I Found My Dream Job in Retirement

Of all the part time jobs I have held over the years, working in the Garden Center is by far my favorite. It checks all the boxes. I move back and forth between being inside and outside with large overhead doors letting the breeze blow in, it is physical in nature and  helps me stay in shape and I have contact with the public in a fun way. When people come to the garden center they are generally in a good mood, nurturing a hobby or passion just as I am doing by working there.

This morning when I was watering the outdoor area, easily an acre of trees, shrubs and sun loving perennials, and annuals in various sized pots it occurred to me that garden center plants are a lot like shelter animals. They can survive okay in the pots just as animals do in kennels and cages at the shelter, but they will never thrive until someone comes and picks them to take home to nurture and love. In my decades of perusing garden centers and greenhouse for my annual plantings I have been oblivious to the work it takes to keep them looking attractive and healthy enough for someone to want to take home.

It is a daunting task to maintain any plant in a garden center for more than a couple of weeks. It amazes me how quickly some of them sell. It is not unusual to get a pallet of 50 of something and have it be gone in a weekend or a mere few days. The name of the game is move the merchandise. Any plant in the garden center for more than a couple of weeks really starts to show the stress of their life from seedling, or transplant. Quickly outgrowing their pots and some in less than ideal light. The outdoor plants have it the hardest. Not only are they in black pots, they are displayed on pallets or open tables on a blacktop lot.

As Champ has settled into his routine with his duties mowing taking care of playgrounds as they begin to open areas of the park, I have settled into a nice schedule of early morning hours. My day starts at 7a.m. The first 2-3 hours is spent watering, deadheading, and condensing displays of live freight, otherwise known as plants. The rest of the morning I stock indoor freight, and face shelves in the indoor part of the garden center. All the while I help people shopping in the department and often help them pick plants and talk to them about how to care for them. One of the perks is work smells incredibly good!  Especially when I am watering the Flowering Tropicals!

I think it is safe to say I found a nice niche for myself a few days a week this summer. I had to retire to find my dream job.