Though her name may not be familiar, Ronnie Winsor’s work has touched an extraordinary number of lives. If you’ve ever gone for a stroll around the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum or wandered through the blooms of the Depot Garden in Wayzata, you’ve seen firsthand the fruits of Winsor’s labor.
A woman who’s sowed that much beauty and sustainability in a community surely deserves recognition—and last year, she received it. The Garden Club of America, “in recognition of a member who has demonstrated unselfish enthusiasm, support, guidance, leadership, or creativity,” bestowed the Director’s Award upon Winsor, a 38-year member of the Lake Minnetonka Garden Club.
Winsor certainly has the project list to prove that compliment, with research and background into—when suggesting how to raise funds for protecting local pollinators, she cited the club’s activities in the late 1950s that ultimately funded the purchase of what is now the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
“No project is too big for Ronnie,” says Pamela Ulvestad, a fellow member of the Lake Minnetonka Garden Club. “She’s a dynamo! Just a little bitty dynamo.”
Winsor recently left her beloved Lake Minnetonka for the mild climate of Florida. Her days are full, even now: “People from the Minnesota Arboretum are here. I’m really honored to have these great people come visit me.”
