Our Team of Experts

Rachel started work at Broken Arrow in the spring of 2019 taking on responsibility as a key member of both the sales department and container production team, and her passion for the nursery and obsession with plants has grown exponentially since then. In addition to her responsibilities as sales manager, Rachel enjoys playing with plants as part of the nursery propagation team and is an active member of the eastern region of the International Plant Propagators' Society (IPPS). During her few remaining hours of the day she devotes energy to family, friends and deep discussion with her favorite plants. CNLA Accredited Nursery Professional.

After 19 years as a Ph.D. chemist and senior director at Pfizer, Inc., Burton started working with Sally as business manager and with Dick overseeing Christmas tree operations, as well as helping out wherever needed around the nursery. With Andy Brand's move to Maine in 2018, he took over as general manager, where he is more appreciative than ever for the nursery's strong production and sales staff. He's been with the nursery since 2007 and is a CNLA Accredited Nursery Professional.

Adam started work at Broken Arrow in 2004 after completing his BS degree in Urban Forestry and Landscape Horticulture at the University of Vermont. Adam manages plant propagation, container and field production and the acquisition and development of new plants. He is a past recipient of the Young Nursery Professional Award from the New England Nursery Association. He loves to share his passion for plants through photography and educational outreach. As a result, he lectures widely on a variety of subjects and is also an adjunct lecturer at Naugatuck Valley Community College and the Berkshire Botanical Garden. With his spare time he enjoys cultivating his eclectic collection of rare and unusual plants, rock climbing and competitive giant pumpkin growing.

Erika has recently joined us in the spring of 2022. She is a graduate from UConn with a major in agriculture and natural resources. She is excited to use her knowledge from her degree and apply it to her community. When she is not at work, you will find her outdoors either hiking or at the beach with friends and family!

"Plants plants plants, I love plants" will be written on Giancarlo's gravestone one day! His life revolves around his garden and the many wonderful plants that he has collected. Once a native New Yorker, Giancarlo now resides in central Connecticut where he builds the garden of his dreams. With his passion for horticulture and his strong people skills, he is a perfect fit for our sales team. CNLA Accredited Nursery Professional.

When Linda is not busy updating the website, she loves helping customers in the sales yard. She is a CNLA Accredited Nursery Professional, CT Master Gardener and is always planning her next purchase from the nursery to plant in her own garden. She's been involved with her family's nursery since she was old enough to tie bundles of Christmas greens.

Dick has always enjoyed growing plants. Our acres of Christmas tree fields trace back to a couple hundred spruce seedlings planted by Dick as part of a 4-H project in 1947. A graduate from Wesleyan University (BA) and Yale (Ph.D.), he worked at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station for 25 years as a plant breeder and horticulturist with specialties in chestnut and mountain laurel. He has received numerous awards for his research and edited the reference book Nut Tree Culture in North America and authored Kalmia: Mountain Laurel and Related Species. He retired from the Experiment Station in 1984 to start Broken Arrow Nursery.

Judi joined the Broken Arrow Nursery team in 2019. She has completed the National Garden Club Horticulture and Landscape Design Courses and the UCONN Advanced Master Gardener program. Judi is a retired educator who enjoys travel, fiber arts, playing the piano and taking on new challenges. Her Broken Arrow colleagues are the fortunate and appreciative recipients of her latest challenge: cakes and pastry. CNLA Accredited Nursery Professional.

2024 marks Louise's 16th season at Broken Arrow Nursery. She assists with all facets of container production and is a big part of the behind-the-scenes efforts to tend your plants from their infancy as cuttings, new grafts, and seeds. She leads the mail order shipping department. Interests include: making maple syrup, edible landscaping, foraging, and humanure composting. She also maintains a pottery studio in Bethany, CT.

Sally's been managing the office since 1984, doing everything from paying bills to baking chocolate chip cookies for birthdays.

The roots of Jim’s love affair with trees are in Gettysburg, PA, where his late father raised all kinds of fruit trees and garden vegetables. Coming to Connecticut after graduate school at the University of Delaware, Jim was involved in chemical education for two decades. Recently he has become a UCONN Master Gardener (2020) and CNLA accredited nursery professional (2021). At Broken Arrow, Jim’s focus in container production and IPM monitoring is to identify, assess, and care for the needs of many different plants. With a wonderful array of colors, sizes, and textures for any size yard, he continually finds something new to make part of his own yard. He is also grateful to be a part of an ensemble of dedicated colleagues who are passionate about the work they do each day to produce outstanding plant options for our clients.

Fiona was raised around plants as her father has always been an obsessed amateur gardener, enrolling her as his laborer. With an extensive customer service background, she is now learning the inner workings of plant life. When not at work, Fiona is a keen ultra runner and loves to be outside with nature.

In 2004 we were blessed with the addition of Angel to our team, and we will never be the same. The only things that outweigh his immense physical strength are his quick-witted sense of humor and tree knowledge. If we ever need a big tree planted, transplanted, pruned, loaded, or unloaded; he is our guy. If we ever need a good laugh on a cold, wet, windy day; he is our guy.

Steve plays a large part in the B&B sales side of the nursery, working very hard to coordinate with the sales team ensuring that plant material is displayed, loaded, and delivered to the customer. One of Steve's favorite things to do around the nursery is interact with customers and help them pick out the best plants for their situation. He strongly believes in creating landscapes that are both sustainable and visually appealing. Tinkering with nursery machinery and irrigation systems are one of Steve's favorite slow day activities. When not working, Steve enjoys building computers, working on cars, and playing piano. CNLA Accredited Nursery Professional.

Mark is a plant enthusiast and was part of the FFA program at Nonnawaug high school who finished out his junior and senior year in their Natural Resources program. Other than being at the nursery, he loves hanging out with his friends and collecting house plants. Mark always keeps an open mind when it comes to learning about all the different types of fascinating plants that are out there.

Harry joined Broken Arrow as a new member of the field production team in 2022. A longtime plant enthusiast, he enjoys working outdoors and is always seeking to expand his horticultural knowledge and skills. In addition to being an avid reader and book collector, his interests include cooking, hiking, foraging, mushroom hunting, and natural medicine/herbalism. Harry is also a guitar player, singer, and multi-instrumentalist with an eclectic background--everything from rock, folk, and blues to sitar music and analog synthesizers. He has a BA in Religion from Wesleyan University.

After more than a decade in the interior design industry, Meeghan finally realized that the best way to make the world a more beautiful place is with plants. A move in 2020 from New York City back to her native northwest Connecticut opened her eyes to the magic of gardening, and she’s been gobbling up everything she can learn about plants ever since. She’s currently pursuing the landscape design and horticulture certificates at the New York Botanical Garden, and she’s thrilled to be part of the Broken Arrow team.

Unison's interest in the plant kingdom was seeded in the subtropical pine forests of North Carolina where they spent the summer of 2013 gawking at rain droplets on sundews, collecting pitch and bushels of blueberries, and kneeling in fire ant hills as a forest farming apprentice. Drawn by Broken Arrow's diverse and experimental ethos, he comes to us via a circuitous route with a degree in English from UConn and a library science background at Yale. When Uni isn't learning the ins and outs of propagation here at Broken Arrow, he is usually tending the floral crop down the road with his partner at Fairy Meadows. Unison's other interests include eco therapy, herbalism, and painting.

Dan's obsession with edible and medicinal plants has led him to the nursery in order to expand both his horticultural knowledge and his garden's diversity. When not obsessing over plants, Dan enjoys hiking and soccer.