Claire Jones
Blog: The Garden Diaries
Tagline: The ups and downs of the gardening world
Location: Sparks, Maryland
Focus: Focusing on what is happening in my own garden, The Garden Diaries spotlights ideas for springtime bulbs in pots, edible plants,
container gardening, cooking from the garden, fall pumpkin decorating, decorating your house for Christmas, pollinators, beekeeping, and how to photograph your garden. My favorite subject is
artful gardening, or Gardening with Pizzazz – thinking outside the pot!
Projects and Publications: I have decorated the White House during
the holidays for 3 years and enjoy writing about my behind-the-scenes
experiences and Christmas projects. Blogging for Mother Earth News’ Keeping Backyard Bees keeps my
writing schedule full, and currently I am working on a book on artful containers.
A schedule of around 20 yearly speaking engagements keeps me busy, and I
organize and lead two international garden travel tours every year. My last one
was to the Chelsea Flower Show in the UK. Photography of the natural world is
one of my passions (besides my dogs), and I use my photos for my blogs and
presentations.
Kelly Kilpatrick
Blog: Floradora
Location: Oakland, California
Focus: Exploring gardens and the natural world. I enjoy photographing plants, gardens, and landscapes, and my blog is a way for me to share those photographs.
Projects: Through my design company, Floradora Garden Design, I've designed more than 100 gardens in the San Francisco Bay area since 2000. I try to give each garden its own personality, taking into account the needs and tastes of the client, the style of the architecture, and the microclimate, plus whatever plants I happen to be obsessed with at the time!
Diana Kirby
Blog: Sharing Nature's Garden
Tagline: Connecting to the earth, wildlife friends, & fellow gardeners
Location: Austin, Texas
Focus: I’m inspired by beautiful
plants, intentional design. and the creative reward of gardening.
Projects and Publications: My blog chronicles my gloved-hands-on experience in my own garden, as does the monthly gardening column I write for the Austin American-Statesman. I teach landscape design classes for a local community education program and several county Texas Agrilife Extension Service Master Gardener certification programs around Central Texas. Through my company, Diana’s Designs, I provide hourly coaching, DIY workshops, and full-spectrum landscape design and installation services. Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and my business Facebook page.
Leslie Kuss
Blog: Growing a Garden in Davis
Location: Davis, California
Focus: Gardening in Central California, projects in my garden, garden travel
Ann Lamb
Blog: Dallas Garden Buzz
Tagline: WaterWise Gardening in Dallas-Ft. Worth
Location: Dallas, Texas
Focus: Expanding knowledge to our readers so they can successfully grow Texas low-water plants and vegetables and fruit.
Projects and Publications: Our writers and photographers at Dallas Garden Buzz are members of the
Dallas County Master Gardener Association. We share garden knowledge and promote the activities of
The Raincatcher's Garden, a one-acre garden in North Dallas used as a teaching garden for adults and children. It is watered mostly by rain collection and cared for in an environmentally sensitive way. The successes and failures of our vegetable trial gardens, butterfly garden, orchard, color wheel, shade garden, rain garden, edible landscape, and compost operations provide information for our blog. Dallas County Master Gardeners are part of an educational volunteer program conducted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Classes and plant sales are announced on Dallas Garden Buzz. Our sold-out cookbook,
A Year On The Plate, was a huge success.
Alyse Lansing
Blog: Garden Inspiration Blog
Tagline: Regarding all things that inspire the making and keeping of a garden
Location: Scappoose, Oregon
Focus: Garden design tips, inspiration from nature, garden tours, plants, travel, hikes, photography, a spiritual element of the natural world.
Projects: Photography is a passion. I just bought both a MacBook (Apple is new to me) and Lightroom at the same time; the learning curve is killing me! One sideline activity is volunteering with the city of Scappoose and their fledgling parks committee on codes and parks development. It's very challenging. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook.
Janet Ledebuhr
Blog: The Queen of Seaford
Location: Hodges, South Carolina
Focus: Gardening with a camera, shade, and deer problems.
Projects: I'm working on improving my photography. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter.
