The theme of this month’s newsletter is “coming together” and thus how fitting to share the story of a unique force of nature: Rockbridge citizen Katherine Raiford Smith, who passed away earlier this fall after a lifetime of summoning all of us back to the garden. Katherine arrived in Rockbridge more than thirty years ago. With great vision, knowledge, and tenacity, she brought folks together to found both the Rockbridge Area Master Gardeners (RAMGA) and the Upper James Native Plant Society – two of Boxerwood’s treasured garden partners. Thank you to Boxerwood friend (and gardener) Phyllis Fevrier for sharing this tribute to our community friend, Katherine Smith.
Katherine Smith, gardener extraordinaire, was the driving force in establishing the Rockbridge Area Master Gardener chapter in 1994. She had the vision, along with the local gardening community, to join forces with the Cooperative Extension Services, thus creating the current chapter’s program mission. By designing curricula and teaching classes, her goal was to advance Master Gardener students’ understanding of native plants and ecology before it was even fashionable.
Katherine believed in paying attention. She understood native plants and why they are so important to our environment. She fought against invasive species way back in the early days.
Her plant knowledge was extensive. She once told me why Abelia x grandiflora (a non-native shrub) was ok to grow here. Her explanation: She had studied and documented the small wasp that came to get nourishment from the bountiful flowers. Instead of helping to pollinate the flowers by going into the flower, it pierced the base of the flower just above the sepals to get nutrition from the ovary area. This stopped the seed formation, and the plant was less able to spread by seed. This is one small example of how Katherine was an unlimited source of fascinating plant information.
Katherine worked hard to keep native plants front and center to our local horticultural education, and included in that work was early and sustained support for Boxerwood Education Association.With great skill and effort, she also aligned our small community’s members with the Virginia Native Plant Society protocol as she started the local chapter of the VNPS in 2001 along with negotiating and funding the Native Plant Sanctuary at Boxerwood in 2018. The Upper James River Native Plant Society chapter is still thriving today because of her efforts.
Katherine’s influence on Master Gardeners spanned decades. Her involvement included initiating projects, holding administrative positions, and bridging the local chapter with the larger VMG office at Virginia Tech. . . Master Gardener Susan Bradford beautifully captures Katherine Smith for those who did not know her. “Her zeal to share knowledge was boundless. That legacy will continue to echo through our RAMGA community.” And Boxerwood’s as well.