Every superhero has an origin story, and the superhero staff and interns at Monk Gardens are no different!

Read on to learn what were the influences and experiences that made our Garden Supervisor, Pat Witt, pursue a career in a nature-based field!

“Even as suburban kids “back then” we spent most of our free time outdoors. When we weren’t riding our bikes through the woods by the Scioto river and playing in the water below the dam, my brother and I followed the creek to the golf course where we tried to catch the koi. We enjoyed camping and hiking in the Hocking Hills of southern Ohio and fishing in Lake Erie. 

To be honest though, I hated following my mother around the garden, always “on call” for pulling weeds and picking tomatoes. I never enjoyed listening to her drone on about the varieties of trees we passed when driving, or spending two weeks every summer in agony covered head to toe in poison ivy as a consequence of all of these activities. Yet, she must have influenced me somehow, as wherever I lived as an adult I grew at least a tomato and a pepper plant, if only in pots. 

Then, on a walk through Olbrich Gardens, I fell in love with a hybrid tea rose, “Brass Band”, I still recall. That was the start of it all- I  left my business background in favor of horticulture.

Since then, most of my professional as well as personal time has been spent learning and growing new plants.  

I tried to instill the same interest in my kids by dragging them to garden centers, having them help me plant new beds, and hiking in the woods. I always wondered if they dreaded it like I did as a kid, but  after my adult daughter passed away I went to her new home and found tomatoes and peppers growing in big pots on her front porch. Looks like my love of plants may have influenced her, too. 

I love being at Monk Gardens; watching and wondering about the influence this beautiful environment has on the Sprouts  who frolic, the families who hike, and the individuals who wander our trails.”