Jada Bergstrom

“There are so many plants to pick from and you can start with a blank canvas.”

Position: Assistant Curator of Horticulture

Responsibilities: Create and maintain floral displays around grounds, including inside the dome

Growing up Jada was always interested in horticulture and would often stay home “sick” from school so she could help water the plants, much to the dismay of her parents. She always helped her family do the yard work, raking leaves, watering plants, and planting new flowers. She had previously been working at a local greenhouse during the summer months and when her friend told her about a year round job opening at Reptile Gardens, Jada jumped on the opportunity.

Jada said her favorite part of the job is working with a blank canvas and working with the different types of flowers with different textures to create a new design each year. They have a lot of freedom to create designs each year with different themes, such as using various flowers to create a big 80 for the 80th Anniversary.

Jada’s most unique experience
Even in the land of horticulture, there is always something interesting going on, whether it’s working alongside creatures or watching other employees handle large animals:

“There’s always something interesting going on here.It’s always interesting when you’re working in the dome and you’ll be doing something and look over and there’s an animal staring at you in the face. It used to startle me but now I’m just kind of used to it. The other day I was in there switching the moss and stuff because we’re tossing out the old stuff and WHAP, right on the side of my face, so I pulled it off and it was a frog. Frog right on the side of my face. Only out here will that ever happen.”