Walking along downtown Jefferson City last week, trimmers and water container in hand, Tyler Young carefully cut and watered some of the vibrant red, purple, yellow and green plants that hung from flower baskets and rested in large stone pots at the street intersections.
The rain Friday morning provided some relief from the hot, dry weather that had settled over Jefferson City all summer, making this year the hottest one for the downtown plants and the River City Florist plant maintenance workers tasked with their upkeep.
Throughout the spring and summer, it's common to see Young and Melissa Maddox busy watering, trimming and fertilizing the various plants accenting downtown Jefferson City, as well as maintaining plants at other locations like Central Bank West by Capital Mall and Capitol Plaza Hotel on West McCarty Street.
While many of the 96 baskets hanging from downtown poles contain begonias and green sweet potato vines, the more than 20 large planters are filled with bright colors thanks to the various coleus, canna, lantana, tradescantia pallida (purple hearts) and sunpatiens.
Since the duo first planted everything the week after Mother's Day, these plants have gone from little green sprouts to lively purple, red and yellow flowers in a matter of a few months.
"It makes you proud when you watch them do so well," said Maddox, who is in her second year as a plant maintenance worker. "You look at them every day, and you're trimming them every day. We've caught like beetles and all sorts of bugs, and the heat, so it makes me proud that we were able to keep them alive for this long."
In his first year as a plant maintenance worker, Young said he has learned much about the plants and how to care for them.
"They start off as little organisms; and you have to almost treat them like a child because you have to feed them, water them, take care of them," he said. "It's pretty neat."
The hot, mostly rainless summer proved to be a constant hassle for the duo. Due to the sudden change from winter to summer with few spring days in between, the plants did not grow as quickly as they should have and needed more pampering than in previous years.
The unsympathetic sun and lack of rain led to Young and Maddox continuously watering the plants. Watering all of the downtown plants - not including the banks or hotel plants - takes about five to six hours a day and nine 30-gallon canisters of water, Young said. However, on several hot days, the two workers had to circle back and re-water some of the plants.
"There were some days we would start at 8 o'clock in the morning, water all of downtown, and by 2 (o'clock) it was dry," he said. "That's not supposed to happen. When you have a basket that (large) and you have it so wet that it's pouring out of the bottom, it shouldn't be dry four hours, five hours later."
Several plants withered and died under the harsh sun rays, Young and Maddox said, leading River City Florist to replant many flowers throughout the summer.
The intense heat also takes its toll on the two plant maintenance workers, making this the most challenging part of the job. Maddox suffered from heat stroke about four times this summer, while Young said he has to frequently seek shade and breaks to prevent heat exhaustion.
"It was rough because we're out there for sometimes seven hours straight," Maddox said. "You can go inside and take a break, but you still have to get back out there because (the plants are) wilting. But we kept them alive."
Even after more than 10 years of doing the downtown flower maintenance, Young said, this summer has been full of trials and errors for River City Florist, located at 212 Madison St. Co-owners Lauren and Mike Moscato selected new plants this year in anticipation of the heat. The shop learned the best environments for each plant to thrive through the excessive heat, and the workers plan to adjust accordingly next year, perfecting their art.
"Each year, Mother Nature throws another curveball that you just have to adapt to, and that's what we're hoping to do," Young said.