Barbara Hyde (1924–2023)

[excerpted from Colorado State University Extension website]
During her time in Grand Junction, Barbara was one of the seven architects of Operation Foresight, Grand Junction's pedestrian mall Main street, which resulted in an All-America City Award in 1962. She was responsible for the landscape plan, which endures even today.

Upon her children reaching adulthood, Barbara moved to the front range and was the first woman to enroll in Colorado State University's horticulture program where she earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree from CSU. She ultimately went on to become the nation's second ever female Extension horticulturalist. Barbara served as the Horticulture Agent at Boulder County Extension for 17 years until her retirement.

In her role at Boulder County Extension, Barbara was the driving force behind the creation of the Master Gardener program in Colorado, which was eventually launched in 1975. In the early 80's and with space available at the Boulder County Fairgrounds, Barbara created and managed the Boulder County Extension Community Garden. For more than 30 years, Barbara authored newspaper gardening columns entitled “Now is the Time”. In 1993 she published her first book, Gardening in the Mountain West. She went on to publish a second volume of her first book along with a book titled Now is the Time, and a fourth book, Gardening for Children and their Grandparents.

As part of her training in the Master Gardener program, Barbara was directly involved in public teaching and regularly sat for meetings and interviews regarding gardening and horticulture.