Five Minutes of Garden Fame

I'm quite chuffed, as my English friends would say, to be featured in garden writer Helen Yoest's blog! She's been doing a wonderful series of profiles highlighting young garden talent, an idea she got from a similar series featured in Gardens Illustrated. I had the honor of working along side several of the gardeners featured in the GI profiles and, because youth is a state of mind, am thrilled to be in company with so many talented gardeners in Helen's series. I've copied her post here for your reading enjoyment and took the liberty of adding some links for people and places I mention because I love them so and want to share them with you! To see the original post and more fantastic content from Helen, give a click on her blog link below. Do drop in and have a look around. While you're there, tell her Debs sent you!

Garden Talent: Deb Wiles

Posted by HelenYoest on March 13, 2014

Meet Deb Wiles. Deb, thanks for sharing with Gardening with Confidence! And thank you for all you do!

 

Please visit the Gardeners going forward category (on this blog) for other interviews of bright young minds.

 

Name: Deb Wiles
Age: 45 on the outside, 25 on the inside

Occupation: Director of Horticulture, Garden Historian

Where you went to college:
California State University Northridge (BA Deaf Studies), UCLA (Horticulture and some Landscape Architecture), University of Greenwich, London (MA Garden History), and I was a Professional Gardener student at Longwood Gardens.

What is your earliest garden memory?
My earliest garden memory is of pinching the seed heads on Oxalis in my grandparent’s garden. I was probably 5 and didn’t realize they were weeds! I just liked how it tickled when the pods exploded between my fingers! We also had a Passiflora vine in our backyard that was annually covered with Gulf Fritillary caterpillars which then made their chrysalides all over the fences and walls of the house. Kind of eery but when the butterflies emerged it was magical! That was the first time I made the connection between a plant and an insect.

What made you decide to enter the field of horticulture?
I was a cubicle rat in a windowless office for years. On the weekends I spent all my time at a local nursery called Hortus, taking classes and drooling over the plants. One day I overheard the owner telling another customer about the landscape architecture program at UCLA and my company had a tuition reimbursement program! The rest is history!

Please tell me about your specific horticultural position?
I’m Director of Horticulture for an historic estate turned public arboretum. Right now that means I shovel a lot of snow! There are only two of us on the hort staff to manage 13.5 acres of formal gardens, wildflower meadow, and woodlands so my job is very hands-on. I also have the dubious distinction of successfully organizing the first ever deer hunt on the grounds (and I’ve only been there 6 months!). I write the monthly garden tips article on the company website, teach classes and workshops, write grant proposals, and launched the Arb into social media. Currently I’m helping to develop our first garden docent training program.

How long have you been in the horticulture business?
Unofficially, about 15 years. Officially, not quite 10.

What is your personal garden style?
I studied the gardens of the late 17^th and early 18^th century for my MA and really love the calmness that order and geometry bring but my own personal style is very haphazard. When I had a garden of my own, I would wander the nursery and grab whatever was new or unique or a plant I’d seen on my travels just to see if it would work in my garden, so it was quite varied! Luckily my landlord didn’t mind the experiment!

Tell me about your first plant love?
I try to be an equal opportunity plant geek but I would have to say Sweet Pea since that’s my birth flower. The blossoms are so elegant yet playful, and the scent! I’d fill my house with them if I could!

Who inspired you in your career and how?
Oooh, lots of people: Gary Jones, who owned Hortus; Scott Daigre and Catherine Downes, who worked there as well as fellow Hortus devotee Susan Drews; my colleagues in the windowless cubicle who cried, “Take me with you!” when I left; Fergus Garrett, head gardener at Great Dixter, who I met for the first time in 2006 and whom I am honored to call friend and mentor, and pretty much everyone I met while I was at Longwood! And, of course, my parents.

What is your favorite garden setting?
I love a garden with a broad view across a body of water, with a seat to enjoy it on, lots of heavenly scents carried on soft breezes, sunshine, shade, something to explore, and something to discover. A cafe with tea and scones doesn’t hurt!

What is your favorite planting style?
Right now I’m into what William Robinson called the Wild Garden.

