Activities of a greenhouse volunteer

I was assigned to volunteer on Thursdays, from 10 am to 1 pm. I have been able to take blocks of time off from the schedule for traveling, particularly during the winter season.

All year I’ve been working closely with a PhD candidate, and undergrad students, along with the greenhouse assistant director who formerly managed landscaping for a local municipality.

Generally, my duties have included weeding, repotting, sweeping, preparing potting mix, etc. I have been allowed to collect and plant seeds in trays, and to transfer small seedlings to larger containers.

On 9/1/2022 I transplanted a euphorbia in room D4 (Diverse Desert), and cleaned and pruned trees and shrubs in room D2 (Mediterranean Scrubland, Australia).

The assistant director has produced a handy list of duties which generally take 15 to 30 minutes to complete. If I'm at a loss for tasks, I can always go to the posted list and find something to do.

In the first year, highlight plants have been:

Cacti native to Minnesota (south east quad)
Cacti and other desert plants, repotting in room C4
Brighamia insignis, native to Hawaii (I pollinated the flowers, then collected the seeds, then transplanted the seedlings to a new plant tray)
Nesocodon mauritianus seedling transplantation
Corpse flower blooming
Vanilla vine, repositioning, blossoming

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