Garden Heights | About Us...The Gardeners of Garden Heights

Here at Garden Heights, we have hundreds of years combined gardening experience! That is pretty incredible! Our staff runs the gamut from the degreed Horticulturist to the experienced gardener along with some newcomers to the field. We all have three things in common. We all have an incredible passion for gardening, the desire to constantly learn as much as we can about gardening, and we all love to get together and eat great food!

Andrea Aronberg – Andrea has worked at Garden Heights for 10 years. Andrea received her B.A. in Spanish and teaching certificate from St. Louis University. She taught high school for seven years before retiring to raise a family. Andrea has the hardest job at the nursery...she works inside the store greeting customers, answering the phone and dispensing much good advice. Andrea is the quintessential Customer Service Representative. You will never see her without a smile!

While not a fanatic like some of us, Andrea has learned a lot about gardening in her 10 years at the nursery. She has a small, but beautiful shade garden. Last year she had to have some large trees removed and is now excited be able to have a sun garden in her back yard. Like the rest of us gardeners, this will be a work in progress. She is excited to plant sun perennials such as Coreopsis, Echinacea, Daises, and annuals such as sunflowers. One of Andrea's favorites plants is the Pansy. Their little faces are as welcoming as hers.

Andrea's all time favorite...Pansies!

Sunflowers

Coreopsis - Zagreb

Tom Bowman – Tom, has been our "tree and shrub planting guy" and long time friend for many years. Tom is joining us officially this year. He will be the new pleasant face you see this spring.

Tom has worked in the landscaping industry for 20 plus years. He has previously worked at Landscape St. Louis and Rosenthal Landscaping. Tom received his certificate in Horticulture from South County Tech.

Tom loves woodland gardens and likes to use native plants as they do well here! He likes small ornamental trees and shrubs. Some of his favorites are Hamamelis vernalis (Ozark Witch Hazel), Amelanchier arborea (Serviceberry) and Itea virginica 'Henry's Garnet' (Virginia Sweetspire). (By the way, these are all Plants of Merit.) He loves the open free shape and form of these shrubs and trees.

Itea Henry's Garnet (Virginia Sweetspire)

Hamamelis vernalis - 'Jelena' (Ozark Witch Hazel)

Amelanchier arborea (Serviceberry)

Debbie Colombo – Debbie joined owner, Lou D'Agrosa in January of 1996 to help open Garden Heights Nursery. Prior to Garden Heights Debbie has 14 years in garden center management. Debbie also worked as the Horticulturist for Tower Grove Park.

Debbie received her B.S. in Horticulture from the University of Missouri - Columbia. She has worked with the Richmond Heights Garden Club in the design of the beautifully planted containers on Big Bend Blvd. in Richmond Heights and she was instrumental in the plant selection for the Landscaping of the Richmond Heights Community Center.

There isn't a type of garden that Debbie doesn't like! She especially likes mixed borders and ornamental “edible” gardens. Most recently, she has enjoyed designing her urban garden with espalied apple trees as the back drop to her formal vegetable garden. Dwarf blueberries surrounding a blue birdbath are the center focus of this beautiful vegetable garden. Color, order, contrast and cooking with her own produce gives Debbie and her family and friends much enjoyment.

Chionanthus virginicus - (Fringe Tree) in bloom
with espalied apple trees on the left

Chionanthus virginicus (Fringe Tree) is one of Debbies favorites! The clusters of white fragrant flowers grace this beautiful tree in spring…about the time when lilacs bloom. The combination planted together is beautiful.

Another favorite is the Japanese Tree Peony - Debbie has a pink one that is 20 something years old and she considers it to be the most spectacular plant she has ever seen. When open the flowers can be 8-10” across and cover the shrub. The petals are almost translucent and when the sun hits them at a certain angle…it’s a beautiful thing.

Part Shade Hanging Basket –(full Sun until 1pm), plants include: orange Bonfire Begonia, yellow Million Bells, Orange profusion zinnias, Gartenmeister Fuschia, fancy leaf geranium and silver falls dicondra

Gerbera Daisies, Purple Osteospermum
and white Lobelia (Sun until 2 pm)

Lou D'Agrosa – Owner of Garden Heights Nursery. Lou felt there was a need for an upscale garden center in the central corridor. His dream became a reality as the nursery opened for business in the spring of 1996. Lou is passionate about his community and is active and instrumental in the beautification of the area.

Lou received his B.S degree in Horticulture at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Prior to the opening of Garden Heights, Lou worked as a landscape designer/contractor for 10 plus years. Not only is he a talented landscape designer, but a talented hardscaper as well.

Lou believes that hard work and a talented staff has made Garden Heights one of the leading garden centers in the region. With the introduction of new plants every year, Lou believes it is an exciting time to be a gardener.

Lou loves to garden using a mixture of color and textures. One of his favorite plant combinations is black bamboo with chartreuse creeping Jenny underneath.

Phyllostachys nigra - Black Bamboo

Lysimachia Aurea - Creeping Jenny

Anne Deutch – Anne is very excited to begin her second season at Garden Heights. Anne has been an avid gardener for many years. She serves on the Board of Directors of Olivette In Bloom, a volunteer group dedicated to promoting the natural beauty and harmony in the community of Olivette by designing, planting, and maintaining garden sites in selected public grounds. Anne also co-designed, planted and maintains the garden at the entrance of Chevy Chase subdivision.

Anne is especially fond of perennial gardening and designing containers using sun-loving annuals and tropicals that thrive in our St. Louis summers! She also enjoys maintaining her herb garden. Anne's perennial garden is ever changing but always includes hardy shrub roses, Leucanthemum"Becky"daisy, Nepeta, Monarda, Siberian Iris, Liatris, Baptisia. Rudbeckia, Heliopsis, Echinacea, and hardy Hibiscus. Favorite annuals include Lantana, Salvia, Angelonia, Scaveola, Mexican Heather, Pentas, annual Plumbago, and tropical vines. Anne has a B.S. degree in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Monarda (Bee Balm)

Leucanthemum superbum - (Becky Daisy)

Heliopsis (False Sunflower)

Becky Glenn – This is Becky Glenn’s first year working at GHN where she will be stationed in the shop for the most part. A novice gardener and experienced educator, Becky has a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Program Development from Washington University, and recently retired as Head of Forsyth School for 21 years. “Increasingly, I think about the similarities between teachers and gardeners, for the goal of both is to encourage the thriving of those in their care, be they people or plants. Both must be observant, imaginative and patient while growth is occurring, and determined, persistent and light hearted in the face of setbacks. Both endeavors are creative and inspiring; both have hope at their core.”

According to Becky, it was fortunate that shortly after she and her husband, Gene Ruth, rescued the house his grandfather built 90+ years ago, across from Flynn Park School in University City, Garden Heights opened its doors, for the garden they inherited was a wreck - honeysuckle and trumpet vine were running rampant - and they were naïve about such matters. Enter Stephanie Littlefield, the talented GHN landscape designer who consoled and encouraged them, creating a plan for that raggedy place which they still use as a guide.

“We share our garden with two big galumphing dogs, way too many rabbits and squirrels, and feed the birds year-round; thus, it’s not pristine. Also, it’s mostly shady and the soil is clay no matter how much we amend. But, inspired by Stephanie’s vision, every year we add lovely things from Garden Heights , and those we haven’t killed (not the plants’ fault) have spread, and we’re learning. As we do increasingly less damage our confidence and enjoyment have increased, as has the beauty of the place. Actually, in spite of the bare spots (we’ve discovered that ladies mantle covers a multitude of sins) it seems heavenly to those of us who live with and love it.” Other plants that Becky loves are astilbe, sweet woodruff, FERNS, five-leaf acabia, obedience plant, columbine, clematis (that fall kind, especially), witch hazel, dogwood, holly, foam flower, coral bells, creeping jenny, snow over the mountain and ajuga. She is big on ground cover!

Mary Jo Gordon – The "Funniest Woman of the Year" will be back for the 2008 season! This will be Mary Jo's third year working at Garden Heights. She took a year off and worked strictly in the field, but missed the people!

Mary Jo left 30 years of working in the printing industry, putting together books in one capacity or another. While interesting, she got tired of sitting behind a computer screen. If only they had been working on gardening books...

Mary Jo attended Meramec Community College in the Horticulture program before beginning her business “Botanical Gordon.” She does landscape design and small garden maintenance when she is not at Garden Heights. Mary Jo is also a member of GPHA and does some volunteer work at some of the gardens around St. Louis.

Being the daughter of an architect, Mary Jo pretty much adheres to the “form follows function” mentality. She likes to solve problems with her designs, whether it means breaking up a big space into smaller usable "rooms," including dry creeks to deal with water issues, or even just blocking a view that makes you wince every time you look in that direction. She is an avid bird watcher and tries to include plants that attract, feed and protect those little guys.

Mary Jo used to think that purple and red had no business sharing the same soil. Some called that her Midwestern upbringing. Now she loves mixing colors. But of course, the combos change every year! With the exception of hardscaping and most large trees or shrubs, never tell Mary Jo that once a garden is done—it’s done. There is no such animal, unless of course you like things to stay the same. Moving plants around is one of her favorite things to do. It’s called gardening! There is no place in Mary Jo's world for the color beige!

JJ Harmon – JJ joined the staff at Garden Heights in the summer of 2007 and became an instant favorite! JJ came to us with a desire to learn more about gardening. He couldn't have found a better place to be!

JJ is a talented woodworker and musician. He has built instruments and had the desire to see what trees looked like before they were processed for wood work. He currently plays with the bands Theodore and Circa as well as recording and performing with many other musicians.

JJ enjoys shade, herb and vegetable, wild flower and native plant gardening as well as water gardening. Some of his favorite plants are nasturtium and calendula. Both of these are not only beautiful, but edible as well. The smell of basil and rosemary in the morning stirs up his taste buds for lunch. He also loves the "tried and true" annuals such as marigolds, celosia, and portulaca...you know things that were popular to grow in the 50s and look like they shouldn't exist outside of a science fiction movie set in a jungle on another planet. He has favorite shrubs and trees, but the list is too long!

Edible Calendula

Edible Nasturtium

Clarissa Joyce – Clarissa will be starting her third year at Garden Heights Nursery. She has completed the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Urban Gardener program. Like most of, Clarissa gained her gardening experience by trial and error, hands-on. Both her mother and grandmother were avid gardeners.

Clarissa works in telecommunications and her passion is for gardening. She has many types of gardening styles she favors; Shade, vegetable, wild flower/native plant, water gardening, and herb gardening. Clarissa has much experience in low-maintenance urban shade gardening.

Some of her "tried and true" favorite plants are Hellebores, various spring bulbs, Peonies, Brunnera macrophylla 'Looking Glass' and 'Jack Frost', lady's mantle (Alchemilla Mollis), Echinacea, and hardy Chrysanthemums.

Brunnera macrophylla - Looking Glass	Alchemilla mollis - (Ladies Mantle)
Brunnera macrophylla - Jack Frost

Robin Keeney – Robin is new to Garden Heights this spring. Education--B.S. In Recreation and Sociology—Retired from 25 years of teaching in 2005. Robin and her husband split their time between their home in Salem, Missouri and their condo in Brentwood Forest.

In Salem, Robin is a member of the Spring Creek Garden Club. The club is active in volunteer programs throughout the community—one of their main projects is designing, planting and maintaining 13 planting beds and containers in the downtown area.They plant bulbs in the spring, plant and maintain annuals in the summer, and display winter greens Dec.-March. Their home will be featured on the club's garden tour in June.

Their home is surrounded by large oak trees so most of Robin's gardening is shade gardening—hostas, ferns, impatiens, and Annabelle, Nikko Blue and Oakleaf Hydrangeas, She also loves naturalizing with bulbs, particularly jonquils. There are two large window boxes on the front of her house. She loves to put in caladiums, kimberly queen ferns, creeping jenny, vinca, and impatiens.

