Three years of training has now ended for graduating Dunedin Botanic Garden apprentices Carla De Boer and Morgan Hampton.
The pair, who graduated on Friday, were employed through the Otago Chamber of Commerce's 4Trades apprentice programme and seconded to the botanic garden for three years to complete their on-the-job training and off-site theoretical studies.
During that time, they successfully completed the necessary unit standards to qualify with a certificate in horticulture, level 4 advanced. They both also gained the additional botanic garden certificate.
Since joining the 4Trades programme in 2003, the botanic garden has had 25 apprentices graduate (not including the latest two).
Of those, 18 were still in horticulture, working across the wider horticultural industry in various areas of New Zealand for botanic gardens, private contractors, council parks and reserves, plant nurseries, retail garden stores and private gardens.
Collections supervisor Barbara Wheeler was looking forward to seeing what the future held for the latest graduates.
The industry needed qualified people and it was exciting to see well-qualified people who wanted to stay in the industry ''for quite some years''.
Ms De Boer said she had never intended to do an apprenticeship.
She studied ecology at university, so had always had an interest in plants, but was never really interested in the science side of it.
She was glad when she came across the apprenticeship, as it had a very practical base.
Previously somewhat unsure of the future, she had now found something she really enjoyed.
While she had no solid plans yet, it would definitely be in horticulture, she said.
She was keen to start her own business and create a garden people would visit.
Mr Hampton had previous experience in building and landscaping but no previous experience working with plants.
The programme had been very informative and there was a lot of variety in the work, he said.
Mr Hampton was looking for a part-time job so he could start establishing his own business. He was starting a nursery of woodland and specialist plants.
Recruiting for new apprentices would start soon and Ms Wheeler said they were looking for people with a real passion and interest in working outside and with plants or conservation.
There was a misunderstanding held by some people that horticulture was ''easy'' but that was not the case.
An apprenticeship involved 40 hours a week and also part-time study, and it was a mix of both theory and practical.
But it was a great career choice - ''you couldn't ask for more than working in a botanic garden or a garden you are guardian over'', she said.
There was a sense of satisfaction, as well as seeing the wonderment on visitors' faces.
An exciting development was the corpse flower producing its rare bloom at the botanic garden.
It was the first time the plant had flowered after a decade of growing there and apprentices over the years had been involved with looking after it.
