John Vieira is a full time gardener at Santa Clara University. He cares for the St. Clare Garden as well as adjacent areas of campus.
Born and raised in Madeira Island, Portugal, John studied horticulture at technical school and worked for the government of Madeira before moving to California. He has been employed by the Facilities Department at Santa Clara University for many years.
John is familiar with many of the plants in the St. Clare garden from his boyhood in Madeira. For example, he remembers that people planted rue in their gardens to keep away the evil eye. He enjoys the challenge of cultivating and training such a great variety of plants in one small area.
This web site was written and designed by Nancy Lucid whose research was supported by a generous grant from the Bannan Institute for Jesuit Educational Mission at Santa Clara University.
For questions regarding the web site contact Nancy Lucid. All rights reserved.