Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Pretty picture: Aquilegia 'Bluebird'


No progress with the camera. I don't especially want to try buying a memory card, but I suppose that's probably where we go next.

UPDATE: Got a memory card, which works well enough (I appreciate everybody's comments and suggestions), and I guess it's a good thing that I now have enough memory to do, like, 10000 pictures before I have to upload. Though really, it's not like I bumped up against the 108-picture prior limit very often, so I don't know if it's all that practical. But still. Present crisis completed; you may now insert new crisis.

I like Aquilegia flowers, but know essentially nothing about the plant, where it comes from or how to take care of it or any of that stuff. I know, as someone who works at a garden center / nursery / greenhouse kind of place, you'd expect me to, and I fully expect to be berated for my ignorance in the coming weeks by some stressed-out customers. WCW has had this happen already ("Well don't you people know anything about the plants you sell?"): people don't seem to understand that it's not reasonable to expect every employee to have comprehensive knowledge of all 2000 (or whatever - 2000 is just a guess) species and varieties of plants we have. Or, if they do understand that, understanding doesn't prevent them from being cranky and mean about it if they don't immediately have access to all the answers they want. (I thought gardening was supposed to be relaxing for people.)

And I'm at kind of a disadvantage in the first place, since pretty much everything is new territory for me except for the houseplants / tropicals. I'm learning just as fast as I can, and am getting almost competent when it comes to the annuals, but there are days when, between the customers, the multiple names for everything, and especially the heat, I think you know, much as I like plants, this might not be the job for me.

I'm not saying I'm going to quit. I'm just saying, this has never quite been the job I thought I was getting when I started, and sometimes that's more of a problem than others. Spring sucks.


4 comments:

Mr. Green Genes said...

Speaking selfishly (and I am sure on behalf of many Web-fans), you can't change job Mr. S.! Where could we turn to for entertaining news about plant thieves, and plants growing under the tables of the greenhouse?

Spring sucks, I know- my usual garden center is full of people, at least 4 times as much as during winter. But soon enough there won't be any space left in those beds, and the number of customers will decrease.

Hand on, looking forward to read the Dieffenbachia profiles, Mr. GG

mr_subjunctive said...

Well I know. But it's still a crappy time of year. And every time I complain about it to somebody at work, I'm told, just wait - it gets worse. Mid-May is apparently the peak, so only a couple weeks left before we get to the top of the hill and things start getting easier again. But still.

I should maybe also disclose that things may seem worse to me than they really are today because I woke up with a bad headache. And the camera thing is kind of a drag also.

On the positive side, this puts me in more or less the perfect frame of mind for going over the Dieffenbachia profile.

Aiyana said...

Hope you make it through the summer. At least you are not in Arizona. I feel sorry for the folks who work in the nurseries in mid-July when the temps are 115! In the winter, they have to put up with the snowbirds who look for cacti with fake flowers and wrapped in colored foil.
Aiyana

Anonymous said...

For your edification:

Aquilegia tend to be "short-lived" perenials coming back only for a few years before dying out. However they generally reseed easily so by the time the parent plant has croaked, new ones have reached blooming size.

IME they are fairly easy plants to grow. They like moist (not boggy) soil and can grow in a variety of light conditions -- even full sun provided they are given sufficient moisture.

They do seem to be prone to leaf-miners and some sort of like green caterpillars that will completely defoliate a plant. However, the plant generally recovers quite well with a new flush of leaves. Can't remember whether or not they are held in high regard by deer as a taste treat.