Lilian Jackman
Landscape Designer/Nursery Woman
In the 196O’ s suburb of Waterbury, Connecticut where Lilian was born, children were turned outdoors after breakfast to roam the neighborhood. One of the mothers would feed the pack of children lunch. The more adventuresome kids ventured into the nearby woods; climbing trees, building forts, and fording the stream. In those scrappy woods, she observed nature and realized that every plant has a life cycle and purpose quite independent of humans. She has been captivated ever since.
At the University of Connecticut in Storrs, naturally Lilian majored in Plant Science with chemistry, botany, chemistry, Latin and soil science classes.
Then came years of practical experience: mowing lawns on the shores of Lake Michigan, and pruning bamboo and mangoes on the crew at Thomas Edison’s Winter Home in Ft. Meyers, Florida. When launching her first nursery/landscaping business in Vermont, Lilian had the good fortune to be mentored by the three Grand Dames of Putney; Alice Holloway, Carol Brown, and Toshiko Phipps.
There came along three children and a nursing degree from Greenfield Community College. She worked as a staff nurse at the Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield for ten years. As a nurse, Lilian volunteered in Jamaica, Nicaragua, Belize, and the Dominican Republic. Noel Montoya of Mulukuku, Nicaragua and Lilian began the Nicaraguan Farmer’s Exchange Program, bringing Nicaraguan farmers to Conway to learn techniques of sustainable agriculture lost during the social upheaval of Contra-Sandinista war.
As the children entered high school, Lilian enrolled at Smith College as an Ada Comstock Scholar. There she learned the art of letterpress printing under Barry Moser. After Smith Lilian received a master’s degree in the Gnostic Literature from Yale University. Exploring the world further, Lilian studied relief printmaking in Granada, Nicaragua at La Serena Taller and with Alicia Zamora. More recently she studied aquatint printmaking at the studio of Enrique Flores in Oaxaca, Mexico.
The common thread throughout out this rich and varied life has always been the gardens. For over thirty-five years Lilian ran Wilder Hill Gardens, a nursery/landscaping business in Conway, MA. Out of long experience and devotion to her land in Conway her newest venture is born: Conway Natives, a small, local farm devoted to the organic propagation of native plants, and sound gardening advise.
