A BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY, PLANTSWOMAN HOLLY SHIMIZU, EMERITUS DIRECTOR US BOTANIC GARDEN
- Jennifer Jewell
- May 8
- 6 min read
This second week of May, we welcome gardener and plantswoman Holly Shimizu, whose four decades of work in some of America’s notable public gardens tracks and traces some of the most impactful changes in public garden standards, expectations, and accountability in that same time frame.
From her visionary leadership roles at the National Herb Garden, the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, the US Botanic Garden, and now on the board of the American Horticultural Society, Holly’s garden life is a beautiful public-garden-life journey, benefitting us all.
Holly H. Shimizu is a nationally recognized horticulturist, consultant, and educator living in Maryland. With a rich background in all aspects of public gardens, extensive experience leading garden tours and workshops, and a proven commitment to plant conservation and sustainability, she has been making plants and gardens more accessible and exciting to both, she served as Executive Director of the US Botanic Garden from 2000 to 2014. She currently serves on the Board of the American Horticultural Society.
During her position as Executive Director of the US Botanic Garden, she led the major renovation of their signature Conservatory and helped to establish the now national rubric for the Sustainable Sites Initiative.
In our conversation, Holly shares about her work at the National Herb Garden —the largest designed herb garden in the United States—in its early years. showcasing plants that enhance people’s lives as flavorings, fragrances, medicines, coloring agents, and additives in industrial products. The garden exhibits these herbal plants from places and cultures around the world in theme gardens, single-genus collections, and seasonal displays for education, research, and aesthetic enjoyment. It began as a gift to the people of the United States from the Herb Society of America and was constructed and dedicated in 1980.
With a rich background in all aspects of public gardens, and a proven
commitment to plant conservation and sustainability, it is such an honor to finally welcome Holly to Cultivating Place. Enjoy!
Follow and support Holly Online:
And on Instagram:
All photos courtesy of Holly Shimizu, unless otherwise noted in image title.
If you enjoyed this program, you might also enjoy these
Best of CP programs in our archive:
JOIN US again next week, we’re in conversation with Jill Mays – gardener, garden accessibility innovator and expert, and author of "Nurturing Nature, a guide to gardening for special needs", which strives to make the access to gardening for everyone from our elders to our youngest, more accessible, successful and enjoyable – which is key to success! That's right here, next week. Listen in!
Cultivating Place is made possible in part by listeners like you and by generous support from
supporting initiatives that empower women and help preserve the planet through the intersection of environmental advocacy, social justice, and creativity.
Thinking out loud this week...
Hey, it's Jennifer—
In this conversation, I am so impressed by Holly’s dedication to learning, which in many cases across her career and life, she notes is a process of Unlearning.
I am moved by her dedication to being a perennial student and to staying OPEN.
This is hard work as humans to get our brains to re-learn something it stubbornly believes it already knows, to unlearn something that is no longer useful or helpful. I know this stubbornness firsthand, nearly weekly – just this week I had to relearn the names of two plants. Not because a taxonomist renamed them, no, no, because I had learned them incorrectly the first time….haha. Humble pie is best served often, I guess.
What does unlearning and staying open mean in your garden life? I think this
might be a sub-theme to BIODIVERSITY that we focus on in our next CP
Communing get-together on June 17th I will let you know when the registration is open for that—but as of May 1st, we were halfway between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice, so we are always changing, always somewhere along the beautiful cyclical journey of growing ourselves so if you have thoughts on how being a perennial student and staying OPEN serves your garden life practice we’d love to know.
Share your anecdotes with us by email at cultivatingplace@gmail.com, or in the comments on this week’s Instagram post @cultivating_place, or on Substack—@cultivatingplace—we love the back-and-forth exchanges.
And hey—what did you think of our New Moon newsletter?
And did you take the CP Donor Thank you Gift Survey? If you did or you do by MAY 15th, send me an email saying you did and we’ll add your name to our drawing for a CP Donor Gift BUNDLE of items we move forward with. For now, the ball cap, the cotton t-shirt, and the heavy-duty gardening apron with great pockets are the top choices for survey responders so far. I have to say – I am kind of hoping for the stickers and the mug….What about you—let us know! Take the survey through this link! CP DONOR GIFT ITEM SURVEY
And thanks to all of you who offered to reach out to your local public radio or
community radio station to pitch Cultivating Place for their weekly lineup.
Looking forward to working on this more with you all!
And in Public Growing Announcements this week: I thought I would stick with the themes of Holly’s -wide-ranging experience:
The US Botanic Garden in Washington’s hands-on Children’s Garden is now open! And one of their upcoming programs caught my eye because a friend recently asked me why invasive plants were so terrible: ON Thursday, May 29, 2025 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM Eastern The US Botanic Garden host their next Cocktails and Conversations.
USBG Executive Director and botanist Dr. Susan Pell will be in conversation with local experts as they discuss how weeds and invasive plants are affected by climate change and efforts to restore natural habitats in and around the District. You’ll hear first-hand from the researchers and community changemakers leading plant-centered climate change solutions. Come with curiosity and leave with a renewed sense of hope.
Down in Richmond, VA, at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden two exhibits
caught my eye that are running just through the end of May, and both look outstanding!
Singularity is a Forest is a photography series by Álvaro Alejandro López, a self-taught photographer from Mexico City. López's photography invites viewers to explore the spaces between what is seen and what is felt. His images challenge us to look beyond the surface, revealing connections between seemingly unrelated objects and moments.
In the second exhibit, Artist Mary Van Slyke invites us to celebrate spring and the return of lepidoptera (winged insects, including butterflies and moths) with a visit to The Cecropia Moth Life Cycle at the Kelly Education Center, Community Art Gallery. The exhibit features watercolor paintings that depict in detail the life stages of the cecropia moth. High-magnification scanning electron micrographs of wing scales and antennae highlight the incredible complexity of these fascinating creatures. The exhibit also includes oil paintings of several other native butterflies and moths showcase some of our favorite lepidoptera. Discover more about these amazing insects and learn how you
can welcome them into your yard by providing habitats for both caterpillars and adults HERE!
Way Further West, in the Ruth Bancroft Garden is a fabulous garden to learn plants, but also to attend events such as their nearly monthly sound baths in the garden – which is a whole new way to experience a garden. If you ‘ve never done this – I recommend! The Gardens next sound baths are Wednesday May 21st and Wednesday June 25th from 6 – 7 pm.
WAYS TO SUPPORT CULTIVATING PLACE
Cultivating Place is a co-production of North State Public Radio, a service of Cap Radio, licensed to Chico State Enterprises. Cultivating Place is made possible in part listeners just like you through the support button at the top right-hand corner of every page at Cultivating Place.com.
The CP team includes producer and engineer Matt Fidler, with weekly tech and web support from Angel Huracha, weekly communications support by Sheila Stern and Carley Bruckner, transcripts by Doulos Transcription, and regular guest hosting by Abra Lee and Ben Futa. We’re based on the traditional and present homelands of the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of the Chico Rancheria. Original theme music is by Ma Muse, accompanied by Joe Craven and Sam Bevan.
SHARE the podcast with friends: If you enjoy these conversations about these things we love and which connect us, please share them forward with others. Thank you in advance!
RATE the podcast on iTunes: Or wherever you get your podcast feed: Please submit a ranking and a review of the program on Itunes! To do so follow this link: iTunes Review and Rate (once there, click View In Itunes and go to Ratings and Reviews)
DONATE: Cultivating Place is a listener-supported co-production of North State Public Radio. To make your listener contribution – please click the donate button below. Thank you in advance for your help making these valuable conversations grow.
Or, make checks payable to: North State Public Radio - with Cultivating Place in subject line
and mail to: Cultivating Place
PO Box 37
Durham, CA 95938
Comments