Our Mission

To connect people with the many traditions of gardening in growing through and caring for the spaces that are ours to tend, individually and communally.

Julia Bunn and The Spirited Gardener

Julia has produced a TV show which looks at the historical connection and contemporary practices of people in their gardens. A member of MELA (Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association), she is a proponent for harmonious growing methods and investigating what that means in the many ways that people grow their plants and work their land.  Julia’s knowledge base is constantly expanding through classes at the Chicago Botanic Garden‘s Professional Development Program from which she earned the Ornamental Plant Certificate in 2007.  A member of the LDA (Landscape Design Association) since 2006, Julia gratefully participates in professional development programs sponsored by that group.

In 1995, Julia became a Master Gardener through the University of Illinois Extension Service. Her love of working cooperatively with others and her first hand knowledge of growing in the garden has evolved from working on school gardens and community spaces to working professionally as a landscape designer. She has worked with growing different herbs and vegetables, perennials, shrubs and trees. She has been featured in the Chicago Tribune’s Home & Garden section as a great gift idea for the holidays. 

A graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts, Julia’s classes at the University included Ornithology and a graduate class in the Ecological Environments of the South West.  This perspective has informed her vision as an artist and plant enthusiast ever since.