Jane Gates

Meet Jane Gates, a GardenComm member since 2008. She is a new Region 1 member, as she recently relocated to Massachusetts from the West Coast.

Sharing ways to create health, happiness, and beauty in the garden using living and nonliving living materials — and doing it in harmony with Mother Nature is Jane's focus. 'We are all connected' is the theme of everything she does with her writing, designing, artwork, and music.

Jane wears many hats. She is an author; blogger, content creator, columnist, graphic designer, speaker, TV/Radio Expert; writer, and illustrator.

Jane feels that the benefit of being part of GardenComm is simple: a sense of community; exposure to different views and experiences. Plus, she has had a chance to meet other people obsessed with the world of gardening.

Currently experiencing a difficult period in her life; some of the people she has met through the organization have been supportive of her "…in ways I never would have expected. It is more than just business, and I am deeply grateful."

Jane loves gathering information and ideas from new plant introductions, other designers, and builders (sometimes spilling into interior or theatrical design) from all platforms and media.

She says there is always more to learn. Then, the challenge is fabricating her communication with those latest discoveries. "But wait." She says, "When I think about it, I guess wandering through nature provides the most inspiring content! It never fails to teach me something unexpected!"

For this focus, Jane shared one small event that impacted her deeply:

"It involves a military couple who moved in next door to me, maybe 7 years ago. Their 5-year-old son visited and fell in love with my dogs and cats. Then he focused on my chickens. And finally, my whole demo garden.

Soon he began bringing all his friends and giving them lectures on all the plants. The sheer joy on his face amazed me. I loved his visits as much as he did. And then the wonderful family, being in the military, relocated to another state.

I recently spoke to the boy's mom, and she mentioned they were preparing for their next move soon. Their pre-teenager now had a vote and begged that this time they should move into a farm where they could have gardens and animals and take care of the earth properly.

Maybe it's just my ego, but I'd like to think my garden and I had a part in his decision. Perhaps my own greatest hope in what I do is to have the new generation inspire me with hope for the future of this magical planet."

You can find Jane's book, All the Garden's a Stage, Choosing the Best Performing Plants for a Sustainable Garden, on Amazon.

Her posts on Fine Gardening Magazine online are collected here: https://www.finegardening.com/author/jane-gates. And check out her website, GatesandCroft.Com, online art gallery, and artist Facebook page.