RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — Parks and recreation crews are out in Rapid City this week getting started on their seasonal plant work to help brighten up parks across the city.

More than 20,000 plants will fill up city parks during the summer.

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With warmer weather, soon these parks will be full of residents and tourists, and flowers will help bring life to the parks.

“It’s time to get the leaves off the roses and get them, I kind of call it, waking them up for the summer. We’ll get them cleaned up today, we’ll let them rest for a couple of weeks, kind of just acclimate themselves. Then we’ll come back in, trim off the dead canes, kind of trim them up and get them ready for the season,” parks and rec greenhouse specialist John Berglund said.

The winter protection for those plants with all these leaves bundled on them, is a necessity here for the parks and recreation department. It would cost thousands of dollars had it not protected some of the plant life that can’t handle the harsh winters in Rapid City.

While plant life outside was protected over the winter, those working in the greenhouse have been preparing for the next phase of planting before more help arrives.

“Without the help of our seasonal employees we wouldn’t be able to get everything done. Because it is a manual labor process, it’s something that you can’t automate. You have to be out there in the gardens in the landscapes, pull the weeds and make sure everything looks good,” Bergland said.

Each summer department brings around 25 greenhouse season workers onto their team.

Now that these flowers can start to thrive again, these crews will be out planting and tending through the summer and into the fall.