If anyone ever wondered what I do at Longwood Gardens as a volunteer each week, this is it!
I am part of the Indoor Highlights Team, which works within the Guest Services department at Longwood. Every two weeks we produce a Highlights section on the Longwood Gardens website where visitors can learn about what they can expect to see in the gardens at that time. It gives first time visitors an idea of what to expect, and encourages regular visitors to look in areas that they might not ordinarily look.
So every fortnight Lucy and I go to Longwood and walk around the conservatories. There are about 15 different conservatory 'houses' open to the public. For the purposes of the Highlights, we have divided the conservatories into six areas. I select five plants, displays or other installations of interest to be highlighted in each of these six sections.
I try to select a range of different plants and flowers, fruits and displays in varying colours and forms that best represent what Longwood has to offer. I then come home with my selections and type them up, and email them to a colleague (also a volunteer) who goes along and photographs the items I have selected. Another team member edits and puts the information onto the website on a Friday for visitors to view.
The work takes me about two and a half hours in total, plus travel time. So it's a big commitment in a day that's already busy with Lucy's naps, mealtimes and so on. But I enjoy going to Longwood and seeing my colleagues, interacting with the visitors and being amongst such wonderful surroundings. At this time of year it's a treat to be in a tropical environment and see such bright coloured flowers and greenery, when the world outside is so bleak and frosty. Lucy loves it - she has been coming with me since she was six weeks old so knows it well.
Soon I will be moving onto a different job at Longwood which is about to open up. I will be noting information about every flower in bloom throughout the conservatories on a hand-held computer. It's similar to a job I was doing last year and is very flexible so will suit us perfectly.
Here is a link to the Highlights page which I currently help to produce -http://www.longwoodgardens.org/docs/bloom/GardenHighlights_Indoor_2009_1_16.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment