Garden
Internship at Western Garden Centers Blog
Okay so the highlight of my week was making this checkerboard planter with scotch and irish moss. It has always been one of my dreams to do some kind of checkerboard thing with the two. I am so happy with how it turned out too.
This week I did a lot of cleaning and reorganizing because we have been pretty busy lately and the flower department was starting to look junky. Probably my favorite job was reorganizing the geraniums by color. I decided to do them from true reds through hot pink, light pink, purple pink to white. Then I put the scented ones on the very innermost isle so people would see them even though they don't stand out because their flowers are dinky. I was very proud of my work and the geranium section looked so much more beautiful and eye-catching than it did before. Here are some photos.
Also this week I made a custom planter for a lady that I was particularly proud of. This is the third custom planter that I have done. It was really fun and turned out really well. The lady loved it.
The nursery guys added spirea and other shrubs to my display to fill in where people had bought stuff. I thought it looked really good so I took some photos.
So last Friday they finally finished construction on the Ivy House reception center that is now on the other half of the store. It looks so amazing!!! This week Ben had me go in and take pictures to put up on our Facebook page for it. Here are some of the photos. The Ivy House looks really beautiful, we were all so excited to see it finished. The best part is that it has this huge grand piano that sounds amazing. We had an event for it on the Saturday right after it was finished so I helped get the houseplants into the space and put moss around the top so they looked good. It was really fun to help add the finishing touches to this new reception center.
Probably the biggest thing I can take from the new reception center is the need to diversify investments in a business. Privately owned Nurseries are becoming more obsolete because of supermarkets and big box retailers adding Garden departments. This new reception center will bring more revenue and keep the business around longer.
1. First start with a shallow container and make sure to drill holes for good drainage. I used a plastic pot saucer.
2. Next select a good potting mix. I chose Millers Mix for Box Gardens. Add this to about 1/3 of the pot.
3. Next add another third of Perlite. This will lighten the soil and make drainage better.
4. Mix really well with a trowel or hands.
5. Choose a fertilizer. I used Osmocote because it is slow release and very effective. Add a little bit and mix it in really well. 
6. Choose a plant to have as a centerpiece. Try to make it be something interesting but versatile.
7. Choose your supporting cast. Try to have variety but unity.
8. Plant center. Pick three of supporting that are the same color and space them equally around the center. This will give structure.
9. Add the other material with the same spacing thing in mind. Try to balance the levels and colors. 
10. Here is my finished product. Afterward I went through and trimmed some of the leggy stuff so it looked better.
This week was pretty good weather but a little overcast. Because of this business was pretty steady, which was really nice. I helped again with receiving shipments of annual color. We got a lot of really beautiful petunias in tons of different colors. We also got a lot of really interesting succulents and cactus. I helped work a lot of them into endocarps around the fountains(above). I also learned how to create succulent planters. I think next week I will do a picture step by step of how to do it.
Tidbits of info:
-Zucchini is a summer squash
-Eversweet is the most popular variety of strawberry, they are small and squishy but very flavorful. Quinalti is probably the second most popular. They are a little bit firmer.
- Ligularia have bright yellow bloom spikes that come in summer. Because of this they are a great choice for brightening up a shady location.
- Coral Bells/ Heuchera can come with a variety of leaf colors. We had some come in that where orange and also had some that were obsidian black. There are so many cool ones.
This week has been pretty busy which is really nice. I have been helping receive shipments and organize the perennials and annuals on the tables. I also made a map of the tables and where things were for coworkers reference. It really helps the cashiers if they can point out where something is to a customer. I have noticed that a lot of people have been buying snapdragons lately. The most popular color is a magenta pink.
Tidbits of Info:
Osteospermum flowers come in annual and perennial varieties. The annual ones tend to have more of the crazy colors (oranges, yellows, sunset etc.). The perennial ones are mostly white, purple, and pink.
Fuchsias don't like being transplanted
Coleus is really touchy about water. If it gets over watered or underwater than all the leaves fall off. Plus it doesn't like being in pots.
May 16-21
Work Work Work...
Here is a photo of a planter I made in a watering can a couple of weeks ago. This is the last one left out of the 6 I made.
I have been doing some planters every so often for customers and for just selling. I love working with Christine who is in charge of the flower planters. She has shown me lots of little tricks on how to plant them so they look professional and beautiful. Here is a hosta planter that she helped me put together.
May 9-14
This week was pretty good. Here is what I worked on
- Watering
what I learned- Plants in small cells dry out way faster than plants in pots.
- Helping customers
what I learned- a lot, Gaura is sometimes called butterfly flower, Dahlias can have black leaves
- Consolidating
what I learned- green potato vine sells quicker than purple
May 2-7
Tidbits of information:
July 11-16 Checkerboard Planter and my last week.
July 4-9
It has been so hot and muggy this week! We've had random thunderstorms coming through which are good and bad at the same time. Good because they water the plants pretty nicely but bad because we all have to go inside and it keeps customers from finding the plants they need.
We've consolidated a lot of stuff lately and slowed our shipments of plants. The season is starting to wind down for summer. I've noticed that a lot of people are really late getting their veggies in this year. We almost have none left and I feel bad when people come in only to find out that it is too late for half the stuff they want to start. One good thing though, we have some tomatoes in that are big so people can still plant them and expect a crop.
I snapped some photos of some shade annuals and so I figured I might as well give a little spill about what I've learned about them.
Fibrous Begonia: Really stunning and good for shady locations. They do well in hanging baskets or in pots, they come in many colors ranging from yellows to reds to whites and pinks. We had some really bright orange ones come in one time. The best way to get a stunning flower show is to pinch off the male flowers which allows more energy to go into the rosette female flowers. They are fragile plants so they are better left untouched and not moved often.
Fuchsias: Are good for shade to part sun. They look amazing in hanging baskets. There are variety of kinds with different eye colors and blooms. They are also really fragile and do not transplant well so special care needs to be taken. They need to be watered quite often, especially if in a hanging basket. Also it is a smart idea to keep up with the dead heading and pruning to keep them from getting lanky and gross looking.
We've consolidated a lot of stuff lately and slowed our shipments of plants. The season is starting to wind down for summer. I've noticed that a lot of people are really late getting their veggies in this year. We almost have none left and I feel bad when people come in only to find out that it is too late for half the stuff they want to start. One good thing though, we have some tomatoes in that are big so people can still plant them and expect a crop.
I snapped some photos of some shade annuals and so I figured I might as well give a little spill about what I've learned about them.
Fibrous Begonia: Really stunning and good for shady locations. They do well in hanging baskets or in pots, they come in many colors ranging from yellows to reds to whites and pinks. We had some really bright orange ones come in one time. The best way to get a stunning flower show is to pinch off the male flowers which allows more energy to go into the rosette female flowers. They are fragile plants so they are better left untouched and not moved often.
Fuchsias: Are good for shade to part sun. They look amazing in hanging baskets. There are variety of kinds with different eye colors and blooms. They are also really fragile and do not transplant well so special care needs to be taken. They need to be watered quite often, especially if in a hanging basket. Also it is a smart idea to keep up with the dead heading and pruning to keep them from getting lanky and gross looking.
June 27-July1
Here are some photos of a display I worked on.
June 20-25 The Ivy House
Probably the biggest thing I can take from the new reception center is the need to diversify investments in a business. Privately owned Nurseries are becoming more obsolete because of supermarkets and big box retailers adding Garden departments. This new reception center will bring more revenue and keep the business around longer.
June 13-18
This week was pretty busy which was really nice. I forgot to mention a couple weeks ago that I took pictures for Mothers Day Gifts and Fountains to put on the store Facebook page. I figured I would include a link to the page for this week. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Western-Garden-Centers/117929684886301
This week I also helped create a display near the entrance to the nursery. I used a lot of Japanese Maples and shade plants because there is a eave that comes out over the area and makes it really shady. I really like the variegated Hostas and the different colored Heucheras because they add bright spots in a normally shady and darker leaved area. I also am having a growing affinity for Jacobs Ladder and its unique leaf shape.
How to make a Succulent Planter:
2. Next select a good potting mix. I chose Millers Mix for Box Gardens. Add this to about 1/3 of the pot.
5. Choose a fertilizer. I used Osmocote because it is slow release and very effective. Add a little bit and mix it in really well. 
8. Plant center. Pick three of supporting that are the same color and space them equally around the center. This will give structure.