Last year, Robin and her husband worked with a former student who is now a landscape designer to totally re-design our front landscape-- It was a great experience! The student designed the plan and Robin and her husband did all the preparation under her guidance. They did the entire installation along in one day! They learned much and it was a rewarding experience.

This year their projects are to finish the landscaping around ther back deck and to install a new perennial garden.

At their Brentwood Forest condo, they have abundant sun on their deck so Robin enjoys having window boxes full of sun loving plants.

Robin has always loved gardening and is very excited about the opportunity to work at Garden Heights.

Robin uses sun loving annuals that include Geranium. Draceana Spikes, Lysmachia and Petunias.

A woodland garden of naturalized daffodils

Steffie Littlefield – Steffie has been at Garden Heights since the doors opened in April of 1996. She is the consummate gardener! She has worked for Jost Greenhouses as an herb and perennial propagator. Steffie started gardening when she was in high school. She spent a great deal of time gardening with her grandmother who was a volunteer at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Steffie has an A.A. in Horticulture from St. Louis Community College- Meramec, and her B.S. in Horticulture from South East Missouri University. She has served as President of Gateway to Gardening (now Gateway Greening), President of Gateway Professional Horticulturist Association (GPHA) , and presently a board member for the Horticulture Co-op of Metro St. Louis. Steffie has given workshops on Vegetable Gardening for Community Gardeners and she writes a monthly article for the Gateway Gardener Magazine.

Steffie has designed award winning garden displays for the St. Louis Flower Show and the St. Louis Post Dispatch Garden Contest. Steffie chaired the Garden auxiliary at Mary Institute Country Day Schools (MICDS) for 17 years! She alos found time to maintain the gardens behind the old Jr. League.

Full sun container includes Knowck Out Rose,
Blue Supertunias and dark Purple Angelonia.

There isn't a type of gardening that Steffie doesn't like. Some of her favorites are: perennials, vegetable, herbs, wild flower/native plant, shrubs and she loves trees!! One of her favorite plant combinations that do well here are Tree Peonies, underplanted with Helebores.

Pink Crepe Myrtle s the back drop for a pink Butterfly Bush, a pink Knock Out Rose. Containers are filled with Mexican Petunias, Variegated Garlic, Nepeta and New Guinea Impatiens	White Tree Peony
	Lime Zinger Elephant Ears along with New Guinea Impatiens and Lysimachia this container surrounded by Iris and day lilies for part sun

Jim Marik – Jim has worked at Garden Heights since February, 2002. He brought with him his 30 plus years of personal and professional experience in the industry. He began his career in 1976 as a tropical plant and bedding plant specialist at McConahey's Garden Spot in Alton, Illinois. After working at various greenhouses and florists, he started his own interiorscape business, Floribunda, doing indoor plant design as well as some outdoor design and maintenance for commercial and residential clients. Jim was involved with the planning and creation of a major revitalization project in Alton, Illinois where he was involved with the water features and plantings.

Jim has an Associate of Science degree. Studies included both horticulture and biology. He has attended many short courses and seminars on various industry topics.

Jim started his gardening hobby as an organic vegetable gardener in the early 1970s. He has since moved to ornamentals, but still likes to have a few tomato plants even if only in pots. Having the beauty of plants both inside and outside of his home have always been important to him. Jim feels most at home and at peace in a shade garden amid the ferns, hosta, bleeding hearts, coleus caladiums and other shade lovers. He also loves the sound of water flowing so ponds are another favorite element for him.

As with the rest of us, Jim has a hard time picking a favorite. One thing that he especially likes is to combine tropical houseplants with shade-loving annuals and perennials. Common houseplants like Mother-in-law Tongue can bring great structure and graceful lines to a combination of ferns, impatiens or other 'softer' looking plants. Also it's hard to beat the elegant beauty of palms with the color of annuals spilling out of the pot. A couple of Jim's favorite houseplants are the Ming Aralia and the African Mask (Alocasia 'Polly'). In the garden beds Jim prefers the more natural look, mixing textures and colors as they might occur in the woods or on the prairie.

If you have any questions about houseplants, Jim is the man to see!

