Salisbury Native, Plantswoman Kim Sherwood
The thriller, spiller, filler dictum of effective container planting is flaunting its full midsummer flash in the two giant pots filled with towering curly willow, mandevilla, salvia midnight blue, coleus, begonias, sweet potato vine and a few other things, flanking the Wagner Terrace entrance. They were designed, planted and are maintained by Kim Sherwood, who has taken care of the many containers and flower gardens beautifying the Noble Horizons campus for the past nine years.
Literally born into the business—her family owned Sherwood Nursery (now Salisbury Garden Center) for many years—Kim was put to work pricking seedlings out of starter trays and tucking them into growing pots when she was little more than a tot. “It was slave labor,” she said. “I started young and just fell into it. And I have a talent for it.”
The Sherwood Nursery was special in that every plant they sold was grown from seed and nurtured in their own greenhouses, while today much of the plant material available to home gardeners is grown far away and shipped in. That’s what Kim grew up with, developing her special affinity for growing things.
Kim identifies as a Raggie, the local term for the old families who lived on Mount Riga. Technically, and Raggies can be quite particular about this kind of thing, she was born in a hospital, not actually on Riga, the gold standard of Raggiedom, but then that hasn’t occurred in many years. She is, however, descended from proud old Raggie stock, making her one of an increasingly rare breed, a true Salisbury native.