Greenhouse Journal: Day 3 at the Greenhouse

I arrive close to 9, sign in and go to greenhouse 3 to find my boss and get my planting assignment. On one of the planting benches is the newest plant shipment, waiting for me. I start on the miniature plants for the Fairy Gardens. I work in Greenhouse 4, on a variety of them like Goji’s Chocolate Ball, De De Honeysuckle, Old Man Bones, Hobbit, Dana’s Purple Passion, Sting of Bones and a few others. My favorite is the Sensitive Plant. Every time you touch one of the tiny leaves it moves.

When I finish planting these in 4’ pots, I then water the plants. I clean up the area, gather my water bottle and head over to Greenhouse 5 to plant some more. On my way, I pick up a few trays of annuals and the planting tags that go into them. On the right hand side of the house, I begin planting a number of lantana plants. On the left hand side I start planting number of varieties of Fuchsia, Iresine, Ipomoea, Coleus, Persian Shield, and more.

I stop for 15 minutes to take a break and eat a package of peanut butter crackers and drink the rest of my lemonade.  Then I continue working. I work alone in Greenhouse 5 following the planting directions from the clip board. The time seems to go by quickly today. Maybe it is because I am listening to the music on my iPod.

I finish planting everything. There is nothing else for me to do, and I can’t believe it. Neither can the woman who I work under. She is elated and tells me that I did a good job. Since everything is planted, I can leave early and she will call me later in the week when the next shipment of plants arrives.

I am happy to be done early but happier that I completed the planting in one day. I didn’t make a mistake like I had in my previous two days, no aches and pains. I walked up the steps to sign out and found a check waiting there for me from my first day’s work. The check was for $40.00. I beamed, despite not making minimum wage but then again, I would have worked for free. But holding a check in my hand made me feel good about myself, and it would buy me a tank of gas.