Floriculture and Horticulture-The Next Generation

Years ago when we were running a garden center at full steam, an acquaintance of ours walked into the shop with a shy young teenager in tow and stated "She needs a job!" The mother went on to say that she thought working outdoors with plants was just the right fit for Lei, the still mute girl in bib overalls standing behind her. Lei finally said she thought she would like working with plants and that she went to school right up the road from the garden center.

We agreed to take her on a trial basis a couple days after school and a few hours on weekends, but didn't expect her to last long as, unfortunately, a number of teenagers brought in by their parents rarely lasted more than a week or two. However, Lei not only lasted longer than a few weeks, but worked part time through her entire high school career. She earned a scholarship from one of the local garden clubs, and went on to major in horticulture at Delaware Valley University in Pennsylvania.This shy, awkward teen blossomed (pun intended) into a confident, knowledgeable, young woman now working for a large perennial grower.

I mention Lei since I recently came across an article in the Eastern Edition of Country Folks Growers regarding scholarship money available for floriculture/horticulture students. The deadline is May 1 for 20 separate scholarships offered by the American Floral Endowment (AFE). Look online for a complete description of each AFE scholarship offered, requirements, and an application.

If you know of a young person who could benefit from this information, please pass it along. We like to think we played a small part in Lei achieving her dream and hope by writing about this scholarship, we may be helping some other young person do the same.

A reminder that the Philadelphia International Flower Show is open now through March 13 at the Convention Center with this year's theme being "Springtime in Paris".

Think Spring!
Cheryl

Tree Peonies-And So It Begins!

Kinkaku



John and I attended the New Jersey Floral & Garden Show followed by New York In Bloom Flower Show at the Albany State Museum while visiting with our grandchildren, Vehicle Boy and the Fairy Princess and both visits made us anxious for "digging in the dirt". That, my friend, is a little impossible for us here at Pittsgrove at the moment since our dirt is still under a blanket of snow that the Olympic folks would be happy to have on Cypress Mountain in Vancouver! The only digging has been by our native white tail deer who have foraged throughout our property for some tender shoots to nibble upon.

Just as John was starting to get twitchy from having to implement his snow shovel while the garden trowel collects dust in the barn, our friendly UPS man appeared with a shipment of tree peony grafts for us. John's face lit up the way Vehicle Boy's does upon the acquisition of a new Match Box car. Now he had something to do that didn't involve the movement of snow.


Tree peonies are so darn beautiful and pretty darn carefree once planted in the right location. Rather than deteriorating with age, these plants just get more spectacular with each passing year---I try to convince John and our sons that I'm doing the same as I age, but they're not buying that theory!

After John removed the one year peony grafts (tree peonies are grafted onto herbaceous stock) from their packing material, he soaked them in a bucket of water to rehydrate them since they have been dormant for a few months. After soaking for at least an hour, he potted each of them in a 2 gallon container making sure the graft and at least one bud were buried beneath the potting mix.

A third to a half of those plants John just potted will bloom this year. But with each year to come the size of the plant will increase and number of blossoms will multiply, maturing in 5-8 years. Tree peonies reach heights of 2 1/2'-5' tall and blossoms reaching 5-6" across.


Hoki






Although this batch was all yellow, we intend to have approximately125 plants in 8-9 varieties this year, ranging in age from 2-4 years old. Unlike their herbaceous cousins, tree peonies require partial shade and some protection from drying winds. With proper planting these lovely plants will reward you for many, many years to come.
Sahohimi

Just a reminder for those of you in our area, The Philadelphia International Flower Show starts this Sunday February 28 and runs through March 7. This is the premier event of its kind and if you have never attended, you will be blown away by the outstanding displays.

Think Spring!
Cheryl