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.
Go Get A Flower Fix
Phalaenopsis hybrid or moth orchidCymbidium orchidMiltonia hybrid or pansy orchid Orchids on Display Across the Midwest By Michael Leach Had enough Midwest winter with its brown, black, gray and glum? Beginning to think your garden is dead, not merely dormant? Are...
Garden Treasures
A Most Valuable Possession By Michael Leach The possession a person values most varies as widely as personal tastes. Cars, boats, houses, antiques, islands and jewels certainly rate as most valued for some. Not me. Like many people across the ages and continents, I...
Garden Trends 2019
By Teresa Woodard Hello 2019! It’s an exciting time for the plant world as the horticulture industry experiences a renaissance. According to the 2019 Garden Trends Report by the Garden Media Group, American gardeners set a record $47.8 billion in lawn on garden retail...
Twelve Days of Christmas: #12
Twelve Drummers Drumming Repost from Dec. 25, 2014: Pipe Down to Hear What a Garden Has to Say By Michael Leach A dozen piping pipers could be fine in some gardens, but for most of us, wind chimes and fountains are the only tolerable decibels. Unless bluejays squawk...
Twelve Days of Christmas: #11
Eleven Pipers Piping Repost from Dec. 24, 2014: The Grass Connection with Woodwinds By Debra Knapke I have memories of high school friends sucking on their reeds for their clarinets, oboes and bassoons before a rehearsal or concert. The reeds needed to be pliable, or...
Twelve Days of Christmas: #10
Ten Lords A Leaping Repost from Dec. 23, 2014: Reach for the sky — to create garden excitement By Michael Leach “Leaping” conjures images of Johnny-Jump-Up doing his jack-in-the-box imitation, perhaps inspired by a prod from mischievous red-hot pokers. All...
Twelve Days of Christmas: #9
Nine Ladies Dancing Repost from Dec. 22, 2014: Honoring the Mother Mary By Debra Knapke It seems appropriate for this season that we celebrate plants that reference the Mother Mary. If you see Lady as part of the common name, it is probable that this is a plant that...
Twelve Days of Christmas: #8
Reposted from Dec. 21, 2014: Eight Maids A Milking By Debra Knapke I have had a love affair with campanulas since I started growing them in the mid-90’s. Call me fanciful, but their floral cups and stars look like pretty blue skirts in the garden. And, if...
Twelve Days of Christmas: #7
Reposted from Dec. 20, 2014: Seven Swans A-Swimming By Debra Knapke We have all grown up knowing the story of the ugly duckling in some form. Hans Christian Andersen allegedly stated that this tale came out of his own life because he was the different child, “a tall,...