The early March morning was sunny and mild, the soil soft and cool - ideal conditions for planting flowers.
But for some harried homeowners, there is no perfect period to plant posies.
"People don't have the time," said Susie Katz, owner of Stockton, Calif.-based The Petal Peddler.
For others, gardening is more painful than pleasurable.
| BLOOMING |
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Her primary job is to design and install seasonal color - annuals, perennials and bulbs - for area residents and businesses.
Katz and helper, Sandy Ide, on Thursday cleared debris out of a backyard flower bed that formerly held a fish pond, then shoveled a yard of soil to fill the depression.
The pair dug holes for one-, two- and five-gallon size plants that included heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica), California lilac (Ceonothus impressus 'Puget Blue'), pink breath of heaven (Coleonema pulchrum 'Pink Diosma'), golden breath of heaven (Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold') and candytuft (Iberis sempervirens 'Purity').
The pace was rapid.
"We work fast. We're both a little on the spun side," Katz said.
Katz dampened the holes, pulled the plants from their pots, ruffled their roots and lowered the plants into the ground, while Ide followed behind, filling soil in around each plant.
The area was watered, a top dressing applied and each plant fertilized with a time-released food.
In about three hours, the bare corner became lush, transformed by foliage and flowers in hues of green, lavender, pink, red and white.
Katz worked for 25 years managing optical departments for ophthalmologists before shoveling that job in favor of shoveling soil.
She took a job in a home-improvement store nursery, worked for a local landscape contractor and took classes at San Joaquin Delta College before launching The Petal Peddler in 2002.
Katz eventually earned an associate of arts degree in agriculture and an associate of science degree in horticulture.
Passing the California State Contractors License Board exam was a big step.
"I must have studied three months straight, sweating bullets the whole time. It was the most exciting day of my life - even better than getting married," Katz said.
She launched the business, a niche within the larger landscape-contracting industry, without immediately investing in all the trappings typical of landscape professionals.
The disconnect between her classy car and the utilitarian trailer it towed became something of an early trademark for Katz.
"That's how people got to know me. I was the girl pulling the trailer with the BMW," she said.
One year later, when her business was on firm ground, she bought a truck, soon paid off.
Today, Katz works seasonally, skipping the hottest and coldest months, for customers in Stockton and surrounding communities. Each job is bid individually.
"I'm really comfortable, and I only work seven months out of the year," she said.
Still, the work - much of it done kneeling or stooping - is physically demanding.
Stockton resident Jan Marzion twice each year hires Katz to plant about 30 flats of flowers in pots and around the swimming pool of her Lincoln Village West home.
"I don't have the skill or the desire to do yard work and neither does my husband," Marzion said. "It's well worth it."