There are many trade booths at the annual CanWest Hort Show. The plant ID booth is by far the best. I am drawn to it and so are many others. All people who pass get entered into a draw for $250. As soon as I finish my Urban Forester’s symposium, I head down to the trade floor to check out the plant ID set-up.
Landscape Industry test
The booth is set-up just like the plant ID test station at the Landscape Industry Certified examination. In BC it happens twice a year. In July and in October. The live specimens are set-up in a tent so others can’t peak in. You get a list with botanical names and half an hour to complete it. Off you go.
At CanWest it’s relaxed. The specimens are set-up for all to see. You can even discuss it with others and you can cheat, if you must. I wasn’t about to. I really wanted to test myself. I walked around, checking the plants without a list. Then I grabbed my pencil and clip board and went to work. Since my employer generously paid for me to be there, it really was work.
I passed! I smashed it with 100%. Now a Red Seal Journeyman Horticulturist, I wouldn’t expect anything else. And I had fun doing it.
It’s also fun to look up from your clipboard and see your former employers, managers and co-workers. Some are genuinely surprised to see you because their employers brainwash them into thinking there is no life after their company. It’s all wrong. You can take your skills, find a growing company and kill it. If you’re not sure, contact me. I will show you how to do it. Lower Mainland landscaping companies need good workers. So look around.
Test yourself
Take a look at the plant list above and look at my photos. Can YOU pass?
See you at the CanWest Hort Show this September at the Tradex in Abbotford.
