maine

With the birth of our twins last October, it
became clear to Melissa and I that it's time
for some big changes. Life with three small
children is challenging enough, but with my
crazy schedule and Melissa's full-time job
with the Massachusetts natural Heritage and
Endangered Species Program it just about
put us over the top.

Quite fortuitously, I have been invited to join
the staff at the new Coastal Maine Botanical
Garden in Boothbay, Maine. It is a
wonderful place with about 250 acres of land
and a mile of waterfront on the Boothbay
Penninsula about an hour's drive north of

Portland. Officially open only a year, the staff has made incredible progress toward our goal of creating a truely world-class
botanical garden in a very unique and special place. I will be joining the staff as Curator, overseeing the horticulture
department, developing gardens and collections and masterplanning for additional projects such as a nursery operation,
children's garden and a greatly expanded native plant garden. I feel very fortunate to come "in on the ground floor" to
help guide and develop the gardens and organization. It will be sad to leave the New England Wild Flower Society after 13
years but I am

very proud of what we have
accomplished there in that time. I
have been contracted by NEWFS to
write for the magazine and website
as well as teach some courses both
in Maine and Massachusetts so I
will still have some presence at the
oranization that I owe so much to
for the opportunities I have had in
my tenure there. If you told me 15
years ago that by now I would have
completed 5 books, countless
articles and would be spending 1/3
of my time travelling around North
America giving lectures and
teaching classes I would have
thought you were completely out of
your head. For this I give the staff,
trustees, and members of NEWFS a
hearty and heartfelt thanks!
Because of the responsibilities
associated with my new position I
will have to curtail lectures
somewhat, but I am still available
for talks if you care to inquire. I will
also be developing some lectures
and courses at CMBG in the near
future.

We will be heading north in mid June and will likely find a temporary rental to give us time to get to know the area before
buying, and I will update my address on the contacts page. You can also still reach me via info@williamcullina.com.
Melissa is going to take the summer off to spend time with the kids and after that will be consuting and working part time
with a great deal more flexibility than she has now. I know she is very sad to leave her job as state botanist as well, but she
is also grateful to have the chance to spend more time with Laim and the twins. As we all know, they grow up so fast...

We are looking forward to our
new adventures in Melissa's
home state and I hope that you
will stop by and visit the Garden
if you are ever near Boothbay (it
is about 45 minutes from LL
Bean in Freeport and the area is
awash with things to do and see.