Francisca Coelho

Vivian and Edward Merrin Vice President for Glasshouses and Exhibitions

Profile

Francisca Coelho leads all Conservatory exhibition-related planning and implementation for the Garden and is known for her plantsmanship, design, and management skills in developing, planting, and maintaining the high-profile shows in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. These diverse, flower-filled exhibitions transform two galleries of the Conservatory with themes as wide-ranging as the research of Charles Darwin; the poetry of Emily Dickinson; the orchid gardens of Cuba, Singapore, and Roberto Burle Marx’s Brazil; and the gardens of the Alhambra, to name just a few. Francisca graduated from the Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture and began her career at the Garden 30 years ago first in the Plant Records Office and then as a gardener and Curator of Tropical Collections. She was deeply involved in the restoration of the Conservatory from 1993 to 1997 and continues to take the lead in the restoration and preservation of this landmark structure and the development and display of its living collections. She is instrumental in overseeing the Garden’s tropical and desert collections as well as plant production operations in the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections.