Bonnie Reid
August 12, 1959 – July 4, 2024
We were sad to hear of the passing in July of Bonnie Reid, a landscape architect and arborist in the Bluegrass Region. For most of 1986, she worked with Julian Campbell at the University of Kentucky to collect seed, cuttings and diggings of trees and shrubs for the planned Kentucky State Arboretum. In that year also the KNPS was formed.
Bonnie was very interested in native plants and the Society. She was one of few licensed female arborists and an early proponent of using native plants in landscaping, specializing in perennial displays. Her clients included some of the old horse farms, often surrounded by ancient ashes and oaks. Even in town, her life connected auspiciously with the native flora. Working in the garden of Joan Gaines on Gratz Park, she discovered a small patch of running buffalo clover and called Julian, who helped to grow the plant and collect seeds. We thank her family and friends for donating to KNPS in her honor.