Heartland Gardening bloggers
(left to right: Michael Leach, Debra Knapke and Teresa Woodard)
Michael Leach, Teresa Woodard, and I were in Indianapolis in 2011 attending a GWA – The Association of Garden Communicators – conference. After a garden writers workshop we went out to dinner. Not an easy thing to do in a city where three other conferences were also in session. Over the second bottle of wine, while waiting for our table, we decided to create a blog together. We not only launched the blog, Heartland Gardening, but developed deep friendships.
In June, 2021, Michael passed, Teresa became more involved with her writing – please look for her book American Roots and her next book, Garden to the Max which will be published in March 2025. And I became involved with projects that focus on care for the Earth and and all who live on it. Teresa and I felt that it was time to let our blog settle into an archive as a beautiful testament to three gardeners who shared their passion for plants, people, and collaboration.
Enjoy.
Favorite Flora: Chrysanthemums
An ancient flower wows modern gardeners See what modern mums have to offer “If you would be happy for a lifetime, grow Chrysanthemums.” (A Chinese philosopher) By Teresa Woodard This Chinese philosopher certainly would smile if he saw how widespread these “mums” have...
Snapshots: Poultry Rule at Ohio Nationals
By Teresa Woodard No where is the growing trend of poultry keeping more evident than this weekend's Ohio Poultry National at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in Columbus. Here, hundreds of chickens, ducks,...
Eco-Friendly Leaves
Ways to make autumn leaves more eco-friendly By Michael Leach Cackle, crunch, crackle, crunch go the footfalls of autumn walks through dry leaves that smell pleasantly of faded summer days. Savvy gardeners, who know that leaves are easily recycled into a free mulch...
Gardens to Drive: Scary Plants
Boo! Scary Plants for Your Garden By Teresa Woodard I love a good scare – a scary movie, a haunted house and even an occasional hide-behind-the-door prank. So, I was captivated by the Franklin Park Conservatory’s timely “Scary Plants” exhibit which turned out to be a...
Favorite Flora: Species Tulips
Wild for Species Tulips By Teresa Woodard Imagine an alpine meadow of dainty tulips in Kazakhstan or stout red tulips thriving on the rocky slopes of the Elburz Mountains in Iran. After...
Catch Us If You Can
Debra Knapke will be talking about "Biophilia: Understanding Why We Garden " as the morning keynote speaker at this weekend's Ohio Master Gardener State Conference at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. Why do we garden? Ask doctors, and they’ll point to the...
Live It Or Record It?
By Michael Leach I want to knock the cell phone out of her hand and shout, “Look around you!” Instead, I roll my eyes and grind my teeth. The woman, who’s touring an elegant private garden as part of the recent Garden Writers Association’s Pittsburgh symposium,...
Catch Us If You Can
Bloggers Debra Knapke and Michael Leach are TV stars, this month. On Fox 28's Good Day Columbus, Debra Knapke highlighted edibles at the Heritage Gardens at the Ohio Governor's Residence. On another day,...
An Uninvited Guest Spoils the Garden Party
By Michael Leach His return is as unwelcome as the drop-in visit of a difficult in-law, but instead of a few hours, he hangs around for several months. Still, there’s no keeping him away. Punctual as a...