A fern sampler of the Eastern United States
Horticulture has alway been an important component of Colonial Williamsburg. Each spring, since 1946, the landscape department has hosted what is now the longest running garden symposium in the United States. The Symposium is the highlight of the year for members of the landscape department and I have spoken and led tours for many of them. In 1991 I gave a lecture on native ferns and produced this small pamphlet as a handout for Symposium participants. The following year I donated it to the local native plant society and it is still provided to members by several chapters of the Virginia Native Plant Society.
Gopher Wood
I have drawn cartoons ever since I was a kid. I put together this strip around 1994 and sent if off to the four largest agencies, representing cartoon publishers in the country. After submitting it, I had time to consider a career change of such magnitude and was somewhat afraid that it might actually get picked up as I was not sure I could produce a strip for every day of the year, year after year, so perhaps it was fortunate that it was not picked up and I finished my career as a gardener.
The Governor's Garden, circa 1760
In 1996 I left landscape maintenance to develop gardening as a historic trade, adding this historically important skill to the many other period trades demonstrated at Colonial Williamsburg. At the Colonial Garden, we learned and demonstrated, the skills,tools and techniques of professional gardeners during the 18th century. Along with the basic knowledge of gardening methods, as well as appropriate plants (which are used exclusively throughout the Historic Area), understanding the mindset of the 18th century craftsman is integral to any
period interpretation. The Governor's Garden, which I produced in 1985, many years before I launched the trade, was one of my first attempts to see gardening through the eyes of one of the professional gardeners who were employed at the Governor's Palace throughout the colonial era.
A COLLECTION OF MOTHER’S DAY CARDS PRESENTED TO MY MOM, ANNA MAY GREENE, FROM 1982 - 2017
In 1982 I cut a drawing I had made of a German Iris from a sketchbook and gave it to my mother as a Mother’s Day card. It was the start of a tradition that would last for over 30 years. The next card was presented two years later for her 33rd Mother’s Day and it was another two years before I made the next. After that year I was put on notice that she expected a hand drawn card every year.
Her 35th Mother’s Day card was a pen and ink illustration of a rose. I learned to draw the rose that year to create the intertwined rose vines featured on our wedding invitation. The 40th Mother’s Day card features a fern because that was the year I learned to draw ferns for a pamphlet I created titled “A Fern Sampler of the Eastern United States” for presentation at the 1991 Colonial Williamsburg Garden Symposium.
As the oldest child I used my age to title the cards but after drawing the 45th Mother’s Day card I realized that because I was born in February, the year I turned 1 year old was actually mom’s 2nd Mother’s Day so her 45th Mother’s Day card should have recognized her 46th Mother’s Day. After that I simply recorded the year.
All 33 of the cards were framed and hung in the middle bedroom of her house in Newport News, Va. In 2014 I had an operation on my right hand and could not make her a card. In its place she framed and hung a sketch of Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) that I had done as a student at North Idaho College around 1974.
All illustrations are done in pen & ink and watercolor except for 2002 & 2009 which are done with colored pencils.
Mom passed away in March of 2018; she was 92 years old.
