Jean Schumacher in her garden
Pots in a tree
Shady oasis
Schumacher garden in fall
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Jean Schumacher, looking out at her frost-touched fall garden, remembered the beginnings of our Hardy Plant Society.
“Joanne [Walkovic] and I were sitting at this table in 1986 and she said, ‘I have something I want us to do.' ” Joanne, a fashion designer and talented gardener in Philadelphia, was a great fan of the Hardy Plant Society in England, where she visited yearly. She wanted to start a similar group based in Philadelphia, where gardeners of all levels of expertise could meet, learn, and share information. She needed help.
Jean, a horticulturist and former assistant director of Tyler Arboretum and the American Horticultural Society’s Plant Science Data Center, was currently compiling a book on public plant collections. She had just what Joanne was looking for in a partner. Her previous work had taken her to fine gardens across the continent, neatly complementing Joanne’s knowledge of British horticulture. She knew the movers and shakers in the local plant world, and she was computer savvy – which made it possible to keep track of the flood of inquiries that began pouring in after an article about the fledgling venture appeared in The New York Times.
The women persuaded well-known garden experts and educators to lend weight to the organization, and membership climbed from 70 to more than 300. Today, more than 800 belong.
Education was stressed from the start. There were workshops for beginners and special interest groups (SIGs) for those interested in deeper study, as well as a 12-page newsletter and garden tours.
Making rare seeds and plants available was also a major focus. Early on, HPS/MAG tried joint memberships with the Hardy Plant Society of Great Britain and participated in its seed exchange, but that became cumbersome and was discontinued. A lively competition sprang up to grow the best plants for the annual sales, where you could buy seedlings for a dollar complete with expert growing tips, Jean recalled. And the local seed exchange was a hit from the beginning, drawing donors from arboreta and rare plant nurseries, in addition to area gardeners.
Best was the companionship of other gardeners. “I invited people over here to meet each other. It was one of the most successful things we ever did.”
In 2000, while visiting gardens and nurseries in England, Joanne was tragically killed in an automobile accident. The Hardy Plant Society commemorates her in a yearly lecture. Jean, with her husband Phil, who collects bamboo, continues tending her Wallingford garden and watching over the Hardy Plant Society with a founder’s pride.
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