Erica Glasener

Erica Glasener

1) When did you first start gardening?

I first started gardening in college, although I spent my childhood playing in the dirt outside in Miami, Florida, climbing trees, eating loquats from my neighbor’s tree and enjoying mango, citrus and avocado around the neighborhood.

2) What is your favorite plant in the garden?

Magnolia macrophylla, the big leaf magnolia. It looks great in every season, whether it’s covered in buds, leaves, huge fragrant flowers or fruits!

3) What is your proudest gardening moment?

When I germinated seeds of Skimmia reevsiana, the first plant I ever grew from seed.

4) What tool could you not live without in your garden?

Hand pruner

5) What inspires you the most?

Seeing plants in their native habitats and then trying similar combinations in my own garden. I am also drawn to fragrant plants and plants that have big leaves or flowers — tall herbaceous plants like Joe-Pye weed, Silphium perfoliatum (which can grow up to 10' tall) and tall perennials in general.
Erica Glasener is a horticulturist, author and lecturer, and has been the award-winning host of HGTV’s A Gardener’s Diary for 14 years. As the host for this popular TV show, she introduced her audience to gardeners, horticulture professionals, specialty plant growers, landscape architects and more from across the country. In July of 2011, she received a Garden Media Award from the Perennial Plant Association for her promotion of perennials through writing and lectures. For over ten years she wrote a column on plants and garden design for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She has also written about gardening for Southern Lady Magazine and served as a contributing editor for Fine Gardening. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Farmer’s Almanac and The Green Guide. A frequent guest on regional and national lifestyle radio programs, she enjoys helping people solve garden problems. A popular speaker, she presents lectures at garden shows across the country from Seattle to Epcot. In 2010 she was invited to Homer, Alaska as a speaker. The author of several books, her latest is Proven Plants: Southern Gardens. She lives with her family in Atlanta, Georgia where her garden serves as a test site for many of the plants she writes about. To keep up with her garden activities, you can subscribe for free updates at www.ericaglasener.com or follow her on Twitter @ericaglasener.

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