Event Details

Dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes to walk in.
Bring your questions!

About the Instructor

Peggy Singlemann’s awareness and love of plants started at a young age, 5 to be exact. She can remember her father giving her a plot to grow beets in hopes she would like them if she grew them. Instead of falling in love with eating them, she fell in love with growing them. During this same time, she remembers her neighbor had beautiful flower beds. When she closes her eyes, she can still name all the flowers in his yard and the encouragement he gave her to explore those beautiful gardens. Peggy’s curiosity for the living, growing world around her only grew with her. As her sisters played in the woods of the Adirondack Mountains in N.Y., they often had to pull her from a new flower or specimen she had never seen before. To this day, her family still pulls her along a path as she gasps or stops to examine an unexpected or rare find.

A few years after graduating from State University of New York at Cobleskill for Horticulture Peggy Singlemann came to Virginia and a year later started working at Maymont. Starting as the only Horticulturist she eventually becoming Director of Horticulture, Maymont’s gardens, grounds, and arboretum became Peggy’s career focus. She grew the gardens and programs surrounding them into what we know today. Through painstaking work pouring through historic records, newspapers and old photographs Peggy was able to reconstruct many of the Dooley’s original gardens, even discovering some of the original cultivars. She also expanded gardens to other areas of the park and helped organize events such as the Maymont Flower and Garden Show, Herbs Galore and More, Garden Glow, and countless other presentations, classes, and tours. During 38 years of working at Maymont, Peggy oversaw major projects, renovations, restorations and additions to the gardens. In 2022, the General Assembly of Virginia presented Peggy with a commendation for her contributions to Maymont over 38 years.

Outside of Maymont, Peggy Singlemann is well known as the award-winning host and co-producer of Virginia Home Grown on VPM/ PBS, Virginia’s only locally produced gardening show on TV. The viewing audience has expanded to most of the state via Virginia Public Media and through PBS.org the show can be viewed anywhere. Since 2019, the show has won 13 Telly Awards recognizing entire seasons and individual episodes. The Tellys receive about 12,000 entries each year with entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Virginia Home Grown/VPM PBS is honored alongside programs like Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Earth Odyssey with Dylan Dreyer, and entries from PBS National.

Singlemann has been published in local and national periodicals and has spoken at a plethora of conferences and speaking engagements. In March 2025, Peggy was featured in Virginia Living Magazine, and has also been a guest on many podcasts. She is a member of several organizations and is on the board of the Southern Garden History and the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture. Recently she earned her Certificate in Sustainable Landscape Design through Cornell University. When she isn’t working, Peggy volunteers on The Council of Henrico Christmas Mother and enjoys identifying native flora and bird watching while hiking and kayaking with her family. She is an active member of her church and of course, enjoys gardening at home.