Mary Means – Retired Collin County Master Gardener, and Past President of the Texas Master Gardener Association – has horticulture in her veins. Her father was a Professor of Horticulture at Clemson University, where she earned her BA in Education.
Mary first entered the Master Gardener program in 2002. And over the following years, she has served in many Collin County and Texas State Master Gardener roles. She first served as CCMGA Secretary in 2006-2008 and was elected 2nd Vice President of the Texas Master Gardener Association for 2014. She was elected 1st Vice President for 2015 and State Master Gardener Association President for the year 2016. She was on the Planning Committee for the 2016 TXMG State Conference.
In 2003, Mary led garden work sessions with the Coordinated Education and Marketing Assistance Program (CEMAP). In 2005, she became a Collin County Delegate to the State Master Gardener Quarterly Meetings held in College Station and at their annual conferences. She was on the “Spring Into Vegetable Gardening” Planning Committee from 2014-2019 and has given presentations on the process for growing “show vegetables” in containers for display at garden shows.
Mary retired from CCMGA in 2024 and resides on 31 acres in North Texas with her husband, Ken. They have an agricultural exemption for most of their land by attracting birds under wildlife management.