Volunteer Spotlight: Georgene Albrecht

By Karen Santelli

Phipps is well-known for our beautiful gardens, seasonal flower shows, pioneering sustainability initiatives, informative educational programs and community outreach. None of our work, however, would be possible without the knowledge and dedication of our volunteers. In this series of profiles, we meet some of the people who give their time to make Phipps possible.

For Georgene Albrecht, volunteering as a docent at Phipps is her respite from the cares of the world. “No one has any idea how much this place really means to me,” she says. “It’s very therapeutic to be here. That’s the number one reason I come here.” Her love of plants and people has inspired her as a conservatory docent since 1988.

“I have loved Phipps since I was a little girl,” she says. When she was just six or seven years old, Georgene would beg her mother to take her to Phipps. She especially loved the Easter shows in the late 1940s, which featured a man in a white tuxedo playing an organ in the center of Palm Court.

Georgene has seen many impressive changes over the years at Phipps. “I have loved everything that has happened here. Now, it’s not only a conservatory, it’s an environmentally gifted place. It’s the old world mixed with the new world. It’s progress like I never dreamed this place would have. To me this is groundbreaking and history making.”

An accomplished writer who also taught floral design at Phipps Garden Center for many years, Georgene has had her articles about flowers and plants published in magazines worldwide. She has an award-winning American/English cottage garden at the home she shares with her husband, Lawrence, and her orchids have won awards from the American Orchid Society.

Select photos © Paul g. Wiegman