WOMEN IN GARDENS

Honey Sharp interviews women gardeners in the region, inquiring about their working lives as locally renowned gardeners and the paths that brought them to the Berkshires.

Our curator for FLORA is Honey Sharp - a seasoned professional in gardens and horticulture. The Berkshires and Hudson Valley are rich in talent, with floral farmers, landscapers, garden designers, floral specialists for wedding and events, botanical nonprofits and even floral CSAs. Honey explores what the landscape offers, interviewing and photographing farmers and designers, covering the rich floral and horticultural resources that are unique to the region.

Honey Sharp settled in the Berkshires many moons ago when she opened the Honey Sharp Gallery and Ganesh Cafe in Lenox, MA. Later, with her passion for plants, gardening and landscape design she became a Master Gardener and obtained a horticulture degree at the Berkshire Botanical Garden where she also served on the Board. From 2000 to 2014 she ran Honey Sharp Garden Design, was the Garden Editor for Berkshire HomeStyle and initiated the Open Days Program of the Garden Conservancy in Western Massachusetts.

For more articles and photographs by Honey Sharp, and to sign up for her newsletter, link to www.honeysharp.com.

DORTHE HVIID | BERKSHIRE BOTANICAL GARDEN

LINK TO INTERVIEW WITH PHOTOGRAPHS OF BERKSHIRE BOTANICAL GARDEN

“HS: What do you enjoy most about your work?
DH: The best thing about my work is the beauty of the gardens here. I love to see them change throughout the seasons, and to see a tree that we planted as a seedling 20 years ago now being 20’ tall. I also love to be outside.”

ANNA MACK | WILD & CULTIVATED

LINK TO INTERVIEW WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

“HS: What are some of your favorite flowers?
AM: For sure, bells of Ireland, hellebores and dahlias. As for wild in the spring, I like Solomon seal apple, peach or pear branches, viburnums, dogwood and other items that catch my eye. In the fall, I might choose American beech branches and red-twigged dogwood from my woods.”

A quote about Anna Mack from Chris Whalen of Bella Flora:

“We buy our flowers locally as much as possible.” Anne Mack’s “Wild and Cultivated” farm in Sheffield, Cindy Parson’s in West Stockbridge and Cedar Farm in Ghent, NY are principal providers. Today, the pots of mums hail from a farm in Granby MA that will supply poinsettias later (yes, that’s what comes next…).”

KRYSIA KURZYCA | MEDICINE BUDDHA GARDENS

LINK TO "MEDICINE WOMAN" BY HONEY SHARP

“While many of us primarily associate herbs such as rosemary, mint and basil for culinary purposes, her (Krysia’s) cultivated land is dedicated to growing and harvesting medicinal herbs. It has expanded to include at least 250 species, many of which are actually both culinary and medicinal ... In addition, year around Krysia carefully prepares a variety of tinctures or extracts. She is a true herbal pharmacist. To accomplish this, she established a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm in 2014. ”

DONNA CHANDLER | BRATTLE FARM

LINK TO "A VISIT TO BRATTLE FARM" BY HONEY SHARP

“I had no formal background. I really didn’t know anything about farming. So I took the “Tilling The Soil” course from MDAR and armed with Elliot Coleman’s books started this CSA with the help of family and friends.”

— Donna Chandler