Cheryl Bennerup
Few people of our acquaintance have as much exposure as Cheryl Bennerup does to so many plants -- old, new and being trialed. We're very glad to have her eyes on our Forum and her reports about the wide world of plant development and production.
Cheryl Bennerup from
Sunny Border Nurseries
in Connecticut has roots in Michigan but experience that's
intercontinental. As a young woman, Cheryl purchased a roadside
market and a house with two greenhouses in Milford, Michigan and
began growing plants to sell at her market. She found she loved to
talk to her customers and help them with their designs almost as
much as she loved growing the plants. Before long she was growing
perennials for landscapers, designers, and nurseries such as
Bordines. To her passion she added a bachelor's degree in
horticulture from Michigan State University and took masters
courses in the Netherlands.
Currently Cheryl oversees the trial garden and is head of pest
management at Sunny Border Nurseries in Connecticut, one of
the country's largest perennial growers. Lately she's been starting
the vegetables for this season's installment of one of the
nursery's fastest growing lines-- vegetables in large containers,
ready to sit on a patio and begin producing beans, peas,
tomatoes... It made us hungry just to talk to her about what she's
starting!