Scott Birney with Patrick Costello.

How did Mass Hort become a part of your life?

My wife, Jane, and I went to the Christmas greens show held at Horticultural Hall in Boston and we were regular attendees at the New England Spring Flower Show when it moved to the Bayside Expo Center. I paid close attention to the plants exhibited by amateurs and realized that some of my plants looked just as good as the ones entered in the show.

Did you enter, and did you win any ribbons?

I picked up a few ribbons for honorable mentions, and a few red ribbons for second places. My big break came with a kalanchoe that I was growing from a cutting. It was in full bloom and looked great. That's how I won my first and only blue ribbon. I have big plans for this year with some forced bulbs.

How did you become a volunteer?

I saw a note in the newsletter one January that volunteers were needed for the 'Nomenclature Committee'. It was tedious work but essential to the running of the flower show and we were always making new labels right into the middle of the night before the show opened. Somewhere along the way I decided that there must be a better way to make plant labels, so I wrote a computer program to format the genus, species, cultivar and common name as the data were entered on the keyboard. As far as I know, the program is still in use.

You're also involved with the Honorary Medals committee.

That has been one of my favorite activities - helping to carry on a nearly century-long tradition of honoring excellence in horticulture. But I also work the membership booth at Elm Bank events and anyplace else I can be useful.

What is your home garden like?

Jane and I bought our house in Wellesley in 1980 and I confess I was secretly checking out the possibilities of each house for a garden. After 30 years, I have developed what I think is a very nice garden: lots of spring bulbs and some lovely and unusual azaleas. I had a nice little clump of double bloodroots, the most beautiful flower in all of horticulture, but it seemed last year to have been crowded out by a vigorous patch of uvularia. One yellow lady's-slipper orchid has spread from a single plant to my present clump of 27. Every May I make the rounds of nurseries and I come home with so many plants that I am still planting well into June. My garden has something in bloom all through the summer and into the fall. As all gardeners know, it is always a pleasure to walk the lawns and paths each morning to see what has happened overnight.

Scott makes his home in Wellesley Hills. He is well-remembered at Wellesley College where he taught Astronomy from 1968 to his retirement in 1991. He remembers those 23 years of teaching as wonderful ones with great students, good people to work with, and terrific support from the administration.

Volunteer Kathy Leva participates in Mass Hort's Festival of Trees and in Blooms! She shares some thoughts on volunteering with Mass Hort and her other organizations.

How did you get started as a floral designer?

Soon after joining the Arlington Garden Club I became their program director, and hired several floral arrangers to be speakers. I then began to attend workshops offered by the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts. The Boston Flower Show opened my eyes to another level of design and I started going to GCFM Flower Show School. I have completed 3 classes and have one more to go. My goal is to become an accredited Flower Show Judge. This summer I earned the Designer's Choice Award at the Topsfield Fair and I've also designed for Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and for the Barnstable and Marshfield fairs. Entering area fairs and being critiqued by others helps to improve my designs. I currently hold a position on the GCFM State Board; it's great to be around so many designers.

Do you garden, too?

I'm the President of the Arlington Garden Club and also a member of the Lexington Field and Garden Club, which sponsors the tree I decorate for the Festival of Trees. I love to garden and I organize the Arlington GC plant sale that is held every year in May. Last year I donated over 150 perennials to the sale. I also take care of the flowers at an historic spot in Arlington called Cooke's Hollow. Someday I hope to have a larger, more level yard to stretch my imagination.

What do you like best about the Festival of Trees?

I enjoy decorating the trees, but even more, I love getting involved with the public at the event. Everybody is smiling and happy to be there. Many children come nicely dressed for their holiday photo cards. Sharing and talking with the guests is relaxing compared to my stressful job at Mass General.

How has volunteering benefited you?

I have made so many friends from all over Massachusetts. Also, it's rewarding to help others and interact with the public. It makes you feel fulfilled. Life is too short to be grumpy.

What other volunteer activities do you have?

I was part of a very successful Books in Bloom event that was co-sponsored by the Arlington GC and Robbins Library in Arlington. I volunteer at my church and the Arlington Food Pantry. If I'm not working, I'm either digging in my garden or helping others.

Anything else?

My mother, who is 82, also lives in Arlington. We are the only mother/daughter pair in the Arlington and Lexington Clubs. She has supported all my events and without her as my "cheerleader," I know I would not be where I am today in life. Thanks, Mom!

Kathy lives in Arlington, has worked at the Massachusetts General Hospital Blood Bank for 29 years, and can't imagine working anywhere else. She has two grown children.