Nancy J. Ondra
Nan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and gardens on four acres, with intensively planted gardens, open shrubbery areas, and managed meadows. A lifelong mid-Atlantic gardener, she started her career working in nurseries and private gardens before getting into garden publishing at Rodale Press in 1990. She then became a freelance garden writer, editor, and photographer. Nan is the author or co-author of over 15 books, including Grasses, The Perennial Care Manual, and The Perennial Matchmaker. She also keeps a blog (albeit somewhat fitfully these days) at Hayefield: A Pennsylvania Plant Geek’s Garden.
Though Nan appreciates a wide variety of plants and gardening styles, she’s especially keen on herbaceous plants in general and herbs, unusual annuals, uncommon perennials, and natives in particular. She’s also passionate about growing pretty much anything from seed, as well as collecting and sharing seeds, and she holds a Seed Dealer’s License in Pennsylvania for her small business selling seeds on Etsy.
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsMid-Atlantic: January Garden To-Do List
With the busy holiday season over, there’s time to start thinking about gardening again. Though midwinter in the Mid-Atlantic limits our outdoor activities, there are a few gentle tasks to…
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsPlants That Peak in Winter in the Mid-Atlantic
Richie Steffen, executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Garden in Seattle and a leading expert on plants, discusses the often-undervalued appeal of winter gardens: “What many see as a…
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How-ToEnd-of-Season Veggie Garden Tasks
More gardeners these days see the value of holding off on fall cleanup in ornamental beds, choosing instead to leave stems and seed heads for winter beauty and for providing…
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsSpace-Saving Seed Starting
Once you’ve experienced the thrill of growing plants from seed, you’ve opened up a whole world of possibilities for your garden. For a fraction of what you’d pay for a…
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsPlants With Great Bones Provide Winter Interest
Here in the Mid-Atlantic, planting for winter interest in a perennial garden or mixed border is a bit of a gamble. Perennials with persistent foliage such as heucheras (Heuchera spp.…
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsBeware of Boxwood Blight
From the historic landscapes of Colonial Williamsburg and the grand plantings of Longwood Gardens to countless home gardens throughout the Mid-Atlantic, boxwoods (Buxus spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9) have long…
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsGardening Gift Ideas for Mid-Atlantic Gardeners
It’s that time of year again—time to show our appreciation for friends and family and to celebrate the holiday spirit with special gifts. Stumped by the task of finding just…
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsCollecting Seeds From Your Garden
Though we’re definitely heading toward winter here in the Mid-Atlantic, November can bring some marvelously mild weather too. If you’re looking for a good excuse to get back out to…
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsBackyard Foraging for Edible Ornamentals
Gardens are all about engaging the senses: colors and shapes to catch the eye, rustling leaves and birdsong to please the ear, all kinds of plant textures to touch, and…
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Mid-Atlantic Regional ReportsPlant a Perennial Garlic Patch
October means garlic-planting time here in the Mid-Atlantic. Normally, growing garlic is a long-term prospect, as you won’t get to harvest the pungent bulbs until the following summer. But there’s…
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