Linda Lehmusvirta
Blog: Central Texas Gardener
Location: Austin, Texas
Focus: On the Central Texas Gardener blog, I chat-write about my garden and treks and give a personal spin on each week’s
Central Texas Gardener television program. My focus is on connecting gardeners everywhere to ideas, inspiration, solutions, stories, and resources that help them grow and spare them some of my mistakes!
Projects and Programs: On the job, I’m producer, writer, video editor, web writer, and social media wrangler for the PBS program
Central Texas Gardener and a freelance writer. At home on heavy soil in zone 8 (more or less), I’m a wildlife habitat gardener in a hot, dry climate -- when it’s not hot and humid! Drought reigns between rain bombs that mess with xeric plants. To top it off, sometimes roller-coaster temperatures confuse us and our plants with 2-3 seasons in a week or even a day. If you'd like to stay in touch after the Fling,
email me or follow me on
Instagram and
Pinterest.
Pat Leuchtman
Blog: Commonweeder
Tagline: Welcome to my garden
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Focus: My blog focuses on local gardens and gardeners, and my emphasis is on sustainable gardens, as well as organic farms and vegetable gardens. I also review garden books. Gardeners are always learning, and we need our books as well as conversations.
Projects and Publications: Before I began blogging, I wrote "Between the Rows," a weekly garden column for our local
Greenfield Recorder. For 36 years I gardened on 60 acres in a very small town. Now, as a gardener on a small town lot, I have become especially interested in public gardens. For several years I've been on the volunteer committee for
The Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, MA. I also volunteer with a wonderful group of women revitalizing the gardens in Greenfield's Energy Park. Our focus is not only beauty but native plants and sustainable management. I have also volunteered with a group to design and plant sustainable gardens around a new community center. In 2012 I published my book
The Roses at the End of the Road, a humorous take on life among the roses on our former 60 acres. From time to time I give talks about local gardens as well as my own.
Elizabeth Licata
Blog: Garden Rant
Tagline: uprooting the gardening world
Location: Buffalo, New York
Focus: Rant is a group blog with five members. We focus on gardening and
environmental questions that would be of general interest to a national
audience; often (not always), we try to include strong opinions,
question gardening norms, and address controversial issues.
Projects and Publications: Elizabeth is a magazine editor, former curator, and art critic who has written for both gardening and art magazines. Books include
Garden Walk Buffalo,
100 Things to Do in Buffalo Before You Die,
In Company: Robert Creeley's Collaborations with Artists, and several art-related
titles. She edits
Buffalo Spree, Western New York's award-winning
city/regional magazine. She has a monthly segment on Buffalo's public
radio station.
Laurin Lindsey and Shawn Michael
Blog: Ravenscourt Gardens
Tagline: Learning life's lessons in the garden!
Location: Houston, Texas
Focus: Houston-centric design and gardening information about plants, materials, and weather.
Projects: We own Ravenscourt, a landscape design installation company. We share designs, projects we've done, and DIY information. Our blog and company promote organic and sustainable solutions, pollinator-friendly plants, and good design with easy-to-source materials. We also share info on books related to gardening that we find useful. We have been blogging 5 years.
Gail L.
Blog: Piece of Eden
Location: Southern California
Focus: Plants appropriate to Southern California’s climate, including genera from South Africa, Australia, Mexico, California, and the Desert Southwest. Also lots of complaining about drought.
Projects: Fall: planting. Winter: pruning. Spring: relishing. Summer: sulking.
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| Photo: MB Maher |
Denise Maher
Location: Long Beach, California
Focus: Plants, Gardens, Design.
Projects and Publications: Working with local designers and plantspeople to create "pop-up" markets and plant fairs.
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Theo Margelony
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Theo Margelony and Kevin Gepford
Blog: Fuchsias in the City
Location: Manhattan, NY
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Kevin Gepford
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Focus: The Fuchsia. But also nature, travel, history, and assorted adventures from an urban garden filled with fuchsias, hostas, ferns, and way too many other shady things. One world, one garden!
