James Gagliardi started as the Director of Bellevue Botanical Garden in Bellevue, WA in July of 2022. James came to the Northwest from the Smithsonian Gardens in Washington DC where he served as a supervisory horticulturist and was responsible for the landscapes and programming at the Smithsonian Castle, Enid A. Haupt Garden, Kathrine Dulin Folger Rose Garden, Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, National Museum of Asian Art, and National Museum of African Art. He was previously the Lead Horticulturist for the National Museum of Natural History.
Before joining the Smithsonian he served as the horticulturist for River Farm, the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society in Alexandria, VA. James studied horticulture at the University of Connecticut and went on to earn a master’s degree and certificate in Museum Studies as a fellow in the Longwood Graduate Program in Public Horticulture at the University of Delaware.
