the invitation!

After work on Tuesday, I was called by my roommate and Professional Gardener Kerry Ann to come and see how to extract honey. I saw and then participated in the extraction process all the while getting little tidbits of tastes of honey that just happened to fall onto my fingertips. Yum! We did it the 'ol fashion way (somewhat like an ice cream maker) by hand-cranking the extractor causing the honey to be forced out of its comb by centrifugal force. It was a pretty messy process and now I'd really like to see how it is done commercially.

I really, really enjoyed working with Alan Petravich on Wednesday. I got a chance to practice dissecting a Canna keeping crown and growing point intact. This is not an easy task. Ruilan, another intern, showed me how it is done. She made it look sooooo easy. The first one I tried I had no problem and then I tried another...
For whatever reason, I had the hardest time. In the end I botched it, cutting the crown away from the growing point. :( I then tried the Chrysanthemum. It is done while looking into a microscope to take minute leaf by minute leaf away until you find the apical meristem, a gelatinous ball which is about the size of half a pinpoint when looked upon with the naked eye. This minuscule bit of plant tissue is then scooped up and used to create a virus-free plant by tissue culture.

Thursday morning I spent time working with Kristina Aguilar and her staff in the curatorial department. I learned the process of mapping a garden using "Total" mapping equipment, got a glimpse on how to accession plants, and deal with various questions that might come up in the course of the day. That afternoon was extra special because we (the interns) got a chance to spend time with Tim Jennings and Patrick Nutt in the Water Gardens of Longwood. They went over in fine detail the plant cultivation techniques of Hardy Waterlilies, Victorias (huge lilypads), and night-blooming Tropicals. It was a special pleasure to speak with Patrick about his work since he has been working and in charge of the Water Gardens at Longwood since 1957! Oh my gosh...I was only a year old! Psst, don't tell anybody! Then we got the chance to slip on the waders and get right into the ponds! What an experience! I can't wait to show my kids (kids? 26 and 23 years young) pictures of their 'ol ma walking around in the ponds at Longwood Gardens.

My experiences here just keep getting better and better!

I can't wait 'til next week!

First Week at Longwood Gardens

My first day here was heralded in by working with Master Bee Keeper, Buck White. He has just developed a newly designed hive to hopefully prevent Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). It is designed to replicate what bees might naturally have built in their own wild habitat. We learned how to start the smoker and use it on the bees. The smoke is used to calm the bees down so they are less likely to sting. The bees think their hive is on fire and so start to gorge themselves on the honey. And just like after a huge Thanksgiving turkey dinner, the bees get too full to want to move. They're not flying anywhere after all that turkey!! : )

With swarming bees all around we (Mark Richardson, Student Programs Coordinator at Longwood Gardens, interns and students) transferred the comb from the old hives to the newly built hives. We all got a turn at catching a Queen, marking her with a florescent pen so you could distinguish her from the others and then transferred her to a new hive. I was surprised how everyone remained relatively calm. For all the disturbance, only two people got stung!

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I got a chance to work with Dr. Casey Sclar, Plant Health Care Division Leader. He gave me a tour of the facilities and took me to a research section where they are seeing if this certain beneficial is doing its job on the weed "Mile-A-Minute". After that I spent time with interns Holly, Claire, and Dan monitoring pests in the nursery and conservatory areas of the garden. I also got a chance to see the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) genius of Mike Leventry do his stuff. He double checks to see what the interns have found in the individual gardens and intimately talks to each gardener about what pest problems they might have. On one plant it did indeed have a mealy bug and spider mite problem but it also had the beneficial "Minute Pirate Bug". Get that sticky card out of there!

Every Thursday here at Longwood Gardens the interns get to go on a interactive field trip to various private estates, nurseries, orchards and museums in the surrounding area. Today's trip was to nearby Maryland to LaDew Topiary Gardens. What a jewel! One of my "fav" garden rooms is the "Keyhole Garden". Shaped just like a keyhole (on the outside and in) you walk through the keyhole, as the key would fit in, and enter as Alice would into this enchanting little garden. I loved this space! I guess I'm a kid at heart. But I don't want to mislead you its not a child's garden. This space is an adults through and through. It just has a wonderful cuddling, wrapped up feeling to it. and then the surprise of all as you walk out...well, you'll just have to go there for yourself. For just like Harry Potter I wouldn't want to spoil the ending! :)

Another surprise at LaDew Gardens was "The LaDew Nature Walk", a leisurely, easy stroll through the Butterfly and Sedge Meadows, Wetland and Upland Woodlands, through the Freshwater Marsh to the Quarry Pond and Overlook and last but not least, through the Snakes Area (no worries, a large rock snake signifies the area) and then back to the beginning finishing up a large-ish loop. Very,very nice! I could of spent a lot more contemplative time there.

Please, if you have any interest at all in gardens this one is a must see!

Well, another great week...