So many people have helped us over the years of our ‘gardening with natives’ adventure. We have been richly blessed by the advice, encouragement, inspiration, assistance, and opportunities provided by friends and colleagues. Sometimes those blessings have been through personal connections. At other times they come through channels like presentations, books, and videos. Gifts of art, seeds, and plants also have embodied valuable blessings. To all, we say a heartfelt thank you!!!

We also want to express our deep gratitude to a few particular people and groups.

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Bob Harter was central to getting us started with native plant gardening. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience with Ohio native plants. Bob worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for 30 years. He came to our home, assessed the possibilities, and encouraged us to get started. A number of the plants and original seeds were from Bob, including Royal Catchfly. We are extremely fortunate that some of the Catchfly seed were the rare variant salmon-colored form.

Delaware County Master Gardener Volunteers supported the Native Plant Propagation initiative Terri proposed. That project, and the team members involved, provided many opportunities to learn about and work with native plants.

Gale Martin as owner of Natives in Harmony in Marengo, provides a large number of native species using local ecotypes. She has also shared her expertise during conversations at Natives in Harmony and conference workshops. Gale is a great friend to Master Gardeners.

Jim McCormac is a widely known field botanist, photographer, author, and speaker in Ohio. Randy took a couple of photography workshops from Jim. Jim’s instruction increased Randy’s macrophotography skills a great deal. If a photo by Randy looks good, credit Jim McCormac.

Kensel Clutter was a self-taught expert on the prairie of Ohio’s Sandusky Plains and on Ohio native plants. Bob Harter introduced us. Kensel and Opal welcomed us to their prairie and woodland areas. Kensel hosted a Master Gardener session and seed collection tour of the Claridon Prairie at the age of 99. Kensel passed away at the age of 100 in 2020. While we knew him for a short time, his curiosity and sense of place inspired us.

Patti Sharpe is a Marion area artist and Delaware County Master Gardener Volunteer. She created hummingbird and royal catchfly drawings and watercolor based on Randy’s photo shown as the banner on the home page. We’re delighted Patti provided this art for the logo and letterhead. Her artwork of spring wildflowers is used to illustrate markers along self-guided spring hikes in Delaware County’s Preservation Parks.