Projects: Theo is the writer. Kevin is the photographer, graphic artist, and Photoshop editor. Away from the garden and the blog, Theo works as a museum administrator in medieval art and does heraldry. Kevin works as creative operations director for digital marketing graphics on a corporate website, and also does old-fashioned pinhole photography with his wonderful box cameras.
Jen McGuinness
Blog: Frau Zinnie
Location: Portland, Connecticut
Focus: I'm a huge proponent of organic gardening methods that attract beneficial insects and songbirds to the garden. I focus on creative ways to grow ornamental and edible plants in my own garden. Frau Zinnie has three purposes: highlighting my gardening experiences; reporting on local gardening events; and interviewing gardening gurus.
Projects: In 2018, I am focusing on how I can make the best use of my growing space to grow food for my family – which includes two hungry house rabbits! I will be sharing the progress on the blog. I also offer garden lectures on co-existing with wildlife in the garden.
Daricia McKnight
Blog: A Charlotte Garden
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Focus: Wildflowers, herbs, native plants, weeds. And sometimes, books.
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| Photo: Jeff Hankins |
Jean McWeeney
Blog: Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog
Tagline: Tracking the cycle of my gardening life
Location: Ruston, Louisiana
Focus: I blog about my garden and the gardens of friends or ones I see while traveling.
Projects: I retired from the software industry 4 years ago, and today I run the nonprofit North Louisiana Farm Fresh, which is in charge of the Ruston Farmers Market. I
also help with some local political groups. On the gardening side of things, I offer garden coaching services to do-it-yourselfers and give public talks about gardening for birds and pollinators, mostly in north Louisiana. I also sell the occasional photograph.
Kathleen Melikian
Blog: Queen of the Dirt
Location: Fresno, California
Focus: My blog focuses on my personal gardening efforts, trials and
tribulations, plus I chronicle the many garden tours and events I attend
in California and other states. Any travel always
includes finding the local garden attractions and sharing them with my
readers.
Projects: In addition to being a lifelong gardener, I am a quilt maker who focuses
on hand appliqué. I have just had a quilt juried into an international
show held in the U.S. and featuring work from quilters in 45 states and 24
countries.
Carol Michel
Blog: May Dreams Gardens
Tagline: All year I dream of the days of May when the sun is warm, the sky is
blue, the grass is green, and the garden is all new again.
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Focus: I'm the keeper of the secrets to happiness in your garden and created Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day back in 2007.
Projects and Publications: I live a full-time gardening life, discovering and sharing the secrets to happiness in your garden. I'm the author of Potted and Pruned: Living a Gardening Life (2017) and have a second book coming out in spring 2018 called Homegrown and Handpicked: A Year in a Gardening Life. I also will go where asked
(and paid) to speak about gardening topics with a focus on humor and
horticulture.
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| Photo: Carrie Wagner |
Cinthia Milner
Blog: B.B. Barns Garden Blog and
Cinthia Milner
Location: Asheville, North Carolina
Focus: I write the blog for garden center
B.B. Barns, and the focus is on all things related to gardening. For my own blog,
Cinthia Milner, I have fun and write whatever I want, and it isn’t always about gardening, although my most popular blog post is called
Dream of David Austin English Roses.
Projects: I recently started a group that offers women the chance to mentor women working in the field of horticulture. We’re horticulturists, landscape architects, breeders, nursery owners, growers, and contractors. We meet monthly, inviting speakers, taking field trips to work places, and learning and networking with each other. I am also a garden coach for B.B. Barns Garden Center and do a lot of speaking, mostly regionally, but I'll go further if requested.
Margaret Mishra
Blog: The Gardening Me (previously Homegrown - Adventures in my Garden)
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
Focus: Mainly edibles, but anything that grows is fair game.
Dee Nash
Blog: Red Dirt Ramblings
Tagline: Firmly rooted in the Oklahoma soil
Location: Guthrie, Oklahoma
Focus: Well, ramblings are part of the title, so I can blog about what I
want, but mostly I center upon gardening from my own part of the world, which isn't an easy feat. I also write about cooking from the garden and
some home-keeping stuff.
