Welcome to my newest blog!
This will be my new platform to discuss all sorts of things horticulture and design; art and the landscape, both in nature and man-made. Please be patient as I re acquaint myself with Blogger to post pictures and update the site as time permits. As always, thank you for visiting. Comments are most welcome.A little about me:
I grew up in suburban northern NJ, a mere 40 miles from the George Washington Bridge, where, thankfully, there were still open tracks of horse farms, orchards and a few dairy farms amongst the ever encroaching suburban sprawl.
The house where I lived with my sister and mom and dad backed up to a 40 acre well established orchard and vegetable farm. It had changed little over the years, some of the original apple trees almost 40 years old. A beautiful and elegant home sat at the front of the rolling property, and I can still see the beautiful formal gardens, gates and hidden paths that were designed as part of the landscape to compliment the gracious estate of that era. There was a double stairway terrace with a beautiful goldfish pool at its center; a manicured lawn that was flanked by mature towering Hemlock hedges and Rhododendrons. There were Foxglove, a formal rose garden and azalea. A view that led the eye from the terrace. down the lawn, to the orchards framed by an beautiful trellis.
I'm quite certain it was professionally designed, but never did know by whom.
Be that as it may, it was paradise for a girl growing up who loved nature and the outdoors, and years were spent wandering around the fields and trees, gardens and woodlots, ponds and stone barns.
It was this early exposure, I think, that led me to grow to love and study nature, and later, the desire to share that unique beauty with others.
Many years later, I would attend Alfred State College in Alfred NY, across from Alfred University, to study horticulture and landscape construction as a way to bring the science and technical knowledge I felt was needed into the design and landscaping profession.
I have been designing landscapes since 1996, when I graduated with honors from the Alfred program with a degree in the applied sciences.
I am currently close to obtaining my Bachelors of Fine Art at Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester NY.
Always involved in the fine arts, I taught and built pottery at a studio in Midland Park NJ as a teen, selling my wares at shows in Ridgewood and other outdoor venues until I left NJ in the late 70's. I was privileged to hang out with accomplished artists and forward thinkers, and still am to this day.
