蹤獲扦-Dearborn is known for maize and blue地nd also a little bit of green. Thats the color of the John Deere gator Jeanette Whiting has driven around campus for years.
With her work buckets and gardening tools in the back and dragon wings on the side, the advanced master gardener helped beautify campus always with a friendly wave, hello or laugh for 35 years. On Oct, 7, she parked her gator in the Grounds Building for the last time.
All good things must come to an end, she said, walking out of the buildings massive garage doors. 蹤獲扦-Dearborn has been an important part of my life. I hope I left a mark here and will be remembered with a good story and a smile.
Reporter staff had the chance to talk with Jeanette (and ride in the gator!) on her last day at 蹤獲扦-Dearborn. She shared a few funny and entertaining stories her specialty along with sweet nostalgic ones reflecting on the U-M career shed had since 1987.
Her family inspired the career she loved.
Jeanette grew up in Dearborn. Her parents home was near the intersection of Greenfield and Ford roads just a block from where legendary automaker Henry Ford grew up. But, even as a child, Jeanette wasnt much interested in her family house itself. Instead, she noticed the yard and how her parents cultivated it. There was a pear tree theyd pick from and a crab apple tree with fruit so large that theyd can the apples.
Her mother liked flowers and, in particular, roses. Her father went a more eccentric route. He liked unusual things things no one else had at the time. Because of dad, we had hibiscus, hardy geraniums and a catalpa tree with leaves so big that I could use them as an umbrella, she said. Dad died when I was 13, but his interest in unique plants left an impression on me.
Today, shes an Advanced Master Gardener, a renowned horticulturist certification. In her personal garden, Jeanette continues that tradition. For example, she has plants with a flower that looks like a bat face (bat-faced cuphea) and a bush with oil that smells like buttered popcorn (Senna didymobotrya), among others.
I like the trivia behind a plant why it is the way it is and how it functions. Studies show that nature uses what it has and doesnt waste anything. Everything is in that certain arrangement for a reason. But nature also reminds us that even with so much order, its ok to be a little weird, she said. Of course, I also just enjoy them too. Plants sparkle in the sun, they attract different pollinators, they have unique fragrances and a variety in their colors. Its like nature knew wed need plants as therapy.
When it comes to supporting campus growth, she thinks beyond plants.
Jeanette has a knack for understanding how things work in the plant kingdom. Knowing this, people often stop to ask her questions. Sometimes I get really interesting ones sometimes there are doozies. One lady asked for advice on keeping her marigolds alive. I asked how often she watered them. She didnt, she said. I thought she was kidding. She wasnt. So I told her to start there.
Asking Jeanette why shed take time to interact with people when it wasnt an essential part of her job, she uses a plant analogy. Pay attention to what plants need and they will thrive. Mums need daylight. There are two ways to get Christmas cactus to bloom light exposure and cold temperatures. And if you take a plant thats short-lived like a perennial and keep it from going to seed, it will live.
After a pause in thought, she continues, For many of our students, its their first time in the outside world. What we do is more than landscape work. Its listening to help. It's showing students that people on campus are approachable and friendly. Its being an example for these students who are our future.
Jeanette said you never know what someones home life looks like and what they are going through and it doesnt take much effort to be kind.
If we want a future with people who have a good work ethic and are friendly to each other, we need to show them what that looks like, she said. Im not saying that people need to radiate sunshine all day, but give a wave and a hello. That goes a long way.
There were some memorable experiences along the way.
Campus left an impression on her starting with day No. 1. Jeanette recalls her interview for the 蹤獲扦-Dearborn grounds job. Not sure what to wear since it was an outdoor gig, she went for business casual. She showed up in a nice shirt and slacks. And the then Grounds Director Fred Brenner handed her a steel rake.
He said I needed to take the steel rake and go rake up grass clippings. Well, it was me and Gene Wackro, who also applied for a grounds job at that time. Anyone with sense knows that steel rakes are for leaves, but we did it. Found out later that Fred was testing us to see if wed come back. We both did, she said. So I learned right away that you gotta be nuts to work here, and to work here you gotta be nuts.
In another recollection, she said the circus came to town and she saw an elephant going into the Fieldhouse through the loading doors. Jeanette didnt watch the show, but she did pull up a wheelbarrow to the dumpster when the circus left.
Elephant poop makes great fertilizer so the grounds crew headed out to the dumpster and took advantage of that. It wasnt entirely pleasant at the time, but it makes for a good story afterwards. And I enjoy a good story. The people Ive met and the memories weve made is why I stayed for 35 years.
She looks forward to traveling during retirement, but hopes people stay in touch.
Jeanette plans to spend retirement gardening and traveling. She and husband Larry theyve been together 40 years will continue visiting the nations state parks and botanical gardens. She also plans to spend time in Alaska, where their daughter Jamie lives. She has moose in her front yard, Jeanette marvels. "Isnt that something?
Jeanette said there are a lot of changes happening in her life this year. Jamie just got married at the Detroit Zoo. Breaking Jeanettes traditional outfit of jeans and her 蹤獲扦-Dearborn branded shirt, she wore a dress and makeup to her daughters wedding. I never wear makeup, she said. "My kid said I looked nice, but I thought I looked like the funeral director just got done with me.
With retirement here, Jeanette said shes not going to miss the shirts. Or the green gator (well, maybe just a little). Its the people who make leaving bittersweet. She said the campus was her domain, and the people in it, family:
Now go out there, wave, smile and interact. Continue the tradition.
Always your eccentric gardener,
Jeanette Whiting
Article by Sarah Tuxbury.
