Dr. Edith Wallace, educator, Master Gardener, volunteer and longtime supporter of Friends of Laurelwood Arboretum died recently. Her contributions to Laurelwood were many. She helped create our first Native Plant Demonstration Garden, consulted on our lilac collection and tree brochures, was a featured speaker at educational programs and supported our organization financially.
Dr. Wallace had a lifelong passion for gardening and horticulture. She earned a Ph.D. in zoology at Rutgers University and was chair of the Biology Department at William Paterson University for 28 years. After giving up grading papers and exams. she became a student again and took courses at Bergen Community College and at the New York Botanical Garden, earning certificates in field botany, plant classification, and ornamental horticulture. Dr. Wallace graduated in the first Passaic County Rutgers Master Gardener program in 1996.
She was honored with the Rutgers Co-operative Extension Award of Excellence in 2012 for her work writing 13 Fact Sheets, volunteering on the Help Line and volunteering more than 4,000 hours in 15 years. One year later, she received the Volunteer of the Year award from the New Jersey Botanical Gardens. Known affectionately as the “Lilac Lady,” she helped photograph and maintain the extensive lilac collection at Skylands and gave many lilac garden tours and lectures.
A perennial volunteer, she served as president of the Glen Rock Garden Club, president of Passaic County Master Gardeners, coordinator of the Lilac Garden Restoration Project at Skylands, member of the Garden State Garden Consortium, and member of the Board of Managers of the New Jersey Agriculture Experimental Station and the Passaic County Board of Agriculture. A life well lived. We will miss you Edith. | 