Alocasia 'Polly'

Ming Aralia

Kim McCabe – Our little "Mighty Mouse," is starting her third year at the nursery to everyone's delight! Garden Heights is Kim's first proper employment after 16 years of mastering domestic life, spending countless hours volunteering and coordinating events and playing accountant for her husband's design business.

Kim has a B.S.B.A. in Marketing and Management and a Preservice Secondary Education none of which prepared her for Garden Heights. Well, actually it may have, as Lou and the boys certainly need managing and the nursery is a classroom, in more ways than one!

Kim considers herself an amateur gardner who thoroughly enjoys digging in the dirt, trying new things and learning from the masters, ie, Debbie Colombo and Steffie Littlefield.

Kim loves to garden with perennials. There are so many and you have the ability to have a constant ever changing garden. She experiments a lot, more then her husband would like and through the years she has slowly found what works best for her.

One of Kim's favorite plant combinations is a variety of flowering shrubs, such as Wine and Roses Weigelia, along with Hydrangeas, Crape Myrtles, mixed with perennials, and of course, a splash of annuals for constant seasonal color.

Container gardening is also a favorite of Kim's. She has been accumulating beautiful pots, and filling them with wonderful flowering tropicals, like Jasmine and wintering them over in her sunroom. It is the family's favorite room in the house during the winter months.

Jasmine

Weigela - Wine and Roses

Jessica Raniero – Jessica joined the staff at Garden Heights in the spring of 2007. She works as a paralegal when she is not at the nursery. She is the mother of two incredibly beautiful children.

Jessica prefers gardening with native plants and wildflowers. She also maintains a large vegetable garden with her mother. She grew up learning the principals of organic gardening and is a stickler for adhering to those principles.

Some of Jessica's favorite plants are Coneflowers, Goldenrod, Joe Pye Weed and Thread-leaf Coreopsis, all of which do very well in our area.

Solidago - Goldenrod for sun

Echinacea pupura - Purple Cone Flowers for full sun

Joe Pye Weed for sun

Becky Ryan – Becky has graced the nursery with her presence since the Spring of 1997. Becky and Andrea are our dynamic duo! You will find her working inside the store. She is a wealth of information. She has 30 something years of gardening under her belt. She is the third generation of green thumbs in her family. Becky received her B.S. in Computer Sciences at Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado. She works at Washington University when she is not at the nursery.

Becky prefers shade gardening along with container gardening of annuals, herbs and many tropical plants. She loves to attract butterflies, especially the Swallowtail. She finds that having a row of potted Parsley and Dill outside her house, bring these beloved creatures up close and personal. These two herbs act as a host for the eggs, and caterpillar. Becky has created her own butterfly ecosystem!

Dill

Parsley

Mary Etta Schindler – Mary Etta will be starting her fourth year at Garden Heights this spring where you can find her on Sundays cashiering at the “Hut”. She prefers to be outside among the plants so this is a perfect compromise between work and enjoying the outdoors and all that Garden Heights has to offer. Working in the hut allows Mary to see the combinations of colors and plant varieties that the staff and customers are putting together to fill a wonderful pot, window box, or a corner of the garden and it is always a source of new inspiration. Last year she discovered plants like Diamond Frost Euphorbia and Wave Blue Torenia which looked perfect in a large pot with Aaron Caladium.

Her approach to gardening used to be annuals and shrubs and she only planted a summer garden. Since working at Garden Heights Mary has a spring garden and window box in the front with spring bulbs, pansies, primrose, and azaleas. As hot weather approaches you will see summer annuals and hostas and then in fall transition with more pansies, kale, mums, hardy herbs, and of course Garden Heights pumpkins.

In her back yard she has branched out by planting rose bushes (both climbing and Knock Out varieties), hydrangeas, trees, flowering bushes, perennials, and grasses. Mary now has an early spring vegetable garden with lettuces, radishes, etc and then in the same spot a summer vegetable garden. Mary has a huge herb garden which includes different varieties of lavender and interesting herbs like Hot Lips Sage.

Mary Etta doesn’t take home a paycheck anymore but trys to limit herself to what she can carry home in her bicycle basket, luckily she has a large basket!

