Sharon Lee

When I planted my first garden at age 10 in Alexandria, Virginia, little did I know that 30 years later public gardens would become the subject of my professional life and gardening my primary avocation. In between, I enjoyed my first passions—books and education. I love learning about new subjects (unless that subject is related to math). First, I majored in English, taught English in England and Pennsylvania, and obtained a master’s degree in English at Villanova University. When I could no longer see myself teaching for the next 30 years, I returned to school, this time for graduate work at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where I learned that I could write about subjects unrelated to literature. My husband and I relocated to Madison, Wisconsin, where he became a law student and I searched for employment. Luckily, I discovered the virtues of the state’s civil service system, which enabled me to take an exam and secure a position managing constituent relations (which included editing a newsletter and creating informational materials) in the office of the Speaker of the State Assembly. Thus started my editorial career. Next I served as Public Information Officer for the Wisconsin state arts agency. Relocating to Philadelphia, I responded to an ad for an editor to create a new journal for the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, and through that work discovered my next passions—plants and the gardens that promote their understanding and value to society. After working for the Association for 16 years, including as its Deputy Director, I set up my own consulting company to develop projects that promote public gardens, including Plant Lovers Discovery Tours™, an educational tour program highlighting public gardens in the Philadelphia region.