Camellia Forest

I've mentioned that I have 3 new part-time jobs. One of them is working at a local nursery that specializes in camellias and also has lots of very interesting trees, shrubs and landscape plants. I took this job because:

1. I love plants and want to learn more
2. I can walk to work-incredible considering where I live
3. The folks that run the place are nice and laidback
4. I'm getting paid two thirds in cash and one third in plants :-)
5. I only have to work there one day a week (usually)

So far I have worked 5 days over 4 weeks, every one of those days has been freezing cold and the last one was also raining. I have been completely exhausted at the end of these days and frozen, had to come home and take hot baths and naps to recover. Keep wondering if I am too old for this kind of physical labor though I'm only packing plants for shipping, no real heavy lifting. But I'm not going to whimp out, I will stick it out. It's April and it must get warmer right? I'll get stronger right?

So to encourage myself I went over there today with Mr. D and picked out my free plants for my first months work- and then some- now I am an indentured servant, but that will keep me showing up for work. The hard part is choosing. We picked:

• Chamaecyparis Obtusa "Wells Special" fantastic evergreen with architectural qualities and bluish foliage
• Acer Palmatum "Orangeola" weeping cut leaf Japanese Maple that is red in spring, greenish in summer and bright orange in fall- oh boy
• Corylopsis Sinensis- Chinese Winterhazel- pendulous yellow fragrant blooms in March-have always wanted one of these- spreading 10x10 feet
• Prunus Hally Jolivette-small cherry tree (12 feet) that blooms spring and fall - white flowers with dark pink centers- will plant below my study window
• 2 spring blooming camellias, white "Sudie Blanchard" and red "Royal Velvet"

So to my three part-time jobs add digging holes for these new plants and keeping them watered through the summer so they don't die!