Farewell

After seven years, Cylburn Arboretum Friend’s executive director, Patricia Foster, is ready to take a second retirement. After stepping in to “help for one year,” Patricia has overseen one of the largest growth periods that the organization has ever experienced. From growing the staff, to expanding programming, to overseeing the completion of the Nature Education Center – a lot has happened during her tenure.

In some of her last moments as director, Patricia reflected on her time at the Arboretum as well as her upcoming plans. Patricia’s final day as Executive Director is June 1, 2023

This is your second retirement. Was your career always focused on horticulture? Absolutely not. I was always interested in horticulture because my mom was an avid gardener. It was an important part of my life when I was a child. But I had a full career well outside of horticulture before I found my way to Cylburn Arboretum.

I studied chemistry in college and have an A.B. in Chemistry. After college, a marriage and three children, I went to work for a scientific publisher in Manhattan as a copy editor – and that started my first career in science communications. I became Director of Publicans at Stony Brook University, part of the SUNY system, but when I moved to Baltimore, I got a job editing at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The last job I had in communications was as the Director of Online Publications at Howard Hughes Medical Institute before my first retirement in 2012.

Excited to start something new, I launched a small gardening business with a friend. We called ourselves Garden Keepers. I liked being outside and getting back to my love of gardening. I had become a Master Gardener about ten years earlier. It was then, and remains now, one of my favorite volunteer experiences. I am excited to re-engage more deeply with the Master Gardeners now that I am retiring yet again.

What initially drew you to get involved at Cylburn Arboretum?

As a Master Gardener working to install the first rain garden at Cylburn Arboretum, I met long-time CAF Board Member and volunteer, Bev Davis. She asked me several times to join the CAF Board of Directors. After the third time, I agreed, and I never looked back. Within the year, I stepped into the role as Executive

Director with the intent of staying for one year. Seven and a half years later…

What part of the job have you enjoyed the most?

I consider myself a problem solver and there were plenty of challenges to overcome when I started the job. It made every day interesting. I also loved discovering, for my own self, what Cylburn Arboretum had to offer to the city and the neighborhood.

I know that as I start my next chapter in life, CAF will also commence its own next dynamic chapter with the opening of our Nature

Education Center. As we have prepared for our new “home” at Cylburn, we have grown the organization and added more scope to our work. I think all of those things have really increased visibility in the community, as we shed that “best kept secret” title that Cylburn held on to for so long.

Cylburn Arboretum has so much to offer, and I deeply appreciate all our community partners, public officials and daily visitors for enriching this beautiful arboretum and public garden. It has made my job very enjoyable.

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of?

I love the team that I have built during my time with Cylburn Arboretum Friends. Working with them makes my job a joy. I feel confident that the CAF staff members are going to do incredible things in the coming years, and I am excited to see it all happen.

What has challenged you along the way?

The deer. City bureaucracy. The journey to financial stability – although we are all so happy to be where we are today. I feel pleased to be leaving the organization in a very stable position. I only wish I could also leave them without any deer inside the deer fence.

As we are planning for our 55th Market Day at Cylburn Arboretum, do you still remember the first one you helped to plan? I will never forget that first Friday as we were getting set up. One of our board member volunteers was not at her station so a semitruck tried to get under the Mansion porte-cochère (the covered area where carriages used to disembark) and took off the corner corbel. We had to dislodge the truck and it was not easy, nor was it fun for anyone. And of course, it was raining. That seems to happen more often than not. We are hoping for sunshine this year to send me off.

Are you going to miss the view from your desk window?

We planted a tree to honor my sister outside my current office window. I will miss the view of that tree, but I can come back to visit. And I plan to do it frequently.

Have you thought about what you would say to the volunteers who helped to establish the Cylburn Wildflower Preserve and Garden Center if you met them today? The first thing I would say is “thank you for all that effort!” I walked into something established but I am always curious about what drives people to start something new. In the 1950s the purpose of the Cylburn Wildflower Preserve was twofold: to enable adults and youth to understand and enjoy the out-of-doors and to preserve the existing natural beauty and facilities of “Cylburn Park.”

Our Mission today is to fulfill our commitment to the Baltimore community by supporting the Cylburn Arboretum through stewardship and educational programming. All these years later our work retains the essence of the original Wildflower Preserve.

Are you excited to no longer be a full-time employee of Cylburn Arboretum Friends?

No. I will miss it. I am excited to have time, but it will be a big change and I will miss seeing the grounds and the friendly faces who make this place come alive. Although ask me again in another year and I might have a very different answer!

What does your second retirement look like to you?

First, I am going to clean my house. And then my garage! But after that I am excited to have time to get back to my own garden and have the opportunity to volunteer. I want to get involved with the Master Gardeners again and I am looking forward to enjoying the opening of the Nature Education Center here at Cylburn.

What advice do you have for your successor? Take time to smell the flowers.

Over the next few pages, we offer you a “sneak preview” of the CFG Bank Exhibit Hall at Cylburn Arboretum’s new Nature Education Center (opening Summer 2023!). Our hope is that this exhibit will pique the curiosity of our guests and enrich their explorations of the arboretum, helping them to come to a deeper understanding of the hidden complexities of the arboreal world.

What

Mission of the Cylburn Arboretum Friends

Our commitment to the Baltimore community is to support the Cylburn Arboretum through stewardship and educational programming.

1.01.02

Graphic: 31” x 76.875”

What can you find?

What see? The biggest?

What’s

How

What did you see from the other side?

What can you

Native Plants

The garden is composed of plants that naturally grow and thrive in our region.

In addition to new plantings, the design and construction team took great care to preserve existing vegetation, such as our Catalpa tree, throughout construction.