The Atlantic Highlands Historical Society will dedicate its recently constructed native species garden to Anne Petereit, the Flower Lady, on Sunday, September 7, at 1 p.m.
The public is invited to attend, meet neighbors, learn more about the Flower Lady and enjoy refreshments as well as the native garden.
The new garden is located at the Strauss House Museum. Guess are invited to bring non-perishable food items or baby produces to the event, with all the donated products then going to the local food pantry.
The Historical Society has collaborated with Wild about Atlantic Highlands for several years, on projects that not only beautify the community but also enhance the history of the area with the preservation of native plants.
Last year, the Society hosted a Fall into Natives 2024 Garden Habitat Walk and became a certified garden owner in the community.
When the Society received the generous donation of garden statuary and pots, ornamental fencing, and native plants from the garden of the late Anne Petereit, members of both Wild about Atlantic Highlands and the Historical Society collaborated in selecting, digging up and moving the items to the Mansion, with the initial plan to have them incorporated in a newly designed garden.
Each of the gifts to the Society was presented with the love and generosity of Lisa Ramsthaler Mrs. Preterit’s daughter, after the Flower Lady died in June 2024.
Anne-Louise Petereit was 89 years of age when she passed away June 9, 2024. Born in Husum, Germany, she immigrated to the United States in 1962 where she met her future husband, Lutz, who had immigrated also from Germany four years previous. They married in July 1966 and settled in Atlantic Highlands in 1971.
Mrs. Preterit immediately began showing her love for her hometown by volunteering for numerous and varied causes, the beautification of First Avenue, one of her first and permanent loves. She raised plants and presented the borough with both flower beds and flowerpots, spreading her beauty from the Atlantic Highlands Harbor, throughout First Avenue, even the top of the stone piers on the Grand Avenue Stone Bridge . She also planted and maintained the tulips and other flowers on the median on Memorial Parkway and was quickly affectionately referred to as the Flower Lady.
Professionally, Mrs. Petereit worked at a German delicatessen in Edison where the owner introduced her to Lutz, a frequent visitor. She later worked at RCA assembling electronics, and at home remained active in the Atlantic Highlands School PTA, the Garden Club, Historical Society and Recreation Department, as well as at a consignment shop, The Attic, in Rumson.
The Flower Lady had many gardens where she cared for clients plants. She also took on the formidable task of watering the plants and flowers along First Avenue and the Harbor or daily. At the family home, she also maintained gardens overflowing with flowers, vegetable and fruit trees. Her home, for many years , was a highlight for elementary school classes who walked there for her annual Tulip Festival. Â To Anne Petereit, a dead plant was simply a growth that needed a caring home and attention to bring it back to life.
At the time of her death, in addition to her daughter Lisa, Mrs. Petereit left her son Michael , who lives in as well as brothers, their families and other relatives in Germany. She is buried at Bayview Cemetery in Leonardo.
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