A freelance writer, editor, and lifelong gardener, I am the author of a
number of garden books, including Covering Ground (Storey Publishing, 2007) and The Veggie Gardener's Answer
Book (Storey Publishing, 2008). I am also editor of numerous titles and publications, including Burpee: The Complete
Vegetable & Herb Gardener (Macmillan, 1997) and Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials
(Rodale Press, 1993). For a list of my publications, click "Writing and Editing" at left.
In addition, I am the former newsletter editor for the Hardy Plant Society/Mid-Atlantic Group, author
of articles in various publications, and the recipient of the 2004 Horticultural Communications award from the American Horticultural
Society. I have also lectured widely, including at the Philadelphia Flower Show.
Previously, I
was Managing Editor of Garden Books for Rodale Press in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. I am also a former Publications Director for
the American Horticultural Society and editor of their magazine American Horticulturist, now The American Gardener.
I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture from The Ohio State University, Columbus,
Ohio, and a Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio.
Currently, I live in Maryland
on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, where my husband and I have rehabbed a 1970s-era house to create a "green"
home on the shores of Worton Creek. We've named the property Hackberry Point because of the many mature hackberries (found
here. My garden is organic, wildlife friendly, and features a bit of everything, including flower beds, shrub borders, vegetables,
test plots, ground covers, native plants, a meadow, and more. For more on the garden, click the daylily picture below. Here
at Hackberry Point, we share space with an assortment of rescued dogs and cats, as well as companion parrots.
