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!