Week 1

This was my first week on the job. I started on Monday. Friday, I took the day off because I had to go home for rehearsal dinner for my big brother's wedding. First, I will introduce you to my boss and fellow coworkers. My boss is Mindy and the other horticulture staff. My fellow interns are Amanda a global studies major and Kerrick an environmental science major. There is also one other intern Anna who is a Horticulture major in River Falls, WI who is helping out with education as well as with the Horticulture department. Every morning we have a quick staff meeting and the interns are assigned to a staff member.

On my first day, I worked with Scott and Kerrick on the preparing gates ajar for planting down by Como Lake. First, we cleared the debris of the dead plants from last year and weeded in the planting and the garden around the planting. Then, we added fresh mud to the wall in order to prepare it for planting the next day.

On day 2, Scott, Kerrick, Amanda, and I finished putting mud on the wall and started planting Echiveria on the wall to create the design and soften the edges of the wall. In order to plant the Echeveria, we had to widdle down the plants then stick them into the wall by making a small hole. Once in the wall, the Echeveria will root itself.

Day 3 Scott, Kerrick, Amanda, and I continued planting Echeveria for the symbols and softening the edges of the wall and started planting Alternanthera on the rest of the wall using a dibble to make the holes to create some color contrast.

Day 4 Scott, Kerrick, Amanda, and I continued with planting the symbols with Echeveria and then Alternanthera around the symbols.

The above picture is the progress of the wall near the end of day 4. The symbols on the pillars represent hope, faith, and charity. Then, there are wheels on each wall representing the wheels of life. The symbols come from a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem and from a section in Corinthians.

The plant of the week is Alternanathera Joseph's Coat. Alternanthera is a stoloniferous plant sometimes used as a ground cover. It comes in a variety of different colors. The leaves are simple and verticillate. In some areas, Alternanathera is considered a noxious weed. The zone depends upon the variety because there are over 80 species in the genus. (Information obtained from Wikipedia).