What advice can you give others considering entering the field of horticulture?
DO IT!!! I took a drastic cut in pay when I left my high-powered corporate job to work in the garden and have never regretted a moment of it! Yes, it was a scary move, especially since it’s technically my third career, but I’ve made the best friends, have seen the most amazing places, met the most remarkable people, and have learned more than I ever imagined. If it’s where your heart is, go there. You won’t be happy until you do!

If you could go anywhere to see gardens, where would that be?
I’m not finished with the UK yet!

If you could go with any one person, who would it be?
Celia Fiennes (1662-1741). This woman traveled to every county in England between 1685 and 1710, an accomplishment very few men could claim at the time. She kept a travel diary describing the gardens and interiors of the great houses she visited as well as the local trades and commerce. Not much is known about her apart from her diary and her family connections so I’ve started researching her biography and hope to retrace her journeys one day.

What was your most valuable training?
Longwood introduced me to the world of public horticulture on a bold scale and Great Dixter introduced me to a world of wonder and historical reverence! Both were invaluable in preparing me for my present position.

How can people contact you: email, fb, LinkedIn, Twitter, website, etc.?
debwiles@gmail.com
Facebook: Deb Wiles
Twitter: @dawiles
Blog: gotsoil.blogspot.com

5-10-5

I love reading interviews with gardeners. Being in the gardening world, as I am, and visiting so many amazing gardens, I always find myself wondering about the gardeners behind them: Where do they find their inspiration?  What training have they had and from where? Why did they use a particular technique? What was their favorite tool? and If I asked nicely would they give me a cutting of that plant!?

One gardener who constantly inspires me is Jimmy McGrath, who is partly responsible for the path my own gardening life has taken in recent years. It was through him and his Longwood classmate, Mark, that I learned about the PG Program there. After Longwood Jimmy went to Great Dixter, where I met him one unusually snowy April morning. He went on to the Jerusalem Botanic Garden, then spent time gardening at DeWiersse in Holland. After a brief return to the States, Jimmy and his other half set off for England and I was able to reconnect with him there, chatting and catching up next to the colored fountains playing in the park next to Marble Arch that reminded us of the fountain terrace at Longwood. While in London, Jimmy worked on the fantastic landscape scenes featured in the Olympics opening ceremony - a once in a lifetime dream job! Then he was off to garden at Gravetye Manor, with the colors, forms, and textures of William Robinson's wild garden buffeting him with inspiration. Jimmy is a gifted artist and I always love when he posts his drawings on his blog, wishing I had the discipline to develop my own artistic ability more. Now he's gardening in Spain, enjoying the warm Mediterranean climate while I shiver through a cryogenic north east winter!

I have such admiration for Jimmy so I was truly surprised when he asked to interview me for a new blog that he and a friend here in the States were setting up. Me? Really? Aw, shucks! I don't know why I still find myself surprised by the way own garden path has meandered, and am constantly in awe of the company in which I find myself. Gardeners truly are remarkable people! So grab a cup of tea and go visit Jimmy's blog. There you will find beauty, art, horticulture, and inspiration.

Thanks, Jimmy! I'm proud to call you friend!

This Dose the Poison Makes

I've been neglecting my blog so thought I'd try to make up for it by posting something really cool. My intern at work is fascinated by poisonous/medicinal plants, which we have a few examples of on the grounds, but this....this is cool!

Click below to find The Power of Poison: An Enchanted Book

http://www.amnh.org/the-power-of-poison

The Off Duty Gardener's To Do List

Courtesy of Yannick Boulet (gardener extraordinaire at Great Dixter).

Propagatin'

A few weeks ago I cut open a large pink grapefruit and found a surprise. A seed had begun to sprout inside the fruit. There before me were two cute little cotyledons and a nice fat white radicle, which I'd succeeded in cutting in half. I rushed to fetch a bowl of water and put the seed in to soak while I filled a tray and soaked some seed starting mix, luckily purchased the day before.

It's taken the little seedling a while to recover its roots but I'm happy to say it's putting on new leaves and doing splendidly. I moved the pot out into the rain last night because there's something magical about rain water. With any luck that magic will soak in and given some time I'll have a sweet little tree. 

I don't expect to get any fruit off it, since this is zone 7 and it probably wouldn't survive winters out of doors but it'll make a nice potted exotic for the porch in summer. If I ever have a green house or live in a warmer climate I can plant it and perhaps one day pluck a juicy grapefruit from its branches and boast that I grew it from a seed.