Herb garden including: Chives, Pineapple Sage,
Hot Lips Sage, Italian Parsely and Tarragon

A part shade window box filled with Begonias, Saturn Sun Coleus, Tiger Fern and Blue Wave Torenia

Planter of Victoria Blue Salvia, Purple Fountain Grass
and Pink Wave Petunias for full sun

Eric Stevens – Eric joined the staff at Garden Heights in the spring of 2007, and became an instant favorite. He brought along his expertise in organic gardening. He has four years experience in organic methods for market farming, seven years as a community gardener and volunteer with Gateway Greening.

Eric has a B.A. from Fontbonne University. Eric is an artist. He uses various mediums, from woodcuts prints to digital illustrations. His artwork reflects his love for the community of gardeners, farmers and local businesses. Visit him on the web at www.ericstevens-designs.com

His favorite type gardening is growing heirloom vegetables. He loves growing spring and fall salad gardens. Eric designs his gardens using companion plantings and square foot gardening.

Eric loves the combination of onions, Swiss chard or spinach and "Tom Thumb" (a small buttercrunch bibb lettuce) grown in the spring. A favorite summer annual is Mexican Sunflower.

Tom Thumb Bibb Lettuce

Green Onions

Spinach

Debbie Tolstoi – I, your friendly web designer, have been working at Garden Heights on and off since March of 2002. I spent three years studying Studio art at Maryville and for some reason, I possess a B.A. degree from Webster University in Marketing, I am a professional graphic and web designer (www.tolstoidesigns.com), but my passion is gardening.

I have worked on and off in the industry for 34 years. I have potted cacti in greenhouses, taken care of plants in offices and banks for an interiorscaping company, and have enjoyed digging in the dirt since the mid-1970s. I am also involved with the MRH Middle School in a Seed to Table garden as well as a Neighborhood Beautification project for the City of Maplewood.

I got my 15 minutes of fame last year when my garden was featured in the May 2007 issue of St. Louis Homes and Lifetsyles Magazine. I love both sun and shade gardening using various blooming trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. I also enjoy container and water gardening. I have to say I prefer the shade! I love all of the different types of Ferns, Hosta, Coleus both for shade and sun, Impatiens. perennial Plumbago, "no-fail" Dragon Wing Begonias. Some sun loving favorites are Campanula, Stokesia, Platycodon and anything else I can find that blooms blue. I love many varieties of Japanese Maples, Hydrangeas, the different types of Elephant Ears, etc., etc.! Every year brings new favorites.

Satrun Sun Coleus for sun/part sun planted with
Lysimachia 'aurea' and Springeri Ferns

Shade Garden surrounding a pond. Macho fern in front
along with Hilo Beauty Alocasia and red Impatiens. Groundcovers are Mazus Reptens and Lysimachia.

Tiger Fern, Streptacarpella, Variegated Vinca &
Crossandra for shade/part sun windowbox.

Pat Tovo – Pat will be starting her 9th season at Garden Heights. Pat is a consultant in marketing/communications and community relations, but Garden Heights Nursery is more fun!

When Pat isn't gardening or consulting, her volunteer work keeps her busy. She was the founder of Arts in Maplewood, a grassroots organization with a mission to promote local artists. She also leads education programs for the APA, works as a marketing mentor for the dance group, MADCO and recently joined the speaker's bureau for the American Heart Association, promoting heart health for women.

Pat has been an avid gardener for 20 plus years. Pat loves to mix annual and perennials and is currently trying to become more educated on a wider variety of trees and shrubs. She has a great interest in growing vegetables but the squirrels won't share!

Pat loves the old fashioned plants such as peonies, hydrangeas and tea roses. She also likes to experiment with newer varieties of annuals

A sun loving window box of Million Bells and
different shades pink Vinca.

Hydrangea behind a containters of Petunias, Heliacrysum, Verbena, Marantha (Prayer Plant), and Geranium.

Starting at left lower corner going clockwise - celosia, native phlox, viburnum, crepe myrtle, coleus and browalia, elephant ears, variegated liriope and dragon wing begonia.