Projects and Publications: I wrote a gardening book in 2014 called The 20-30 Something Garden Guide: A No-Fuss, Down and Dirty, Gardening 101 for Anyone Who Wants to Grow Stuff.
Mary Ann Newcomer
Blog: Gardens of the Wild Wild West
Tagline: High, Dry and Wild
Location: Boise, Idaho
Focus: Gardens, especially those in the intermountain states. Grow 'em, scout 'em, write about them.
Projects and Publications: I'm a native Idahoan, a garden writer, and author of two gardening books for the Mountain West, including
Vegetable Gardening in the Mountain States.
Teresa Odle
Blogs: Gardening in a Drought and
Southwest Gardening
Location: Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico
Focus: Gardening in a Drought focuses on low-water gardening; xeric plants and gardening in a harsh and high-altitude climate; rural living; and general gardening info.
Southwest Gardening has some of those themes but focuses mostly on gardening in dry climates at various desert and mountain zones of the Southwest – mostly Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada.
Projects: I'm excited to be collaborating with three outstanding bloggers – Noelle Johnson (also attending Austin Fling), Ann McCormick, and Jacqueline Soule – on Southwest Gardening, which launched in January. In my offline life, my husband and I have 4 acres of land and grow vegetables each summer to sell at rural farmers markets. I also offer garden consulting with a focus on edible gardens in low-water conditions. As a freelance editor and writer, I consult with nurseries, landscape designers, growers, and other businesses on communications with their customers.
Renee P.
Blog: Gardening Turned Up to Eleven
Location: California high desert (Mojave desert)
Focus: My garden and sometimes places I visit
Projects: I just blog for fun!
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| Photo: David Pinson |
Tamara Paulat
Blog: Chickadee Gardens
Tagline: Gardening on two acres near Portland, OR, with a focus on sustainability and native plants
Location: Saint Helens, Oregon
Focus: I focus on native West Coast plants, sustainability, attracting wildlife, and climate-appropriate gardening. My husband and I are creating a small farm from scratch. I invite readers to come along with us on our journey of making our dream garden on a blank slate of two acres.
Projects: I work for Joy Creek Nursery in Scappoose, Oregon. Part of my job is to manage Joy Creek's Facebook account, so I'm constantly in the 4-acre gardens photographing my heart out. I am a Hardy Plant Society of Oregon member and have written articles for them as well as for Pacific Horticulture.
Tonya Peele
Blog: plant + shoot
Tagline: exposing garden life
Location: North Carolina
Focus: Gardening, photography, and slow living
Projects: Posts published every Friday filled with inspiration to slow down and reconnect with nature.
Pam Penick
Blog: Digging
Tagline: cool gardens in a hot climate
Location: Austin, Texas
Focus: All the gardening goodness I can dig up! Emphasis on great garden design, tours of gardens I visit, waterwise gardening, agave love, Texas native plants, and foliage fetishizing (join me for Foliage Follow-Up each month).
Projects and Publications: I'm a freelance writer and photographer with articles in Garden Design, Country Gardens, and other magazines, and the author of two books, Lawn Gone! and The Water-Saving Garden. Currently I'm building my Garden Spark speaker series, bringing in 3-4 top-notch speakers on garden design each year and hosting talks out of my home. (Contact me to pitch a speaking topic.) I'm also one of the Austin Fling planners and look forward to sharing my city and its gardens with you! I'm on Facebook and Instagram.
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| Photo: Beth Bizer |
Jenny Peterson
Blog: Jenny Nybro Peterson
Tagline: healthy gardens, healthy lives, urban farming
Location: Austin, Texas
Focus: Wellness, gardening, and urban farming.
Projects and Publications: I post a Wellness Tip of the Day video, Monday-Friday, on my Facebook page, where I talk about creating a healthy life in body, mind,
and spirit. I am also a smoothie fanatic and find every way I can to
hook people up to them! I'm author of The Cancer Survivor's Garden Companion: Cultivating Hope, Healing and Joy in the Ground Beneath Your Feet (Silver award winner
from GWA) and co-author of Indoor Plant Decor, and I'm a public speaker and wellness advocate.
