Throw Back Thursday.... My Garden Center Job.....

Two Years ago I worked two part time jobs for awhile.  My retail clothing job and I also worked at a garden center.  I remember my husband coming up to me in church saying do you want to work in the Nursery?  And of course we are at church and I'm thinking 'Nursery'  as  where all the little 18 month old children are and look at him like he just grew two heads...I immediately said "are you crazy, I don't want to be around little babies.."  Only to have him say "no the new garden center...there is a lady who works there and says there are some job openings."  Well that's a much better  idea than being around little babies. ( Sorry if I have offended anyone with little children but my brain is far from the baby days!)

I remember going and applying and being one of their first employees....I loved seeing how a business starts, and all the work it takes to open a garden center...I got to help with all the computer inventory...making the bar codes to go on the plant containers...I got to work with people who really knew a lot about plants...

I got to be surrounded by lots of plants for 4 hours a day....I enjoyed helping pick out plants for their gardens and to talk about gardens and gardening.  I also would find the poor sick plants and revive them...It's nice to have a green thumb...To be able to find that little wilting plant and bring it back to life...and then see someone take it home...

There is something about being in a garden center that is calming.  Perhaps it is the fact that you are surrounded by nature...

Or maybe it is the sound of the water fountains....

There are of course the stresses...People who buy things and then want to return them...making the right amount of sales...finding prices when tags fall off...Theft....yes people even steal plants....or change tags to cheaper prices....lines and not enough registers on busy days.....computers going down.....Plants dying of a disease....Was it from us or did it come from the customers garden?....not having what people want....

While I enjoyed the quiet mornings at the garden center...Time watering plants and filling water fountains...daydreaming about learning more...it was also a little hard to work two jobs...So when it got really slow after a few weeks and they told me they didn't need me anymore...It was more of a relief than a tragedy....It helped us get a little ahead of our bills but ended at the right time too...And of course I got lots of cool flower photos to add to my collection....Here are some of my favorites...

Have a great Thursday!
G.G.