Landis Portraits: Wendy Kass

By Nolan Marciniec

She remem­bered her first plant sale in the com­pa­ny of her hus­band and mutu­al friends. 

She met Anne Don­nel­ly and oth­er Arbore­tum vol­un­teers, and, she said, I fell in love with every­body .… . It was such a warm atmos­phere. I want­ed – I need­ed – more.”

And more” hap­pened to Wendy Kass, as it has to so many in the Arbore­tum com­mu­ni­ty. Lat­er, when her hus­band, Jim Paley, became more involved in the Arbore­tum, she would tag along and spend the time he was at meet­ings talk­ing to people.

Toss­ing out ideas,” she admit­ted, was some­thing she was always good at. 

One of her ideas was to mar­ket Lan­dis as a wed­ding venue. Some­one needs to take respon­si­bil­i­ty to bring ideas to fruition, and Wendy stepped up and became the Arboretum’s spe­cial events coor­di­na­tor. It’s a per­fect fit, as con­firmed by the sev­er­al wed­dings held under her aegis. The excite­ment of a wed­ding is con­ta­gious. I feel as if it’s my own wed­ding all over again!” she said. In addi­tion to a propen­si­ty for gen­er­at­ing ideas, Wendy has always had what she called an artis­tic bent.” She stud­ied raku pot­tery, stone cut­ting, and sil­ver smithing. For more than twen­ty years, she and Jim trav­eled in South­east Asia, often win­ter­ing in Thai­land, where she stud­ied Phuket batik under a mas­ter arti­san. The trav­el and the art she encoun­tered inspired a less is more” mind­set that is reflect­ed in her own art. She’s offered class­es in both shi­bori and batik at Lan­dis; this year, she hopes to intro­duce a work­shop on ice dye­ing fab­rics.

At home, Wendy’s gar­den­ing reflects her min­i­mal­ist approach. Hers is a culi­nary gar­den fea­tur­ing unusu­al herbs, edi­ble flow­ers, and toma­toes (because there is noth­ing like a home­grown toma­to”). She is enter­tain­ing the idea of a fra­grance gar­den or a white gar­den to appre­ci­ate in the evening.

She’ll nev­er be at a loss for ideas.

One win­ter night, she and Jim and friends got togeth­er at the Meet­ing House, lis­ten­ing to music and explor­ing the pos­si­bil­i­ty of bring­ing live music to the Arbore­tum. When the full moon broke through the clouds, Wendy sug­gest­ed the idea of gath­er­ing music lovers togeth­er by the light of the moon – and so the Arboretum’s pop­u­lar Full Moon Music Series “ was born. 

Wendy grew up in sub­ur­ban Chica­go, and she recalled her vis­its to the Mor­ton Arbore­tum and the Chica­go Botan­i­cal Gar­dens. By con­trast to these high­ly cul­ti­vat­ed – and heav­i­ly endowed – insti­tu­tions, Wendy trea­sures Lan­dis because it is, in part, a wild place.” Any­one would feel com­fort­able there. You walk and find sur­pris­es, some­thing unex­pect­ed, some­thing mag­i­cal,” she said. Wendy thrives on vol­un­teer­ing. It’s good for one’s men­tal health, she said, to be part of some­thing larg­er than your­self, to take the focus off the me-me-me.” Plus, she added, there’s all that fresh air as a bonus! And the plea­sure of meet­ing earth-cen­tric” peo­ple. Wendy’s path to the Arbore­tum is a famil­iar one: it was love at first sight


Spring 2021

Volume 39 , Number 1

Share this

The Latest from Landis

Mar 14, 2023

Picturing Landis through the year

Scenic Landis Arboretum just begs to be captured by photographers, professionals and amateurs alike. Enjoy... read more

Mar 14, 2023

2022 Annual Report

View or Download read more

Mar 14, 2023 | Nolan Marciniec

Re-thinking Garden Pests

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything... read more

Mar 14, 2023 | Fred Lape, founder of the George Landis Arboretum

Barn Swallows

In this poem, Arboretum founder Fred Lape calls our attention to the “commonplace” miracle of... read more

Mar 14, 2023 | Anita Sanchez

Things Are Looking Up

Tree canopy -- Anita Sanchez Long ago I worked at a nature center, leading walks... read more

Mar 14, 2023 | Laurie Freeman

S-L-O-W Birding: A Primer for Beginners

Are you considering birding? Perhaps you’ve heard that birding is a great way to enjoy... read more

News Archive