Planting seeds of inspiration

By Elise Mckeown Skolnick

Her show airs on HGTV at 7 a.m. Thursdays.

YOUNGSTOWN — Gardening gives people a sense of hope, says Erica Glasener.

The horticulturist, author and host of HGTV’s “A Gardener’s Diary” spoke to a group of 65 gardeners at Mill Creek Park’s Fellows Riverside Gardens on Saturday.

“Twice a year, we bring in speakers to do programming,” said Keith Kaiser, Mill Creek Metroparks horticulture director. “It’s a great time to help people think about gardening in a different way and to get new inspiration. [Glasener’s] very much a great horticulturist and gardener and we appreciate all of her scientific knowledge, as well.”

Glasener shared a slide show of the gardens she’s seen in her 13 years of traveling as host of “A Gardener’s Diary.”

Each episode of the show takes an in-depth look at a garden and the individual who created it. It airs Thursdays at 7 a.m.

Gardeners can learn from each other, Glasener said, by seeing what other people do and by seeing that each has the same problems, no matter where in the country they garden.

Alice Slusher was inspired after seeing how imaginative gardening can be.

“The [slide show] pictures are gorgeous, and some of the ideas are so whimsical,” said the Boardman gardener.

“That’s the beauty of it,” Slusher said. “It’s not, ‘This is how you should garden.’ She’s showing, ‘These are different people’s gardens who have different ideas.’”

A master gardener from Mercer County, Donna Enyeart always learns something from Glasener’s show, no matter how often she sees it.

“I’ve watched her programs probably five, 10 times each,” she said. She learned even more from the slide-show presentation.

Watching butterflies land in her butterfly garden is her favorite part of gardening, Enyeart said.

With a garden, there’s always something to do and something to look forward to, Glasener said.

“And it’s very tangible,” she noted. “If you plant a seed and you see it come up, or harvest your own green beans from your garden, it’s pretty exciting.”

Glasener makes her home in Atlanta, where she has a large garden with some of her favorite plants: trees, shrubs and perennials. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times and The Farmer’s Almanac, among others.