The Love Stories of Abra Lee, Conquer the Soil

Cultivating Place podcast is rejoined in conversation by Abra Lee, gardener, storyteller and garden scholar under the name of Conquer the Soil. Abra is a trained horticulturist, and a graduate of the Longwood Gardens Fellows program, a 13-month leadership in public horticulture fellowship.

In 2022, Abra was asked to teach a course in Black Garden History to graduate students in Landscape Architecture at Auburn University, her own alma mater. That cohort of students went on to design a show garden based on what they learned, and focused on Harlem Renaissance writer and gardener Effie Lee Newsome. The garden, entitled "Many Shades, Much Joy" won five top awards at the prestigious 2022 Philadelphia Flower and Garden Show.

In addition, Abra is continuing to to co-create a public garden exhibition, Music x Flowers, with Talia Boone, founder of Postal Petals. Music x Flowers premiered at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Southern California in 2022, and will be curated there again in 2023, as well as other botanical gardens around the country.

https://www.cultivatingplace.com/post/the-love-stories-of-abra-lee-conquer-the-soil