Our Writers

Pam Beck is a freelance garden writer, photographer, designer and lecturer. Many Carolina Gardener Symposium alumni are familiar with Pam's charming, conversational, and information-packed presentations. A member of the Garden Writers Association of America, she pens "Perennially Yours," a gardening column for Raleigh's News & Observer newspaper. Pam has regularly published articles in Carolina Gardener magazine since 1993; has appeared in Seed Saver's magazine; and, is an area scout for Better Homes & Gardens. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for the JC Raulston Arboretum. Her free time is spent gardening at her home on Falls Lake in Wake Forest, N.C., with her husband, Mike, two grown children (when they visit), plus assorted furry, four-legged assistants.

Peter Loewer is one of the most prolific garden writers and illustrators in the Southeast. To date, he has written 34 books and provided illustrations to literally hundreds more. His book, The Wild Gardener, was named one of the best 75 gardening books of the twentieth century by the American Horticultural Society, while some of his drawings are in the permanent collections of The Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University. Alumni of Carolina Gardener events are also familiar with Peter's plant knowledge and quick wit, and we'll be welcoming him back to the stage during our 2006 Symposium in Asheville. Having moved to the region from New York many years ago, Peter has become a consummate plantsman on all things green and growing in the Southeast. He now lives in Asheville, N.C., with his wife, Jean, and kitty-cats, Kubin and Willow. You can visit his website at www.thewildgardener.com.

Barbara Pleasant is the author of twenty books on gardening (including The Whole Herb, The Southern Garden Advisor) and countless magazine articles. One of her recent releases, Garden Stone, won a Garden Globe Award of Achievement for writing from the Garden Writers Association. The Washington Post called it "one of the best books on using stones in the landscape that we've ever seen." In addition to being a frequent contributor to Carolina Gardener magazine, Barbara is a regional columnist for Nationalgardening.com and Gardening How-To magazine, and was a featured guest speaker at the North Carolina Mountain Magic event in September. Originally from Lexington, Ala., Barbara now makes her home in western North Carolina near Asheville. She has a teenage daughter, a large black dog, and she dreams of a perfect world in which every person joins in the fun of growing plants. You can learn more about Barbara by visiting www.barbarapleasant.com.

Rekha Morris is an art historian, plant explorer and horticultural writer who has written for a number of horticultural journals such as The Rock Garden Quarterly, and The American Gardener, and is a long time contributor to Carolina Gardener and to The Begonian. She has a woodland garden in Pendleton, SC, where she experiments with shade tolerant species from around the world. These grow side-by-side with her growing collection of native plants, many of which she has rescued [with permission] from sites slated for development. This woodland garden combining native and exotic plants was featured in the The American Gardener [2001]. She currently travels frequently to document species begonias in the eastern branch of the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico, as well as the eastern Himalayan region of India on the borders of China. Her lectures in the USA on species begonias include those at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, NC, May 2004; San Antonio, May 2004; San Diego, August 2004; Dallas, May 2005; and Ballarat and Melbourne, Australia in March, 2005. She is scheduled to give a talk on the Species Begonias of the eastern Himalayan region of India in Miami in March 2006.

Mary Pyne Tucker is a garden writer, editor and designer. She inherited her love of the natural world from her parents and over the years has enjoyed gardening in various locations around the Southeast. Through her freelance writing and editing, Mary combines her passion for nature with her love of the English language.

In addition to writing for Carolina Gardener magazine and other gardening publications, Mary is the newsletter editor for the Georgia Native Plant Society. She also spends much of her time in volunteer work, both locally and statewide, and is a Lifetime Master Gardener. Mary is a native of Durham, N.C., who currently resides in Woodstock, Ga., with her wonderful husband, Rick, and two delightful cats.

Margot Rochester of Lugoff, S.C., author of Earthly Delights: Gardening by the Seasons the Easy Way, has a relaxed and entertaining speaking style and "imparts wisdom like blossoms strewn along the garden path." She has created a large and lush, layered mixed border that wanders around her suburban lot, using strategies that eliminate tilling, weeding, fertilizing and insecticides. Her mission is to enable others to do the same and her mantra is "Keep it easy, keep it fun, keep it personal and keep on keeping on."

Margot writes garden columns for three newspapers: The State and the Kershaw County Chronicle-Independent in South Carolina, and The Island Breeze on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She is currently writing articles for Carolina Gardener and is working on her second book: Down to Earth: Practical Thoughts for Passionate Gardeners. She has been a Master Gardener for eleven years and has presented programs at the Charleston Horticulture Society Winter Symposium, the Greenville (SC) Master Gardener Symposium, The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, and various other gardening events.

Barbara Sullivan is a garden writer, photographer, designer and lecturer. She is the author of Garden Perennials for the Coastal South (University of North Carolina Press, 2003) a guide to gardening along the Southeast and Gulf Coasts. She travels throughout the area giving Power Point and slide presentations on the perils and pleasures of coastal gardening. She is a member of the Garden Writers Association of America and winner of one of their Golden Globe awards. She has broadcast garden commentaries on public radio station WHQR 91.3fm for the past seven years. In addition to designing the garden for the Minnie Evans tribute at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, NC she has also served on the board of the New Hanover County Arboretum in Wilmington. Barbara is the mother of two grown children and lives in Wilmington with her husband, Michael and their dog, Oscar.

Nan Chase has been a hands-on gardener in the mountains of western North Carolina for twenty-five years, specializing in growing and propagating the native Appalachian trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Along the way she has added vegetable gardening and fruit growing to her gardening skills, and loves to can her own produce -- year-round kale production in the snow is her favorite garden trick. Formerly an investigative reporter for the Boone, N.C., Watauga Democrat, in recent years she has written about garden travel, garden design, and plants for such publications as The Washington Post, Old House Journal, The American Gardener, The Azalean, and Better Homes and Gardens Special Publications.

An active member of the Blue Ridge Garden Club, Nan currently serves as acting chair of the Board of Governors for the Daniel Boone Native Gardens, in Boone, N.C., and has been involved in her hometown's Tree Board. Her first book, an illustrated history of Asheville, N.C., will be published by McFarland and Company in 2007.