Week 3

Hey everyone! First, I just want to thank everyone for reading my blog especially my family and friends. Also, thank you to the teachers who have inspired me to pursue a career in Horticulture. I'm halfway through my college days and am doing this summer internship not only for credit but to prepare me for my future career and I'm loving every day and know that I am pursuing the right career path. This is week 3 of my blog and I will continue to have weekly posts up until the end of my internship.

On Monday morning, the interns were up front tilling, raking, fertilizing, and planting the garden around the welcome sign. Scott is entering the All-America Selections design contest so over 50% of the flowers we planted were from the All-America Selections. Amanda and I also went down to gates ajar which was the project for week 1 and made sure to water. It looks very good although some of the plants appear to be wilting and a few are falling out but Scott who is in charge of planting and upkeep of gates ajar told us that that is normal so we are just fixing as we water. Then, we tilled one of the gardens in the parking lot and put down fertilizer to prepare it for planting. The Horticulture interns also get there own bed on the edge of the main parking lot in which we decide what to plant of the leftover plants so we had some time to till that area to prepare it for planting soon. Then, Amanda and I had to clean the van by sweeping it out and wiping down the sides as well as shaking out the rugs which we used the first week. We then moved some plants to a different part of the greenhouse. After that, Amanda and I took some compost to the compost pile and finished out the day by driving the mule out to gates ajar and watering it again. Since the plants are still rooting and getting established on gates ajar, then they need to be watered 2-3 times a day for the first couple of weeks in order to get established and will be watered less frequently once the plants are indeed established.

On Tuesday, it was time to mow again so the interns got to mow the smaller areas of the zoo, Como town, front entrance, and parts of the park managed by the horticulture staff while a member of the horticulture staff mowed the larger areas using the riding lawnmower. Once we were done mowing, we did some more work on tilling the intern garden.

On Wednesday, I worked with Amanda putting down manure mulch around the plants in the edible garden. We also did some trimming of Verbena in the greenhouse when it started pouring outside which hindered our ability to put down manure mulch. We only did this for about 15 minutes because it was before lunch and the rain stopped soon thereafter. The Verbena were becoming too leggy so we trimmed them down in an attempt to train the plant to grow up instead of out.

Thursday morning Amanda and I finished putting down manure mulch in the edible garden. We then started putting down cedar mulch around the pumpkins and melons in the beds surrounding the edible garden. Kerrick also came and helped us with putting the cedar mulch around the edible garden. The zoo had the grand opening and ribbon cutting of gorilla forest so today was really busy at the zoo. In the afternoon we had the opportunity to work on planting the intern bed in the parking lot. Some of the plants include cleome which is the plant of the week, salvia, verbena, millet, ornamental peppers, zinnia, and sweet potato vine. We got about half of it planted. After planting, we watered in the plants.

Friday morning I watered the beds up front and in the enchanted butterfly garden. Then, Kerrick and I weed whipped around the frog pond and the signs. We then picked up the piles of debris left behind by the volunteers in the enchanted butterfly garden and in one of the beds in the palm lot. Then, we did some more planting in the intern bed, but did not quite get finished because we want some different plants and other colors which we have to wait to see if more plants come available to us but we added some swiss chard today and a few other plants. Then, we watered the bed and went to gates ajar and watered.

Cleome hassleriana is the plant of the week. In Minnesota, it is used as an annual plant.The cultivar used in the intern bed is 'Spirit Frost' which has a white flower. The common name for Cleome is Spider Flower. Cleome likes full sun and grows to be 24-48" tall at maturity and should be spaced 15-18" apart. Cleome is a spring/summer flower that will continue to flower until the first frost. This flower likes full sun, has fragrant foliage, is heat and drought tolerant, and attracts butterflies, birds, and hummingbirds. Cleome is great for use in flower beds, borders, and patio containers (Information found on Proven Winners website).