Posted: July 27, 2021
Elizabeth Pesci, of Greensburg, recently received the honorary status of Master Gardener Emerita! This distinctive title acknowledges her many years of service (31) and over 1500 volunteer hours assisting Penn State Extension provide horticultural knowledge and skills to the gardening public.
Photo credit: Deb Christopher, Penn State Extension Master Gardener
Pesci was in the very first "class" of Penn State Extension Master Gardeners in Westmoreland County, completing her training in 1990. She has historical knowledge of the "early days" that few others have. Back then, the Master Gardener trainees in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties took classes together, and collaborated in pruning workshops and other hands-on learning.
Prior to becoming a Master Gardener, Pesci participated with the Greensburg Garden Center volunteers to offer horticulture classes to the public. With Eric Oesterling and Barb Henderson, she was instrumental in starting the "Weekend Gardener" series of talks, held first at Franklin Regional School District, then at Westmoreland County Community College. Master Gardeners eventually took over the program and made the "Weekend Gardener" classes a tradition for area gardeners until 2020 when the pandemic put a halt to them.
Pesci went to work for King Garden Palace in 1990 where she managed the garden center. The Garden Palace has since gone out of business, bringing an end to an era when there were at least four acres of plant retail space and a Christmas shop known far and wide. In 2002, she worked at S&S Landscaping (known now as Silvis Group) until 2010, when she retired and returned to more volunteering "jobs" with the Master Gardeners.
In 1988, Pesci became flower superintendent at the Westmoreland County Fair, a job that required overseeing staging, judging, and set-up and tear-down of the flower show portion of the Fair. She also gave many educational talks for home gardeners' benefit, and she and Carmie DeMoise designed the first "Perennial Garden" at the Donohoe Demonstration Gardens, one of the oldest of the 15 gardens located near the Extension building at 214 Donohoe Road, Greensburg. A few years later she, Carmie, and Lois Watson designed the Grandmother's Garden, now called the Cottage Garden, and these two remain a central focus and foundation of the garden complex, though it has changed over the years.
Accepting change and learning to improve one's garden spaces is a theme with Pesci. Her home gardens are a lovely mix of perennials interspersed with a fish pond and several arbors, benches, and quiet spaces to enjoy the views and the fragrances. These have been improved constantly over the years. Her side yard has metamorphosed several times she explains, to accommodate pipe line rights of way, water runoff, loss of trees, and experimental plantings. There is a colorful history of planting things and then having to dig them out or cut them down to accommodate life's changes. And sometimes things just disappear under a shade tree or aggressive ground cover . . . all common problems in a home garden. A resilient gardener tirelessly continues on, adding new plants and changing the order of things as needed. In 1984, Pesci discovered some trout lilies on her property, and has since planted a native ephemeral garden by adding blood root, trillium, and Virginia bluebells, etc. These "just take care of themselves," she gladly acknowledges.
As a "retired" Master Gardener, Pesci remains a key contributor to the Greensburg Garden Center and a source of gardening know-how and fresh ideas for the gardening community. She is appreciated and honored with the designation of "Master Gardener Emerita".
By Deb Christopher, Penn State Extension Master Gardener