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| Photo: Valarie Peterson |
Jim Peterson
Website: Garden Design (publisher)
Location: Redlands, California
Focus: Garden Design provides
information on plants, garden-related products, design ideas, garden
tours, garden shows and events, and seasonal gardening tips.
Projects and Publications: Garden
Design produces a quarterly magazine that's ad free, with
in-depth insights on plants and gardens and world-class
photography. Also, in 1999 I started ConcreteNetwork.com. The site provides information and resources on decorative concrete to more than 14 million people per year.
Kris Peterson
Blog: Late to the Garden Party
Location: Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Focus: Creating a drought-resistant garden, Mediterranean and succulent plants, and floral/foliage arrangements from garden material.
Jenny Prince
Blog: American Meadows Blog
Tagline: Where Confidence Grows
Location: Shelburne, Vermont
Focus: Wildflower
gardening on any scale; working
with seeds; gardening with perennials and bulbs; pollinators, pollinators, pollinators!
Projects and Publications: American Meadows has been involved in a statewide project in Vermont called Wild for Pollinators. We pack, donate, and distribute seeds throughout the
state to encourage both
businesses and residential landowners to plant unused land for
pollinators. Nationwide, we are launching a campaign this spring to
encourage as many homeowners as possible to replace their lawns with
wildflowers. In addition to my work at American Meadows, I have my own website, Jenny Grows, which is all about growing nutrient-dense (high-brix) vegetables through the use of soil minerals, foodscaping, and gardening in extreme weather. I've spoken at the NOFAVT organic farming conference about growing nutrient-dense food; written a Kindle cookbook called Eat Like A Farm Girl about simplified CSA recipes; founded a beekeeping club in my community; won a blue ribbon for my bread-and-butter pickles at the Tunbridge World’s Fair; and earned a living selling photographs of people farming giant vegetables for 10+ years. Follow my Instagram for more.
Angie Rose
Blog: Angie The Freckled Rose
Tagline: Where Things Come Alive
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Focus: My blog focuses on my everyday experiences in the garden and on the
farm. I enjoy sharing details about my journey growing flowers,
vegetables, and herbs in raised beds. This includes garden-to-table
recipes, organic methods, and companion planting. I also blog about
raising animals and sustainable living on the homestead.
Projects: In 2018, I'm focusing on rebuilding my edible garden while
incorporating new varieties and organic methods. I’m also creating a
cutting garden with dahlias, calla lilies, and gladiolus to create fresh
floral arrangements. I will be welcoming new baby chicks to the farm and
starting my very own chicken garden. This will include beneficial
varieties of herbs and treats just for them.
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| Photo: Matt Kiedaisch |
David Salman
Blog: The High Country Gardens Blog
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Focus: Organic, sustainable, waterwise gardening; gardening with native plants; new plant introductions
Projects: David is the founder and chief horticulturist of High Country Gardens. He has a series of planting
and informational videos, is a sought-after speaker in the world of horticulture, and
has written numerous articles for
Fine Gardening,
American
Gardener, and
Horticulture magazines. David's plant introductions include
Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' and
Agastache 'Ava'. David is a distinguished recipient of the
American Horticultural Society 2008 Great American Gardeners Award.
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| Photo: Marcus Harpur |
Barbara Segall
Blog: The Garden Post
Location: Sudbury, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Focus: Gardens in the UK and abroad; gardeners and their stories; ornamental and productive plants; grow-your-own, particularly herbs, salads, and
fruit; plants in food; and garden travel.
Projects and Publications: I edit 3 magazines for member
organizations (
Herbs, for the Herb Society;
The Horticulturist, for the
Chartered Institute of Horticulture; and
Suffolk Gardens Trust
Newsletter) and write for various magazines such as
Hortus. I'm the author of 12 books, including
Secret Gardens of East Anglia. I also review books and give talks. I have a
small town garden and an allotment in the town. I love garden visiting and
general garden nosy-ness!
