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.
Spring Countdown: 4 days
By Debra Knapke In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here is a recipe that I’ve made many times. This is comfort food! Creamy Potato Cabbage Soup From Moosewood Daily Special with a few changes… 2 TBL olive oil 2 c. chopped onions* 1 tsp ground caraway...
Spring Countdown: 5 days
By Teresa Woodard With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, I couldn’t think of a better spring green plant to pay tribute to this Irish holiday. Mosses are now greening up creek banks,...
Spring Countdown: 6 days
By Michael Leach; photo by Abby Fullen Choruses of bird songs, gentle breezes murmuring through bare branches, and the distant sounds of spring peepers are among my favorite sounds of the season of rebirth. Just as evocative but barely louder than a whisper, is the...
Spring Countdown: 7 days
By Michael Leach “Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language,” said American novelist Henry James. Admittedly he probably was referring to an English summer afternoon, more like a late May...
Spring Countdown: 8 days
By Debra Knapke one, two, buckle my shoe, three, four shut the door five, six, pickup sticks seven, eight lay them straight nine, ten, do it again! This perfectly describes what I am doing in the yard right now. Branches from two red oaks, sugar, silver and black...
Spring Countdown: 9 days
By Abby Fullen After a long winter of dull gray, white, and depressing, there's no better way to brighten up your garden than by adding the Pantone Color of the Year, Radiant Orchid, in your garden. This year's trendy color is described by Leatrice Eiseman, Executive...
Spring Countdown: 10 days
By Debra Knapke The temperatures are fluctuating like they usually do in March and these can be as damaging to our plants as deeply cold temps. Watch for heaving plants as we go through freeze – thaw cycles. Speaking of cold temperatures: thus far in Central Ohio we...
Spring Countdown: 11 days
By Abby Fullen Mini fountains, horizontal planks of peace, rock formations, wood blocks. A little taste of Italy, a touch of whimsy, and a leap into the world of pure imagination. What do these things have in common?...
Spring Countdown: 12 days
By Teresa Woodard; photo by Janet McCune The daffodil bulbs are just emerging in my backyard, but a story that I wrote about this lovely Dayton daffodil display and garden party for Midwest Living is now on the newsstands. Here, a 1-1/2 acre hillside is planted with...