Arit Anderson: Seattle's Northwest Flower & Garden Show Judge & Speaker

                                        Anne Reeves & Arit Anderson

How luck am I? I adore BBC's Gardeners World and watch it like some kind of  meditative gift to myself.  British gardening, especially when we are in Seattle rainy season is the mental lift I need  The bird song, the garden paths, I can smell the dirt and hear the crunch of the gravel underfoot. I love it all.

Arit Anderson is a presenter on Gardeners World and I was thrilled when I learned that she was the special guest judge for this year's Northwest Flower & Garden Festival, sponsored by the Northwest Horticulture Society. What a perfect guest! Everyone was excited.

Arit has had a very interesting professional life working in fashion and retail, event planning and as a therapist teaching holistic therapies. Her path eventually led her to study gardening at Capel Manor College and made a name for herself when she and 2 other students won the Fresh Talent category for a student design collaboration at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea in 2013. Bravo! 

She is a passionate and talented garden designer who also "won a Gold Medal for her own design at Royal Horticultural Society Hampton Court in 2016 in the conceptual category." She's known for for an "ethos (that) includes simplicity and environmental sensitivity." She is an excellent communicator and I found myself spellbound as she told of one particularly grand evening with famed broadcaster biologist and natural historian Sir David Attenborough. Arit along with Adam White and Jane Findlay were honored to present Sir David Attenborough with the 2019 Landscape Institute Lifetime Achievement Award. What an experience! 

A huge point Arit made was that our gardens (our little patch of earth) are literally how we can play a part in caring for the planet. That being responsible with water usage, planting native species, using organic products,  

She was a very engaging speaker and I intend to start listening to her podcast, Sustainable Gardening. Podcasting is such a gift because we can hear directly from so many inspirational figures around the world on a regular basis. If you have not had the chance to get acquainted with Arit Anderson and her marvelous effect on the world, please let this be your invitation to learn more. She's fantastic.

#gardenersworld #sustainabilityspeaker #aritanderson