To be honest, I don’t remember when I first fell in love with gardens. It seems to be something that found me, and I feel quite lucky.

I grew up as a little girl playing in the rambling creeks and wild woods of Alabama. Perhaps that is when the world of gardens invited me in. And since those childhood adventures I have followed my love of gardens across the country and all over the world. From interning at a public garden in Delaware, to working for a garden design firm in Dallas, TX, to studying gardens abroad in England, France, and Italy… I truly can’t imagine a life not spent outside exploring and creating.

From 2016-2017 I lived in the UK working in different gardens across England and Scotland as the Royal Horticulture Society’s Interchange Fellow. Much of my gardening knowledge has come from hands-on experience working in gardens. It was life-changing to learn from the gardeners found behind the scenes in the potting shed or in the border with a digging fork in hand. That year was a blur of British garden bliss.

But Alabama called me home, and for over 5 years I worked for the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens back in my hometown. I had the opportunity seamlessly blend my training in horticulture and landscape architecture to aid in the future development of the Gardens. Each day I rubbed shoulders with local gardeners, eager volunteers, and passionate co-workers as we worked to craft a special place for our community. What I found in those years is that I love welcoming others into the wild and wonderful world of gardens.

And that is what Roots & Ramblings is: and open gate to create, to grow, to learn. I believe that each garden should be rooted in the place it grows and the person who cultivates it. But I also believe that the design of a garden doesn’t stop after all the plants are planted. Those magical moments come as a gardener engages with a garden as it grows and rambles on.

I hope that wherever life finds you that you will come along for this adventure with me.

The gate is open!