10. Here is my finished product. Afterward I went through and trimmed some of the leggy stuff so it looked better. 
May30-June 4th
Tidbits of info:
-Zucchini is a summer squash
-Eversweet is the most popular variety of strawberry, they are small and squishy but very flavorful. Quinalti is probably the second most popular. They are a little bit firmer.
- Ligularia have bright yellow bloom spikes that come in summer. Because of this they are a great choice for brightening up a shady location.
- Coral Bells/ Heuchera can come with a variety of leaf colors. We had some come in that where orange and also had some that were obsidian black. There are so many cool ones.
May 23-28
Tidbits of Info:
Osteospermum flowers come in annual and perennial varieties. The annual ones tend to have more of the crazy colors (oranges, yellows, sunset etc.). The perennial ones are mostly white, purple, and pink.
Fuchsias don't like being transplanted
Coleus is really touchy about water. If it gets over watered or underwater than all the leaves fall off. Plus it doesn't like being in pots.
May 16-21
Work Work Work...
May 9-14
This week was pretty good. Here is what I worked on
- Watering
what I learned- Plants in small cells dry out way faster than plants in pots.
- Helping customers
what I learned- a lot, Gaura is sometimes called butterfly flower, Dahlias can have black leaves
- Consolidating
what I learned- green potato vine sells quicker than purple
May 2-7
Tidbits of information:
- Humming Bird Mint, Agastache Cana
It has vibrant tubular flowers, it is xeric and blooms midsummer through fall.
-A good thornless variety of raspberry is the Canby
- Summer squash spreads not climbs.
- Maidengrass, Miscanthus
there are so many varieties including variegated ones.
April
Highlights: Product meeting on Wednesday evening for Kellogg products and Master Nursery, Planted some decorative watering cans with Wave Petunias, Tomatoes in Earth Box experiment made it through the night, and Travelocity gnomes are the new thing at the register.
So this week started out with off and on rain showers making customers few and far between. The advantage of this is the ability to get projects done without many interruptions, but the downside is that the projects get done quickly and leaves us all looking for something to do. Projects that I did this week include: watering perennials, annuals, vegetables, and herbs, unloading a truckload of trees and shrubs with the guys, helping to put together an Earth Box and planting tomatoes in it so that we can show customers how well they work, planting decorative watering cans with newly received wave petunias, putting out loads of herbs and ground-covers out onto the tables, siphoning rose food into the water for the roses, covering tomatoes with a blanket for cold nights, consolidating and organizing plants, and whatever else came my way.
Here are some tidbits of information that I gleaned this week from working,
-Digitalis is the common name for Foxglove, it is also used as a descriptive latin word for plants with long spear shaped leaves.
- There are tons and tons and tons of varieties of Penstemon... and they all look really different too.
- Ranunculus is a ridiculous name for such a pretty little annual. I found out that they don't bloom for very long but their blooms are gorgeous.
- Wildflower seed mixes are usually a variety of both annuals and perennials.
Highlights: Product meeting on Wednesday evening for Kellogg products and Master Nursery, Planted some decorative watering cans with Wave Petunias, Tomatoes in Earth Box experiment made it through the night, and Travelocity gnomes are the new thing at the register.
So this week started out with off and on rain showers making customers few and far between. The advantage of this is the ability to get projects done without many interruptions, but the downside is that the projects get done quickly and leaves us all looking for something to do. Projects that I did this week include: watering perennials, annuals, vegetables, and herbs, unloading a truckload of trees and shrubs with the guys, helping to put together an Earth Box and planting tomatoes in it so that we can show customers how well they work, planting decorative watering cans with newly received wave petunias, putting out loads of herbs and ground-covers out onto the tables, siphoning rose food into the water for the roses, covering tomatoes with a blanket for cold nights, consolidating and organizing plants, and whatever else came my way.
Here are some tidbits of information that I gleaned this week from working,
-Digitalis is the common name for Foxglove, it is also used as a descriptive latin word for plants with long spear shaped leaves.
- There are tons and tons and tons of varieties of Penstemon... and they all look really different too.
- Ranunculus is a ridiculous name for such a pretty little annual. I found out that they don't bloom for very long but their blooms are gorgeous.
- Wildflower seed mixes are usually a variety of both annuals and perennials.