Jaime Frye (lower center) at the American Public Gardens Association Annual Conference in Boston in 2024 with Newfields colleagues (left to right), Chad Franer, Kelly Korte, and Jonathan Wright. 

Jaime Frye is the Associate Curator of Living Collections here at Newfields. 

She has beld this position for 6 years and been with Newfields for 10 years. 

What do you do at Newfields?
It’s my job to make sure the Horticulture and Natural Resources team have all the plant material they need to make magic in The Garden and then tell the world about how cool, meaningful, and epic their work is. The fun, super nerdy, side of my job is that I manage our Living Collection database and all of the information on the plants we grow. Data is power and I get the privilege of translating that data into interesting stories! 

What education, work, or experience supports your role here? 
I have a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Horticulture from Clemson University. Before moving to Indy, I spent time working at The Arnold Arboretum, Polly Hill Arboretum, and the New York Botanical Garden. 

Are you working on something exciting right now?
I’m gearing up for Spring Blooms presented by Wild Birds Unlimited 2025. I’m about to dust off my camera and start my weekly updates for staff, volunteers, and for the first time, YOU! Keep an eye out for weekly email updates from me to learn what is in bloom in real time. Watch out, world…through spring I’ll be giving a lot of tours and educational presentations which is fun, rewarding, and exhausting for the inner introvert in me. 

I’m always continuing my work researching and promoting increased education on potentially problematic botanical language –plant common names and scientific names -and how these impact guests, scientific processes, and more. I’m looking forward to a great group of Horticulture Fellowship students that I can’t wait to work with this summer. I’m getting their work rotation and field trip schedules ready. This year is extra special because we received a grant for me to have my very own plant-nerd intern that’s going to help me tackle some long overdue inventory and labeling projects!