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: Native Trees
"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” -- Anonymous By Teresa Woodard Happy October! As this month brings cooler temperatures and hopefully more rain, it’s a great time for planting trees. I recently met with Ed Kapraly of...
Snapshots: Hello Fall
Thank goodness for second chances. By Teresa Woodard Discouraged by all the late-summer brown in our bone-dry central Ohio landscapes, I was delighted to see some pink colchicum bulbs flowering in the backyard. I decided to take a snapshot and was pleased to find...
Snapshots: Bountiful Joy
By Teresa Woodard Yes. Gardening is a lot of work – watering, weeding, planting, and trimming, but it’s the gardening joys that make the sweat and dirty fingernails worthwhile. Take inspiration from these three examples. My husband’s 90-year-old grandmother plants...
Favorite Flora: Pansies
Pansies don't wimp out By Michael Leach Pansies are more a part of my fall planting plans than mums. While no visual match for a plump mum ball, these small plants brighten the scene long after frost and freeze. Scattered blooms even appear in mild winter weather....
Book Notes: Growing Tomatoes and Artisanal Farms’ Recipes
By Debra Knapke We have a rule in our house – which I don’t always follow: if I buy a book I must have a place to put it. Libraries are one of our greatest institutions as I can’t buy all the books I want, but I can borrow them and peruse them over a cup of tea. I...
Garden Happenings: Sustainability Workshops
Gardening Happenings: Sustainability Workshops Gardeners are hungry for more information on sustainability. According to the Garden Writers of America Summer Trends 2012 survey, 79 percent of respondents say they need more information on the topic. Well, lucky for...
Favorite Flora: Novelty Veggies
I grow Easter eggs, noodles and more. How about you? By Teresa Woodard When our kids were young I loved planting the most colorful and unusual vegetables all in hopes of recruiting future gardeners and veggie lovers. Easter egg radishes, ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard,...
Special Topic: Change Your Plant Partners II
Swap Invasive Plant Pests for Well-Behaved Plant Pals By Debra Knapke PART TWO: The Alternatives Here are some “poster children” of the invasive plant world. Each is followed by a few well-behaved alternatives. According to C. Colston Burrell, author of Native...
Trendspotting: Millennial Gardeners
Wanted: One word to make gardening cool and sexy By Michael Leach One of TV's green thumbs needs help selling gardening to the Millennial generation. Joe Lamp'l, host and developer of Growing a Greener World on PBS, seeks a horticultural equivalent of "foodie." This...