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!