I love to be out in the garden.  Playing with plants is a passion, a therapy, and a connection to the Earth.

With two gardens to tend, one in Canada and one in Jamaica, I have learned some things about helping plants grow in two very different climates.

I am a Master Gardener in Ontario, Canada, having taken my studies through the University of Guelph.  Our mandate is education, which suits me fine, as a retired teacher/librarian/guidance counsellor and consultant.  We attend gardening clinics, give talks to groups, write articles and generally give free garden advice to the public.

My intense interest in plants led naturally to taking design courses with U of G:  Designing the Landscape (2005)and Landscape Design Part I (2006).  Recently, I have been working on the reconstruction of our home and garden in Jamaica, a large project that captured my imagination completely.  Now that it is nearly complete, I can see myself returning to the online classroom for Part II and for the CAD course.

I love to write about gardening and all things related.  My articles have been published in local newspapers and magazines as part of my Master Gardener volunteer work.  As a member of the Garden Writers Association, I attended the 2009 Annual Symposium in beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina in September 2009.

I would like to turn my attention to some much needed beautification and education projects in Jamaica.  Recently, I reconnected with my students from York Castle High School in Brown's Town, St. Ann.  We are interested in helping the school with its wish list, which includes improvement of the physical surroundings and of their agricultural program.   Nearby is a little school which I sponsor, Liberty Hill Basic School.  The staff would love a playground for the 50 students ages 3 to 6.