Carole made Peach Cake and Texas Sheet Cake for Amanda's send off: tomorrow is her last day

She seems to have gotten Amanda's attention.

I know that I tend to superlatives but Amanda is really a great gardener....and a great person. She started two and a half years ago as an intern; when her internship was up we hired her as a term ASRT, Agricultural Science Research Technician and she moved into the position of China Valley Gardener. Hard working, conscientious, enthusiastic, self-starting, assiduous, creative, curious, realistic....It's hard to say enough good things about Amanda. Of course I'm going to try though.

If you give most people a plant and a site, some very high percentage, almost all, of them, will put the plant in a wrong place. Inches count; I've dug many a plant post initial planting to move it one foot. Amanda unfailingly gets it right. Or at least she does what I would have done, or something that, once seen, I have to admit is good. I don't mean to be offensive when I say I was surprised she had this ability. It's an uncommon skill. Siting is a difficult problem; you have to consider ultimate sizes of all the plants, light, shade, drainage...,many many things. And it's a basic prerequisite to being able to design. I hope she continues to garden either professionally or personally. I would love to see her 20 years from now with all that experience.