Posted: 8/20/03

Tending flowers is Petersonís mission

Jessica Foster
Staff Writer

Phyllis Petersonís work day starts at 4:30 a.m., when she arrives at the Forest Lake city garage to get on the Gator, the motorized watering cart.

Peterson has been tending to the flowers in Forest Lake for four yearsówatering, weeding and feeding the floral and fauna which adorn our city.

ìForest Lake is a beautiful city,î Peterson said on a recent August morning, sitting in Lakeside Memorial Park, watching the early sun glint on First Lake.

ìI love flowers; I really love flowers and I just love this job even if I do have to get up at 3:30 in the morning,î she said.

This will be Petersonís last year tending to the flowers. She and her husbandówho tends to the flowers in Dakota Countyóare looking to enjoy their retirement together.

ìI think we should just kinda smell the roses, as they say,î she said.

Until then, Peterson said she thinks of the blooms as hers, at least a little bit.

ìI get very upset if anything happens to them,î she said. ìIf I come in on a Monday and find theyíre wilted it just spoils my day.î

Indeed, she is protective of the hanging moss baskets of wave petunias which line the streets. When finding a green grasshopper pillaging, she plucked the critter out and secured it with a clothespin.

ìI think thatís our culprit,î she said.

Forest Lake City Administrator Chip Robinson said Petersonís work is appreciated.

ìShe does such a great job for us. It just shows how hard she works the way the flowers look this year,î he said. ìShe is totally dedicated to making it look nice and we appreciate the fine job she does.î

Some folks might call Peterson the water lady. But, she said, there is more to it than that. Sheís part of the team who keep the city looking good, she said.

ìIf Iím going along the sidewalk and I see trash I pick it up,î she said, explaining people might not notice the pretty flowers if there is a mess on the ground.

ìI do whatever I can to make things look nice,î Peterson said.

She is slow to take all the credit for the success of this yearís flowers.

ìEverybody I work with has been so great,î she said. ìThe guys at the garage have been so good. If I need anything theyíre there to help me.î

She credits Forest Lake Floral for the quality plants, the park board, a special mix of fertilizer, weather and the good Lord.

ìI used to get it at the greenhouse,î she said. ìThis year, weíre mixing our own and itís working out nice.î

Since the hanging flowers are moss baskets that require saturation, she has to water even if it is raining cats and dogs. If the plants donít get enough water, they wilt and probably wonít come back.

ìThey have to get watered even if its raining and I know people think Iím crazy,î she said.

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