Why the Buzz Around Kate Frey?

Kate Frey pictured among blooming peas at the sustainable Fetzer Valley Oaks garden in Hopland, California.

A bumblebee during buzz pollination:  the rapid movement of their wings dislodges pollen from its source.

Kate Frey, has for 18 years designed and  managed the gardens at Fetzer Valley Oaks with her award winning bio-diverse, organic and sustainable gardening methods in Hopland, California. Her merits include gold medals at the  Royal Horticulture Society Chelsea flower show in 2005 and 2007; and a Silver Gilt in 2003. Her colorful and sustainable gardens were not only favored by the judges but literally met with approval from the Queen of England who met with her privately in 2003 and 2007.

An unassuming yet vibrant, Frey was eager to roam the gardens that birthed her career. Modes about her achievements there is not mistake about her, beneficial insects, pollinators, birds are the punctuation in a colorful garden palette. She likes to create what are called “bird and insect hospitable gardens.” 

Since Chelsea, Frey and her husband Ben Frey have accepted invitations from a Shizouka prefecture in Japan to the consultation and tailoring of organic farms for a Saudi Prince near Riyadh.

Apart from her international acknowledgements, Frey continues to focus her commitments on the California landscape. Her gardening successes, awards and accolades have brought her to her current position as teacher and director of Sonoma State University’s Sustainable Landscape Program with Extended Education. Started in 2007, the Landscape program issued its first program track certificate in 2008. Her additional projects include presentations at the social and scientific Bioneers conference California wineries, private residences and to core biodiversity specific projects such as The Melissa Garden, a honeybee sanctuary located in Healdsburg, California. Frey was commissioned to the sanctuary project because of the “pollen generator” plants and flowers that are at the heart of her garden landscape design. 

Pollinators are given throughout the year floral nourishment and an environment free from pesticides. The 40-acre ranch owned by Barbara and Jacques Schlumberger consider themselves “bee-stewards.” “It is no secret, Frey said, that bees are a dwindling population in the US.” 

 

We named the sanctuary “Melissa,” after Melissa officinalis or Lemon Balm a herbaceous planet and a favorite of bees in horticulture and mythology. Melissa, in Greek mythology who fed Zeus honey as an infant and who later transformed into a queen bee. Melissa is a Greek word meaning honeybee.
For more information on the work of Kate Frey, please go here 

For more information on the Melissa Sanctuary please go here