Mary Schier
Blogs: My Northern Garden and Notes from Northern Gardener Blog
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Focus: General gardening for USDA Zones 3-4 (sometimes 5). My
personal blog, My Northern Garden, is about designing and planting my new urban
garden, a huge change from the larger, more rural garden I previously
had.
Projects and Publications: I edit Northern Gardener magazine, the publication of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. My first garden book, The Northern Gardener: From Apples to Zinnias, was published in 2017 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
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| Photo: Jim
Bathie |
Mary Beth Shaddix
Blog: A Growing Curiosity
Location: Birmingham,
Alabama
Focus: My
main focus is edible gardening, where I constantly feed my curiosity about food
(mainly because I’m always hungry). I also enjoy plantsman profiles, botanical
history, and doing anything to grow new generations of gardeners or get people
outdoors.
Projects and Publications: As a writer - see my website Mary Beth Shaddix -
I create content in home,
garden, travel, and food categories for media brands such as Southern Living, Cooking
Light, HGTV Gardens, and Garden & Gun.
And I am lucky to live and breathe plant life 24/7 as co-owner of Maple Valley Nursery, a wholesale growing operation. I have more ideas (than time) to
expand A Growing Curiosity into a platform that celebrates and encourages a
sense of wonder about the natural world around us. Cooking Light Pick Fresh Cookbook (2014) is a hybrid recipe and garden
how-to book. I enjoy speaking opportunities and keep an ongoing wish list of
future book ideas. To feed my growing curiosity and garden adventures, I’ve
evolved my marketing and publishing career into a successful boutique firm,
helping national consumer brands tell their stories effectively.
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| Photo: Heather Nicholson |
Joanne Shaw
Blog: Down2Earth Landscape Design Blog
Location: Pickering, Ontario, Canada
Focus: Down-to-earth practical advice for gardening and landscape design
Projects and Programs: I am a landscape designer and proprietor at
Down2Earth Landscape Design. I also host "Down the Garden Path," an internet radio show that airs live on Monday evenings at 7 pm EST on
realityradio101.com, and which is also released as a
podcast.
Teresa (Teri) Speight
Blog: Cottage In the Court
Tagline: Creating beauty naturally
Location: District Heights, Maryland
Focus: I focus on embracing the beauty that surrounds us in nature and the world in general. I am a wanderer, so I find beauty outside my door and at work, as well as across the pond (so to speak). I am pretty organic and believe in reconnecting people with the earth in a natural manner so that it is not intimidating.
Projects: I am about to embark on a beginning-garden series for the busy woman. It will be a vlogging series as well as a weekly blog post and a quarterly in-person event in my community. Recently I spoke at Magnolia Plantation's Spring Symposium -- the first of many talks I hope to give this year. The title of my talk was "Passionate About My Roots – History, Heritage and Heirlooms." I also plan to attend the Hydrangea Festival in Boston and make many other road trips throughout the year, and I will continue to feature different gardens on my travels throughout the U.S. and Europe. After all, I believe in finding inspiration outside of my garden gate, from time to time.
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Photo: Ernest Stetenfeld
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Beth Stetenfeld
Blog: PlantPostings
Tagline: Notes from a USDA zone 5 shade garden in Southern Wisconsin
Location: McFarland, Wisconsin (Madison area)
Focus: Pollinator gardens, native plants, organic gardening, companion planting, hiking, traveling…wherever I go, I want to see and learn about plants!
Projects: I’m a master naturalist volunteer and instructor. In August, I’ll be co-leading my (and our) second master naturalist training session at the UW-Madison Arboretum. I love the master naturalist program! I also enjoy presenting to small groups. In February, I co-presented about the master naturalist program at the Wisconsin Garden Expo. Large groups make me a little nervous. ;-)
Jenny Stocker
Blog: Rock Rose
Tagline: Lots of rocks and a few roses
Location: Austin, Texas
Focus: I am passionate about all things gardening: design, implementation,
perennial and vegetable gardening, cottage gardening, and working with
rocks. I enjoy repurposing items to use in the garden. I write about
these subjects on my blog as well as gardens I have visited on my
travels.
