The acclaimed international landscape architect has started a new chapter — and a new educational event aimed at inspiring passion for the planet.
Landscape architect Eric Nagelmann left California one year ago, planning to “give up everything” and start anew in Taos, New Mexico. He sold his home and gardens in Carpenteria, threw away every magazine he’d ever been featured in, and donated his collection of plant books. And while Eric did find an exciting new community in Taos, his eschewal of plants “lasted about a week” before the lilacs and forsythia of the Paseo caught his eye and he was researching New Mexico’s native plants.
“I’m 67 years old, and I’m still learning,” he says. “I’m still passionate.” Passion, for Eric, is something visceral. “It’s a charge in my body that feels alive and exciting,” he says. “It’s finding that thing inside of you that brings you joy and awakens you.”
Eric’s passion for plants started early. He began working in gardens at just 11 years old, and was largely given free rein to “collect plants, learning about them and experiencing how they grow.” He became a star pupil in his high school landscape program, but conflict at home led him to drop out early. “Being a gay person and kicked out of the house as a teenager, you’ve got to find your way, and it’s not easy,” he says.
So Eric turned to his books, Exotica, Tropica, and the Sunset Western Garden Book. And he got his hands in the dirt as often as possible. “I was fortunate enough as a young kid to be inspired in my field,” he says. “I just think inspiration is so important. It’s a way to nudge people and maybe open some doors.”
Inspiring others, stoking that passion, is the main goal of Eric’s latest project: The Lotusland Sustainability Symposium.
Of all the things Eric gave up when he left California, he knew Lotusland would not be one of them. Eric started working at the Montecito gardens early in his career, and he counts the Dunlap Cactus Garden among his most treasured works.
Of all the things Eric gave up when he left California, he knew Lotusland would not be one of them. Eric started working at the Montecito gardens early in his career, and he counts the Dunlap Cactus Garden among his most treasured works. “It’s just such an extraordinary garden, and it’s kind of my legacy, really,” he says.
Eric reconnected with the Lotusland team to create a daylong event aimed at educating the public about cutting-edge sustainability practices. The symposium launched last April with a day of speakers and panel discussions at an 1800s lemon packing house in Santa Paula. Eric invited Garland Reiter Jr. of the berry growers Reiter Affiliated Companies — Eric had toured their facilities in Mexico, where he was thrilled to learn about their experimental growing methods with organics, desalination, beneficial fungi, and worm castings. He thought: “People need to hear about this.”
Other speakers included landscape designer, horticulture, and fire ecology specialist Elisa Read, botanical specialist Vishaal Khana, Renewable Resources Group Vice President Kel Mitchel, agricultural consultant Thetis Sammons, and moderator Stacy Pulice. Bluedot contributor Hilary Dole Klein attended in April and reported being floored with all the terrific ideas; check out her feature on the Community Environment Council’s Sigrid Wright.
In between learning piano, conducting research and development for a LGBTQIA+ teen support center, and dreaming of a trip to Scotland, Eric is busily preparing for the next symposium on Sept. 9 — still learning, still passionate, still committed to cultivating the type of garden where hope can bloom.
“The Lotusland Symposium is all about instilling hope,” Eric says. “Because if we don’t have hope, then we’ve got nothing.”
The next Lotusland Sustainability Symposium is scheduled for Sept. 9.
