MEET KATIE VERDIECK, THE GARDENESS
At heart, Katie Verdieck has been The Gardeness all her life – feeling most at home blending her love of art, science, and nature with her love of working outdoors for as long as she can remember.
Katie’s first professional gardening experience was when she worked at a local greenhouse in high school. Amusingly, Katie despised being indoors in the greenhouse at first, but then went back later and fell in love with the sprawling outdoor perennials. After gaining her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at Temple’s Tyler School of Art, Katie had a short stint in an office job that didn’t seem like a good fit—Katie realized that her calling was on the other side of her window, in the green expanses of nature. This prompted her to begin taking classes at Longwood Gardens and working as a landscape designer, further honing her craft and soaking in everything about the field.
Now she moves into the next phase of her career, fulfilling her lifelong dream of owning her own business by starting The Gardeness, where she creates meaningful designs and composes containers to celebrate the beauty of each season.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Temple University, Tyler School of Art
Ornamental Horticulture Certificate, Longwood Gardens