Each day is different: I may be attending an assessment to record the forum’s comments, researching a plant for an information board or typing a report
I worked on the Trials Field at Wisley for 6½ years, looking after the maintenance of various trials in that time, including Dahlia, Clematis (both viticella and Late, Large-flowered) and Erythronium. I moved to the Trials Office in January 2015 and currently manage 10 trials, both at RHS Garden Wisley and off-site at various independent locations such as Aberglasney Garden in Wales and the Witch Hazel Nursery in Kent. I have inherited several of these trials so they are at various stages: requests for seeds are just about to be sent out; some trials are in their final year of assessment and will need reports writing in the next few months; others will be assessed every year up to and including 2018. Each day is different: I may be attending an assessment to record the forum’s comments, researching a plant for an information board or typing a report. I always have an excuse to be outside as completing flowering records with start and finish dates and taking photographs are a part of the job and my trials range from Hamamelis, flowering in January, to Late, Large-flowered Clematis, some of which were still flowering last December. I may have an office-based job but I am definitely not stuck in the office.
Debbie Roe
The RHS is the UK’s gardening charity, helping people and plants to grow - nurturing a healthier, happier world, one person and one plant at a time.
