Anne Csete : Flower Power Gi ver
When Spring Break arrives and faculty leave
campus for academic or recreational pursuits,
Associate Professor of History
Anne Csete
hunkers down to start seriously planning her
summer. March is when she starts setting seeds
indoors. As the season progresses, they’ll be on
their way to her elaborate garden, which spans
about an acre.
"
I have almost no lawn at all," she says with a
proud grin, noting that over time, she and her
husband have transformed nearly their entire
165-
acre former farm into gardens that wrap
around her house. Some areas get shade, a few get
sun and others are protected from wind, allowing
her to grow a wide variety of flowers.
Daffodils, day lilies and peonies – in hundreds
of varieties and colors – are what she loves grow-
ing best. She also grows herbs for the kitchen,
and her husband keeps a vegetable garden, in-
cluding winter gardening in a greenhouse.
"
My world is full of talk," Csete says. "I talk all
day in class. I love the silence of the garden. It's
the perfect restorative to the stresses of the job
and it's also very creative. There's no pressure, no
judgment. It doesn't matter if something doesn't
grow. I just dig it up and try something else. No
one cares but me."
It's not quite the solitary pursuit it would seem,
though. Csete maintains a blog
(http://cassidy
-
hillgarden.wordpress.com) and brings flowers
and plants to the Blackbird Café on Canton’s Main
Street. She throws a huge garden party each year
on Mother's Day, when the peonies and daffodils
are abundant, also as a way to share what she
does.
"
I keep flowers in my office," Csete says. "I give
bouquets to friends. It's my way of giving back to
the community."
I TA L K A L L
D AY I N
C L A S S . I
L O V E T H E
S I L E N C E
O F T H E
GA R D E N .
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spr ing 2013 | st. Lawrence Universit y Magazine