1 Year of Plant Blogging and the order that never ends.

Hello plant people

While going through some photos I took at the nursery the other day a thought suddenly occurred to me. I’ve been blogging about plants for nearly a year now. Actually it turns out Stupid Garden Plant’s very first post happened today last year, oh how quickly time flies. 185 posts in a year, that’s almost a post for every second day. It’s been a good year of plant blogging and so far I’m quite pleased with this creative outlet. Sure my personal journal is a bit light this year, but think of all the plant science documented. Thank you to all my readers who encourage and inspire me, without you I would be lost.

On to other topics. Life has certainly become a bit busier as of late, at times I feel a bit overwelmed. The last rush of the year is upon us at work and we’ve been frantically shipping out racks of fall mums, pansies and decorative cabbage and kale. While the orders get a little bit bigger every week, at this time of year the mix stays the same. I feel like I’m stuck in a same 2 hour time loop in which I finish one identical order after another. It brings on a strange sense of hysteria, a common emotion felt by late season nursery staff.

When I first got into this line of work I often wondered why the staff acted the way they do. Nursery workers are a strange breed of people. A bizarre sense of humor runs rampant in this business and the first lesson you should learn, is not to take anyone too seriously.  If you’ve ever pulled 200 flats of gallon mums, or spent an entire day in a field of pansies, you know that familiar feeling of crazy. The guys and I are adept at overcoming the insanity, but often not without a certain amount of ridiculousness. It takes a lot of sarcasm, nonsense and down right smack talk to get through the day. We often like to joke about how we get meaner as the work gets less exciting. “This is going to be one hell of a MEAN week”

Being a bit more sensitive then some it took me a while to warm up to this kind of head space. Of course in time I have realized the value of being mean without meaning it. While the job requires some skill to accomplish properly , the tasks themselves can sometimes come off as a bit monotonous. In these moments of perpetual plant pulling a staged fight with a friend can add a bit of excitment to your day. It’s not a strange day to flip off one’s co-worker as you head up to the top of the property. Some day’s we’re downright mean, but like a family, we’re stuck together, for the good and the bad. If everyone keeps a thick hide to themselves, the game works rather well and keeps the day moving along smoothly. Unlike retail we don’t really have any new people to spice up the day, so we’d better find ways of entertaining ourselves.

Echinacea purpurea ‘magnus’

Annual Fall Rudbeckias

All ranting aside, it’s been a couple mental weeks of plant pulling and I’m well on my way to exhausted. It’s been a great year of blogging, and I hope to continue to entertain and amaze via strange plant photos and facts. For those still hungry for some good plant posts, take a look at a couple posts that I felt stood out.

Cacti Mundo Tour

Government House Victoria – February Walkaround

Symptoms of a Plantaholic

Sedum spathulifolium in flower

Hello, My Name is Nat, and I’m a plantoholic.

A matter of timing: Puya Mirabilis