New Yorkers with a green thumb are finding out firsthand this week that they may be able to turn their hobbies into an interesting career. The New York Daily News reports this week that the city's Botanical Garden is holding career days for the first time in its 80-year history. "Not only is it something they can be passionate about, but it is an area where there are opportunities," Botanical Garden official Jeff Downing told the newspaper. The 250-acre institution also offers a continuing education program with classes or certificates in nine different fields, including landscape and floral design, botany, garden writing and photography, horticulture and botanical crafts. Classes can be taken at the Botanical Garden itself, or at satellite locations in New Jersey, Manhattan and Westchester, Connecticut. "It was like I needed to be there. This was the direction I need to go. I wanted to learn more," participant Pamela Davis told the Daily News. Opportunities in these fields can vary wildly depending on one's education level and location. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics sites landscape architecture as one field expected to see above average growth between now and 2016 in part because of a growing population, new construction, and more public interest in beautiful open spaces.  |