Helen was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with English gardening parents. Her mother was a family practitioner and her father an Anglican Organist and Choir Master in Toronto. Music and gardening have been important all her life.
She received her BSc from York University(Toronto) and her Masters in Soil Science from U of DE. She became a Master Gardener in DE in 1995, and qualified as a Certified Nursery Practitioner twice with DE Nursery and Landscape Association, as a landscape designer, and as a landscape maintenance specialist.
She was the principal of Waite Garden Design for a number of years. With her husband John Feliciani she owned and operated a market farm called Black Hog Farmstead, located on New Rd in Lewes. They sold their own produce at Lewes Farmers Market, had a B and B, and offered Sunday Lunchtime Dinners once a month.
She sang in St Peter’s Choir for 25 years and currently plays with the Bell Choir.
Now “retired”, and having been the Head of the St Peter’s Garden Committee ( known as St. Peter’s Weeders) for a decade at least, Helen works part-time to keep St.Peter’s Square tidy and blooming, managing trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs and annuals. The Rectory Garden and Pilottown Cemetery are also under her purview.
John and Helen have four thriving adult children between them, and one grandchild and live in Lewes.