May 31st, 2008 About
Who is Bert and why does she keep saying all those crazy things about gardening? Here’s her story:
Though hobby gardening was my favourite pastime for years, horticulture as a career came later in my life. Confined to an office for entirety of my sleep inducing first career, I decided to make the switch to Horticulture after having an epiphany of sorts. I had booked a day off work to pot up my container gardens. Standing outside my tiny hobby greenhouse, covered in dirt, making a huge mess of the lawn, hypnotized by the scents and colours of the plants I had grown from seed, I realized I had never known such contentment as I was experiencing at that moment. And I knew how I wanted to spend the rest of my working life. What I didn’t know was how I was going to accomplish it.
The short version; I began taking every night course, part-time course, seminar and workshop in horticulture that I could. I finally settled on a program offered by the University Of Guelph which I took surreptitiously so my employer would not find out I had long term plans to leave them after they helped finance my new career. It wasn’t easy, and took far longer than I had anticipated thanks to many bumps in the road.
Fast forward. I became a Head Grower, starting and “growing on” annuals, perennials, herbs, mums and poinsettias from seeds and cuttings. It was the best job I have ever had! Fast forward again and I became a Landscaper and Grounds Maintenance Supervisor. Second best job I’ve ever had and I’m still at it!
Throughout the hobby/student/professional years I developed my own techniques of gardening from seed to bloom to maintenance. That includes being fearless, ruthless and daring with plants. Mistakes taught me well. Successes taught me to push the envelope even further.
Eventually I was convinced to try my hand at blogging about gardening and Bert’s Bloomers is the result. As you read through the site, keep in mind I am not a writer, just a person who is passionate about all things green and growing (except lawns and poison ivy).
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