FOR VICE PRESIDENT (2 YEARS):
Susan E. Schnare, DPhil: I live and garden at my family farmstead in rural central New Hampshire, where my interests are generally in plants, animals, and architecture with particularly warm spots for primroses, collies, and old houses and gardens. My studies in Plant Science and landscape history left me with a continuing fascination with the early botanists.
FOR SECRETARY (2 YEARS):
Laurel Chute: Laurel grew up gardening, helping her parents care for their home orchard and large vegetable garden. With family members that include orchid and bonsai enthusiasts, it was only a matter of time before she found her own plant family to get hooked on. In 2018, she ordered her first “lucky dip” packets from the APS seed exchange and has been captivated ever since. She has spent the last few years concentrating on growing auriculas but is looking forward to expanding to other primula species in the coming years. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and daughter, cats, chickens, and a horse.
FOR DIRECTOR (3 YEARS):
Danielle Brown-Farrell: Danielle, an Ohio native, has lived in Alaska since 1998 after graduating from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Restoration Ecology. She worked in habitat restoration and fire ecology for the Ohio and Alaska State Parks and The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas. Danielle currently lives in Juneau, Alaska, where she owns Sunny Slope Organic Farm. The business is small but diverse and includes a community supported agriculture operation, landscaping business, and a plant nursery specializing in primrose propagation. When not working on the business, she enjoys hiking in the mountains, camping, kayaking, and boating. She is an active Nordic and downhill skier and local garden groups. She lives with her husband, eight-year-old daughter, and a yellow Labrador Retriever.
Karen Schellinger: Karen has grown primroses for 30 years and has been a member of the APS for many years, as well as NARGS. She gives talks to garden clubs about primroses and how to grow them in Minnesota, as well as how to start from seed, which she does each year, starting 300 to 600 plants. Karen has a small primrose nursery selling primroses to fellow gardeners who are bitten by the primrose bug after seeing them in bloom in her garden. She purchases her primrose seed from Barnhaven, Jelitto and the APS and NARGS society’s seed exchanges. Karen also wrote an article about growing primroses and companion plants in Minnesota for the APS and NARGS bulletins.