WORKING -- A growing appreciation

-- Story by Rebecca Harris; photo by Brian Pobuda

SHE IS

Springing into the season.

LEAF LOVER

Tending bright blooms, lush leaves and trickling fountains at Flowerdale

Nursery in Costa Mesa, Margaret Heuler indulges a lifelong love of

gardening.

Heuler, 70, works part time at the nursery, sprucing up plants, helping

customers plan their gardens, diagnosing floral diseases, pinpointing

rare species and helping students find fast-growing plants to use for

science projects.

BLOSSOMING CAREER

Heuler said she developed a love of leafy things as a child after

watching her mother coax growth from the clay soil of Bakersfield.

“Some people you can’t keep from gardening, and I’m one of them,” she

said.

The craft anchored other life choices. Heuler earned a biology degree

from UCLA, then taught health education and helped in the biology

departments at Fullerton and Sunny Hills high schools.

Heuler took the nursery job while she was in her mid-50s, deciding to

pursue her first love for the rest of her life.

She obtained certificates in both nursery and greenhouse management.

LEARNING CURVE

Keeping an open mind is another job requirement.

One customer insisted she wanted to pretty up her bathroom by installing

a nandina, a hardy outdoor plant.

Heuler tried to talk her out of it, sure the woman was mistaken about the

type of plant she wanted.

But the plant prospered, and Heuler realized she had more to learn.

SUN OR SHADE

Pastel blooms are most popular during the spring season, which is when

people do the bulk of the year’s planting, Heuler said. Eager for Easter

blossoms, customers overwhelmingly choose lilies or orchids.

Each week, the nursery’s 20 suppliers fax over lists of current plants.

The nursery staff usually orders basic plants and vegetables every week,

and hanging plants every other week, Heuler said.

When a customer asks for help in selecting a piece of greenery, Heuler

first determines the planter’s environment.

“The single most hazardous thing you can do to plants is to put them in

the wrong place,” Heuler said. “It’s amazing how many people live

somewhere for 25 years and don’t know where the sun is in relation to

their yard.”