The first lecture in the Lafayette County Master Gardeners spring lecture series will be presented on Thursday, Mar. 3, at noon in the auditorium of the Oxford-Lafayette County Library on Bramlett Boulevard. 

Ashley Jordan Hill, owner of The Twisted Twig, will give a presentation entitled “Communication/Expression/Personalization  . . . Through Floral Design.” 

Hill is a native of Oxford and a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a Master’s degree in Special Education.  While working on her degrees, she held a part-time job at Bette’s Flowers and began her own freelance floral design business, booking her first wedding at age 19. 

Following graduation, she worked full time with male and female teenagers with severe to profound mental disabilities and all of whom were non-verbal. 

“They each taught me so much more, in those few years, than I could have ever taught them,” Hill recalled. “They taught me that the art of communication and expression does not have to be verbal.”

She returned to Bette’s Flowers as their full-time designer in 2002.  In 2005, Hill opened her own business, The Twisted Twig, specializing in weddings and events.  In her presentation, she will discuss her growth as a designer and demonstrate her talent in floral design.

The lecture series continues on April 7 with a lecture by Gladne Harris on organic gardening and on May 12 with a lecture by Suzan Laney on the lifestyle of honeybees.  Admission to all lectures is free, and the public is cordially invited to attend.  

For more information about the Master Gardener program, or to book a free home landscape consultation, please visit our website, www.lcmga.org or our FaceBook page or call the Extension Office at 662-234-4451.