Alexis Bacon

APGA Plant Protection Program & Member Services Assistant

Alexis Bacon spent her childhood helping her parents garden, canoeing down the Schuylkill river, hiking through local parks, and camping on warm summer weekends. Even in childhood, she felt most at home outside. She attended Kimberton Waldorf School in Phoenixville, PA which emphasized experiential outdoor learning experiences, and included an ample dose of gardening education and yearly camping and hiking trips. At Smith College, she pursued Environmental Science and Landscape Studies before transferring to Temple University to major in Horticulture.

Throughout her life, Alexis has worked in horticulture in different capacities. As a high school student, she volunteered at several CSAs, and after graduation spent two summers maintaining her grandfather’s nine acre, U-pick blueberry farm in southern Maine. She also launched her own garden business to help local homeowners with garden maintenance and installation. During her undergraduate years at Temple University, Alexis worked at two garden centers: Bromm’s Lullaby Farm and Bucks Country Gardens in their perennial and annual plant departments. She loved assisting customers with garden design ideas and helping with pest identification. After graduation, she was hired as the Education Intern at Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College. In her internship at Scott Arboretum, she assisted with event planning including the Perennial and Woody Plant Conferences, taught several classes to adults and children, wrote articles for the newsletter, marketed arboretum events, and took a Scott-funded trip to Spain, Scotland, and England to learn about plants and garden design overseas.

Alexis applied to UDBG’s Annual Internship because of the diversity of experiences and skills it offers, valuable to any career in horticulture. She has greatly enjoyed expanding upon her knowledge of woody plants with the help of her supervisor, Dr. Frett. Several of the projects she worked on during her time at UDBG included evaluating the 2017 Trial Garden and composing a report for the website, writing articles for the newsletter, brochures, and garden signs, updating UDBG’s plant profiles, and helping to revamp the website.

After her UDBG internship, Alexis moved to Pottstown PA to take a position as a part-time Assistant Soil and Wetland Scientist where she conducted percolation tests, delineates wetlands, and tests storm water infiltration. In this position, Alexis applied her plant identification skills she learned during her UDBG internship, including plants that indicate hydric conditions. In addition, Alexis accepted a part-time position as an Assistant for the Plant Protection Program at American Public Garden Association. In this role, Alexis assists with the Sentinel Plant Network workshops which are offered free of charge to members of the Network to learn about important pests in their region. She also creates the Plant Protection youth educational materials, and processes the Plant Protection Program store orders. In addition to her programmatic role with the Plant Protection Program, Alexis works as a Member Service Assistant, answering member inquiries and supporting the membership and operations staff at the association.

In fall 2020, Alexis will begin a Master of Natural Resources program in the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech, located in Richmond Virginia. She will take classes remotely, which will permit her to continue working full time at APGA.