NAME: Karen Hopson

AGE: 52

HOME: Corvallis

EMPLOYER: Garland Nursery

JOB: Nursery manager

DUTIES: Supervise and coordinate the activities of nursery workers. Order plant stock for retail sale and coordinate product display. Maintain healthy plants by acting as plant doctor.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING: Workers must have related work experience to gain the necessary skills for this occupation. Hopson has botany and horticulture degrees started at Rutgers University and finished at Oregon State University.

YEARS WITH THE COMPANY: 19

YEARS IN THE TRADE: 12 as nursery manager

BEST THING ABOUT THE JOB: “For someone who is fanatical about plants like me, it’s like being a kid in a candy store. Being able to buy anything and everything that is available is really great.”

WORST THING ABOUT THE JOB: “Being on-call every minute of every day. And the weather. Sometimes, you’re freezing to death and other times you’re roasting, especially in Oregon. I’ve also stood outside in the snow all day or in the pouring rain. It’s extremes of all kinds of weather.”

OREGON PAY AVERAGE: $19.09 per hour or $44,430 a year.

MID-VALLEY PAY AVERAGE: $18.26 per hour or $38,556 a year.

PROJECTED ANNUAL OPENINGS: 72 statewide, four in the mid-valley.

QUOTE FILE: “You’ve got to keep up with trends. They just banned butterfly bush as a noxious weed, so we’ve found a replacement for that. We’ve been trying to go with more organic controls because that’s what people are looking for. And they’re always developing new species. We’ve had up to 90 different varieties of hosta and 50 kinds of hydrangea here. There’s always something different.”