Projects: My garden is always an ongoing project. I am a volunteer docent at the
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where I lead tours. My second, equally time-consuming hobby is duplicate bridge.
Diana Stoll
Blog: Garden with Diana
Tagline: plants, projects and seasonal adventures in the garden
Location: Chicago suburbs, Illinois
Focus: Things going on in my
garden, gardens I’ve visited, and plants, plants, plants!
Projects and Publications: I write a weekly
gardening column for the Chicago Daily Herald and contribute to Chicagoland
Gardening magazine and the Kane County Chronicle. I love to speak to groups
of all sizes and offer a wide range of topics. More information can be found on my website.
Victoria Summerley
Blog: Tales from Awkward Hill
Location: Bibury, Cotswolds, United Kingdom
Focus: I write mainly about gardens or gardening, or occasionally country or village life.
Projects and Publications: I open my garden for the
National Garden Scheme, a British charity founded in 1927, which raises money for palliative care. My third and latest book,
The Secret Gardeners, features gardens belonging to some of the most famous British names in the visual and performance arts, such as Julian Fellowes (creator of
Downton Abbey) and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
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| Photo:
Kristen Adolf
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Julie Thompson-Adolf
Blog: Garden Delights
Location: Moore, South Carolina
Focus:
Obsessive organic gardener, eco-adventurer, local food lover, nature
nut, wrangler of kids and critters, traveler, and writer. Highly
addicted to seed-starting and -saving. Lover of hellebores, tulips,
camellias, and heirloom tomatoes. Garden Delights is a how-to DIY
resource, as well as a storytelling forum.
Projects and Publications: I
constantly battle wanderlust with the need to garden. I garden
year-round in South Carolina, which makes it tricky as a travel writer
and explorer, too. I write for several magazines and work with
horticulture clients, so basically I have a dream job. I’m in the
process of gutting our big kitchen garden and building my dream garden,
but I’d better hurry up or I won’t have any veggies this season! I’m
also working on a project about slow foods and the Ark of Taste. I love
farmers markets and often sell my organic, heirloom plants at our local
market, helping people learn how to grow their own food. My first book
will be released in October 2018:
Starting & Saving Seeds: Grow the Perfect Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, and Flowers for Your Garden (Cool Springs Press).
Cindy Tournier
Blog: My Corner of Katy
Tagline: The adventures of a gardener in and sometimes out of her eclectic and eccentric garden in Katy, Texas
Location: Katy, Texas
Focus: I mostly write about my experiences in my own garden.
Projects: When I started gardening on my corner lot in a suburb of Houston in 1997, I was full of energy,
enthusiasm, stamina, and imagination. Over several years, I
ripped out all the turfgrass and replaced it with garden beds, planting
them with a wide variety of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, natives, and adapted plants. I didn't consider how I'd keep up with maintaining
it all 21 years down the road! These days I'm working towards making the
garden more self sustaining and less labor intensive so I can
continue to enjoy working in it as I continue to age.
Jennifer Trandell
Blog: The Botanical Journey
Location: Gulf Coast, Texas
Focus: A travel journal of outdoor adventures, botanical traditions, culinary arts, and the history of people and places.
Projects: The Botanical Journey is building an expedition vehicle to travel from North America to Argentina. My partner and I hope to leave next spring for a seven-year journey (the cumulative total of the permitted visa stay in each country). I am an anthropologist, an avid traveler, and a botanical zealot. My passion is investigating the natural world and its effects on society. As a professional freelance writer and photographer, I find that the people who are working toward positive global change for the health of the planet inspire my stories. Follow our journey on Instagram, including lots of photos of pretty flowers and trees and cactus and more.
Heather Tucker
Blog: Just a Girl With a Hammer
Location: Portland, Oregon
Anneliese Valdes
Blog: CobraHead
Location: Cambridge, Wisconsin
Focus: Sustainable food growing and recipes
Projects: I'm a part-time gardener and part-time musician. Here at
CobraHead (we're a Fling sponsor), we make awesome garden tools!
