For most people, education stops when they receive that coveted diploma or degree.

For Caroline Shell, it hasn’t stopped.

Shell, who works at Lakeview Nursery and Garden Center, has become a self-taught expert on plants, becoming an invaluable asset to her co-workers and customers.

Camille Deer, Shell’s co-worker and granddaughter of Ann and Lane Brackin, the owners of the nursery, said that a customer once told her &uot;I don’t have to think when I come in here. I get Caroline to do it.&uot;

Lakeview Nursery and Garden Center opened in 1966 in its original location on Summerfield Road. Shell has been working at the nursery for 35 years.

Hired in her early 20s by the Brackins, Shell thought that she would only work for a little while at the nursery. She didn’t realize she would spend a good number of years there.

While in her early years at the nursery, Shell struggled with a growing frustration over helping customers. When they called or came by looking for specific plants, she would have to keep them waiting for several minutes as she looked at tags to identify the plants.

It was from this experience that prompted Shell to go the extra step and learn exactly what she was selling to customers.

So, in her spare time, Shell began to learn about the plants at the nursery and the chemicals used on them. She questioned salesmen who came to persuade the nursery to sell their products.

She studied the different plants in the store. At night, she lugged home Mr. Brackin’s horticulture books and read them as well.

As the weeks and months passed by, identifying different plants became easier for Shell.

Eventually, Mrs. Brackin introduced Shell to the art of repotting plants. The two were faced with the task of repotting a bunch of overgrown ferns and Shell was scared that she would accidentally ruin someone’s plant.

A couple months after the repotting, one of the customers visited the store. Shell waited to see if the customer would say if the plant had died. Instead, she was praised.

Shell’s popularity has grown to where Deer said customers will take a vacation from the store if Shell is on vacation.

It’s easy to see why she’s popular. A small cluster of customers gathered around the counter as she addressed each of them by name, helping them out with purchases. She also calls different customers to check in on them, Deer said.

And her knowledge about plants is still growing. Shell tries her best to keep up with the new variety of plants and chemicals that spring up constantly, experimenting to see what really works and what doesn’t.

But, as long as she is studying plants, Shell will never have to answer a phone call and not know what a customer is looking for. After all, she hates having to look at the tags.