Power Circle Amplified!

A few months ago, I shared the details of a "power circle" for garden bloggers that I facilitate. I thought I'd now share about another power circle I am in for garden speakers. They are all members of the Garden Communicators International aka GardenComm (you may have known it by its previous name of the Garden Writers Association).

We have monthly meetings via Zoom on various topics ranging from marketing ideas to tax tips. We each take a turn being that month's topic facilitator and none of us is expected to be the "expert" on that topic, but to do a bit of research and lead the conversation on it. One of the power circle members, Carol Michel, writes, "One thing I think makes this group stand out from the other Power Circles I was in is the use of Zoom. Seeing everyone and not just hearing people on the phone I think improves our ability to share. It also helps that everyone takes a topic to lead. Even if you don't know much about the topic, being willing to go out and research it is helpful. And we all know the teacher learns more than the student. Plus, the Google Group is helpful for storing documents, more so than sharing a Google Doc."

The members of this group are an outstanding roster of garden speakers, so I thought I would share a bit about each of the current members (Including myself 👧!).

Donna Balzer's web site is https://donnabalzer.com/. She was based in Calgary where she had a regular city-wide newspaper column, province-wide radio show, and international television show on HGTV for three seasons. She recently moved to the Canadian West Coast and is rebuilding her garden empire from there including a new Podcast. You can listen to it at https://donnabalzer.com/podcasts/.

Kate Copsey is a freelance garden writer. She is also the author of "The Downsized Veggie Garden" and "Month by Month New Jersey and New York." Originally from Leicestershire, UK, she hopscotched around a bit on the East Coast of the US, she currently lives in South Carolina and writes a regular column for the county newspaper. Her web site is https://katecopsey.com/.

Toni Gattone became a Master Gardener and started exploring ways to give back to the community. She began speaking at public seminars on edible landscaping and growing edibles in containers, but when her bad back went out she discovered adaptive gardening and recently wrote a book on that topic, "The Lifelong Gardener, Garden with Ease and Joy at Any Age." She is now speaking full-time and her web site is https://tonigattone.com/.

Kathy Jentz is the editor and publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine. A life-long gardener, my background is in journalism. I am also currently the Green Media columnist for the Mid-Atlantic Grower newspaper and I edit the quarterly Water Garden Journal, the official publication of the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society. My speaker web site is here.

Jan Johnsen is a professional landscape designer and a principal of the established design/build firm, Johnsen Landscapes & Pools, in Westchester County, NY. She is the author of "Heaven is a Garden." Her web site is https://www.janjohnsen.com/about-jan/.

Carol Michel is a retired techie and now full-time gardening geek. Her award-winning blog is May Dreams Gardens. She has self-published a series of humorous gardening books and "Creatures and Critters: Who's in My Garden" is the most recent title. She also hosts a garden podcast with Dee Nash called "The Gardenangelists."

Carolyn Mullet was a potter before she spent the last 30 years as a garden designer in the Washington, DC metro area for other firms and then for her own design company, Carex: Garden Design by Carolyn Mullet. A few years ago, she decided to start a garden tour company called CarexTours . She has a book coming out this fall about private European gardens and speaks on garden design topics.

Marianne Willburn has a degree in archaeology/photography and a past life in regional theater. She writes as the Small Town Gardener and wrote a book titled Big Dreams, Small Garden, She lives in Lovettsville, VA, and is working on a new book on tropical gardening. She recently joined the GardenRant blog as a regular contributor.

Ellen Zachos left a "barely successful career" as an actor for a career in horticulture. She started her own company, designing, installing, and maintaining rooftop gardens in New York City. She moved to New Mexico about 5 years ago and gave up her garden design business. She is focusing on writing garden books, including the recent "The Wildcrafted Cocktail" and speaking. She co-hosts the Plantrama podcast with C.L. Fornari. Her web site is https://www.backyardforager.com/.