Emily was only 10 when Bob passed away at 89. She was raised in Brooklyn Park and Bob grew up at Glensheen. But their shared enthusiasm for the estate’s landscape transcends the generational divide.
Emily, now the head gardener at Glensheen, sees a lot of herself when she looks at historic photos of Bob. “If you look at any picture of Bob by his gardens, they’re packed full! That screams passion. I imagine him waking up and drinking really black coffee and going out to water his plants.”
Her continuation of Bob’s legacy is somewhat unexpected. While Bob took over gardening duties from his dad, who was the Glensheen gardener before him, Emily didn’t see this jag in her career path. She graduated from Gustavus Adolphus with a geology degree and moved to Duluth with her roommate somewhat on a whim. But she says getting the Glensheen gardener job in 2016 was the perfect landing for someone whose cargo pants pockets were always full of dirt and rocks. “I love science. I love digging into the nitty gritty weird things, and I love the arts. This job is all these things woven into one.”
Amping the Experience
Emily strains to see around the people and get a good look at the plants in historic Glensheen photos. Her mission is to replicate the original Congdon landscape architecture, so each tree and flower is a clue to the estate’s framework. She spent her first winter at Glensheen poring over century-old maps, plant lists, and correspondence about the grounds. “It really made my heart grow to see how the Congdons did it,” she says.
While the 39-room mansion gets much of Glensheen's spotlight, Emily believes its grounds offer an entirely fresh way to tell the Congdon's story. Connecting things like the currant, raspberry, and gooseberry plants still growing at Glensheen with Clara Congdon’s particular jam recipe ingredients tells a story that the buildings can’t.
The grounds are also a tactile experience that compliments the immaculate Glensheen collection. “It’s a whole new facet of experiencing history,” Emily explains.
Catching On
When she was hired, Emily was somewhat surprised to learn that Glensheen’s entire 12-acres are under her purview. She originally thought she’d just be responsible for the gardens. Fortunately, she supervises a pack of eight UMD Bulldogs who help her manage everything from the lakeshore to London Road.
Their majors range from marketing to chemistry, so Emily says working on Glensheen’s grounds offers them a reprieve of sorts from their studies. “They start out not really knowing much about horticulture, but I can tell they are into it when they get angry at people who do things like drive on the grass– you know you’re passionate about Glensheen when that happens!”
The next generation of groundskeepers protecting Glensheen is proof that their boss' enthusiasm must be contagious, and that Bob Wyness' deeply rooted legacy continues.
Learn more about Glensheen, the historic Congdon estate.