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| Photo: Tim Spira
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Lisa Wagner
Blog:
Natural Gardening
Tagline:
Observations on nature and gardening
Location:
Asheville, North Carolina
Focus:
My focus is gardening with natives, wildlife-friendly
gardening, vegetable gardening, and nature observations, with occasional travel
posts around nature or gardening. I’ve been blogging since the summer of 2007 and love the format.
Projects: As a retired garden educator, I still do a variety of
gardening presentations and classes at the NC Arboretum, the Botanical Gardens
at Asheville, and for groups and symposia, now as a volunteer. I’m also an
active volunteer at a local community garden.
Sheryl Williams
Blog: Yard Fanatic
Location: Austin, Texas
Focus: "Yard fanatic" is an apt description for my love of gardening and
passion for teaching people how to grow their own food. I mostly focus
on edible gardening with generous sides of political ranting and
observations/travel logs from other places I have visited.
Projects: I am a Travis County Master Gardener volunteer for the Texas
Agrilife Extension Service, where the bulk of my time is spent educating
people about various aspects of gardening. My specialties are all types
of composting, soils, tool sharpening, vegetable gardening, rainwater
harvesting, turf, and gardening for wildlife. I also am nuts about
nature, birds in particular, but have some great bear, rattlesnake,
cougar, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, and even Sasquatch stories (who
was really our drunken neighbor).
Starla Willis
Blog: Dallas Garden Buzz
Location: Dallas, Texas
Focus: Our group blog focus is on gardening in North Texas, especially things related to
our Master Gardener project, The Raincatcher's Garden of Midway Hills. My
primary blog responsibility is to help tell our story through the lens
of photography, from the smallest insect to the big picture and
everything in-between.
Projects and Publications: I
was part of a group of Dallas County Master Gardeners who created A
Year on the Plate, an award-winning cookbook that was inspired by
things that would grow in North Texas. Most of the photography was done
by myself and another master gardener. It sold out in just over 3
months. "Through the Lens" is a photography talk that I have done for various garden clubs and community groups. It
includes pictures and tips on how to capture aspects of gardening and
the things that go on there.
Laura Wills
Blog: Wills Family Acres
Tagline: Farm to Table in Austin, TX
Location: Austin, Texas
Focus: My main focus is vegetable gardening. It has grown over time from two 3x3-ft. beds to my current 2500+ sq.ft. vegetable enclosure. I also enjoy xeriscaping with native and adapted plants. The vegetables keep me very busy, so my other plants need to handle regular neglect.
Projects: Although my tagline is "Farm to Table," the table portion is still a work in progress. I took a class last year on food photography and am working to improve in this area. My goal is to do at least one food post a month. I have found that when I concentrate on taking the perfect photos the meal suffers, so it is a balance. I also went through the Travis County Master Gardener training a few years ago, and I enjoy giving talks on vegetables and chickens. I plan to get the Vegetable Specialist Certification later this year.
Lynn Yenkey
Blog: Sin City to Slaterville
Location: Columbia, South Carolina
Focus: I focus on native plants, nature, and garden learning, usually the hard way.
Projects and Publications: I’m getting back to work after taking time off to be with my
young son. We recently moved to South Carolina, and I have writing and
photography in Edible Columbia magazine. I'm working on expanding
writing and photography in garden, conservation, and farm-to-table
media.
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| Photo: Matthew Carasella |
Ellen Zachos
Blog: The Backyard Forager
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Focus: I write about wild edible plants and mushrooms, with the occasional book review and tool recommendation thrown in. Mostly plant profiles and lots of recipes.
Projects and Publications: I’ve just dived into the world of online education with a short course for beginning foragers: "Five Super Safe and Easy Wild Edibles for the Beginning Forager". It’s exhausting and exciting. I’ve written 7 books; the last two, Backyard Foraging and The Wildcrafted Cocktail, are my most recent and dearest to my heart. I speak all over the U.S. and Canada, and I love giving a live performance – blame it on my Broadway background. I do a twice-monthly podcast with C.L. Fornari called Plantrama. We argue a lot, but in a nice way. My goal for 2018 is to create a suite of online courses about safely foraging for and cooking with wild edibles. And maybe a membership site on the same topic.
