Any horticulturists out there?

[Lizard]

I posted this on the OTHER site a long time ago, and never got any responses. Anyone in the flower and plant field? I've been seriously considering changing careers and finding work at a greenhouse/landscaping company, or perhaps going to school for floral design. This is a complete 180 for me, as I've worked at a brokerage firm for nearly 7 years and have worked my way up to a decent position, but I don't feel satisfied with my career. I've worked as a peon in a greenhouse before, and loved it, plus I've taken a floral design class and loved that too. Working with plants and being outside is great fun to me... I know that line of work doesn't pay the best (especially compared to what I do now), but I've also heard it's a very satisfying career field for other reasons.

I think my first step is going to be to get a part-time job at a greenhouse, just to get my feet wet again and see if I really will like it.

Sooo... anyone do this? Anyone think about doing it? :)

[meganth]

Not me, but my brother has his degree in horticulture. My mom is a florist so his job in high school was working the greenhouses where my mom worked.

After he graduated from college, he got a job as a nursery manager. After four months he quit. He was doing over 80-100 hour weeks with low pay. And here in Michigan, you can't really work at a nursery in the winter time.

My mom has been a florist for as long as i can remember, and that's very low paying also but she loves the people and the work.

So i guess if you like hard work and lots of hours and can get by with the low pay and don't live in Michigan, go for it!

My brother does miss it and still loves spewing off all the latin names of plants if you ask him the name of a flower. He'd eventually like to open his own nursery or buy the florist shop my mom works for someday, but right now he's saving up money for that.

I guess also, this is just my experience with 2 of my family members so i'm sure it could be different where you are or the type of work you go into!

[ktdelsur]

My husband is about to finish his masters in entomology (insects) and worked at a nursery for a number of years. I don't know if he would ever want to have the responsibilities of the BUSINESS side to running a nursery, but if he could find a job that paid him to be outside, plant things and be in charge of the landscaping, he'd jump on it. He's got a gree thumb like you wouldn't believe, and he loves it. He will probably end up going into lake management or something similar, but has also toyed with the idea of opening his own nursery someday.

[Amuse Bouche]

I have nothing substantive to contribute, but Dorothy Parker, when asked to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence, said,

"You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."