Ветеран озеленения Губернаторского особняка Уорнера завершила 30-летнюю службу в Фармингтоне

FARMINGTON — Betti Pool, a master gardener, recently retired after more than 30 years of volunteer work tending to the gardens at the Governor Warner Mansion. The historic building is located at 33805 Grand River Ave. in Farmington. “You’ve got to have a purpose,” said Pool, 80. “My purpose is God sent me here to make the world pretty.” Pool has done just that by gardening at the mansion for 30 years, designing spaces there. Prior to this, she spent nearly 10 years managing 13 gardens at Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester. Her passion for gardening started nearly 60 years ago, after giving birth to her first son. “I needed to get out,” she said. “And I still need to be outside. … It’s just very freeing. When I’m outside in the gardens, nothing is going to bug me. It’s very personal.” She encourages novice gardeners to join a local gardening club. “I have been in the Farmington Garden Club since 1991, and it is the best thing I’ve done,” Pool said. She said there’s a lot to be learn interacting with other gardeners. Her experience with the Farmington Garden Club led to her work at the Governor Warner Mansion. It also led to her position on the Farming-ton Hills Beautification Commission, from which she retired last year. Although she will miss visiting the mansion on a weekly basis, her gardening efforts are now on a personal scale. She recently moved into a new home, which she redecorated on the inside with future years in mind. “Now I’m working on the gardens on the outside,” Pool said. “I plan to live here 20 years, so I’m creating a garden I can take care of when I’m older, and it won’t need much maintenance.” Her new garden is filled with shrubs and perennials. “I will always have some annuals at the front door,” she said. Pool has had many favorite flowers over the years. Her current favorite is the cleome, which blossoms in purple, pink and white hues, and grows about 3 feet tall. It lends her garden an ethereal quality, she said. Pool thinks fondly of the friends who she gardened with at the mansion. “It was every Wednesday, 9 a.m. at the mansion, and they always showed up. We always had a nice group,” Pool said. After retiring, she stops by the mansion on occasion and put succulents in the cracked birdbath that won’t hold water. “That’s my addition to the gardens,” Pool said. “I still have my fingers in it.” As a tip to gardeners, she warned against “putting the wrong flowers in the wrong place.” Know the light and heat tolerance of your plants and flowers, she said. Note that what worked in one room or area in a house may not work with the same setup in another house. Pool had a ficus plant for more than a decade that grew beautifully in the living room window at her old house. One day, she came into the living room of her new house and saw the plant was shedding leaves. The sun was shining so brightly in the window that the room was about 85 degrees. She immediately took the plant to the shaded back porch, and in time the plant revived, regrowing its leaves. Pool has been part of the Governor Warner Mansion’s preservation and restoration efforts from the start. She recalled how the Eleanor Goodenough Spicer Fountain was moved from Longacre House in Farmington Hills to the Warner Mansion in 1985, where it remains today. Pool has enjoyed speaking at various garden shops and nurseries, giving talks on gardening. “For more than 30 years, Betti poured her knowledge, creativity and love into the gardens at the historic Governor Warner Mansion, making them a source of pride for Farmington,” said David Murphy, the city manager of Farmington. “We are grateful for Betti’s years of service and the beautiful legacy she leaves behind.”