“A web-based irrigation controller is great to have in the garden. We like the Irrigation Caddy. It has an app for irrigation instead of going to the control box all the time. You can use any web browser or the app to fully control your irrigation system no matter where you are.” Bob Graeler, Chesterfield Valley Nursery.

To spend time with Melanie Fathman, longtime Garden member and volunteer, is a delightful experience to say the least. Her vast knowledge and long history is admirable and has inspired many throughout the years to become a part of the Garden family – that is, its members. Melanie began volunteering at the Garden hosting children’s birthday parties in 1969. She served on the Friends Board and was a founding member of the Boxwood Society.

When she began designing her own garden, Betsy was well up to the task. Describing herself as someone who had previously “putzed around” with gardening when her children, now 22 and 24, were small, Betsy got serious 10 years ago. She took the Master Gardener course at the Missouri Botanical Garden, offered through the University of Missouri Extension Service. Following the completion of the course, she began working at Garden Heights Nursery in Richmond Heights, and immediately “hit it off” with a coworker, Caroline Hogg.

Take a walk with Deb Hollingsworth at the Missouri Botanical Garden on a cold blustery day, and you will quickly warm to her enthusiasm for the bare landscape. Hollingsworth, a member of the Garden’s Corporate Council, is quick to point out the stark beauty of the season. “I love how the ice and snow frame everything in a different way,” she says. “I think the trees are the most beautiful at this time of year because you see the structure and bark features.

St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles has enjoyed a valued 19-year partnership with the Missouri Botanical Garden. Opened in 1859 by Henry Shaw as a place for the city’s residents to love, the Missouri Botanical Garden has been a landmark in St. Louis for more than 150 years. Each issue, we will share a small slice of the garden with you in Shaw’s Vision. Discover the beauty and knowledge this St. Louis gem has to offer.

When it came to his garden, John Moore knew what he wanted. He needed a place to decompress when he left work as a certified financial planner and senior vice president at Morgan Stanley. “I’m in an office all day long,” he explains.  “ When I leave work, I want to be outdoors. And I’m fairly high strung. I want to keep moving.”