Neil Bell is Community Horticulturist for Oregon State University Extension, oversees the Master Gardener program in Marion and Polk counties, as well as evaluates drought-tolerant shrubs for the Willamette Valley.

Virginia Hayes is Curator of the Living Collection at Ganna Walska Lotusland in Santa Barbara, California, where she is responsible for maintaining plant records for the extensive plant collections. Virginia holds a Master’s degree from University California Santa Barbara where she did research on the unique floral characters of lotuses (Nelumbo nucifera) and their variation among wild populations. She writes a popular gardening column for the Santa Barbara Independent and contributes to other California and national publications.

Roy Stevenson is a professional freelance travel writer and photographer based in Seattle, Washington, covering travel and culture, history and historic places, food, wine and beer, hotel and spa reviews, military history and museums, military vehicles, writing, art, 
and communications. His work has appeared in this country, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. To view more of Roy’s travel articles visit his website.

Hariana Chilstrom is a writer, photographer, illustrator, educator, and naturalist who loves bugs and other invertebrates. A native of Portland, she currently lives in Seattle and works as a marine educator at the Seattle Aquarium. Hariana’s marine animal photos and weekly newsletter excerpts often appear on the Aquarium website. She is developing her own website featuring invertebrate natural history, pollinator ecology, and resources for home schools and other informal education venues.

Veronica Voss-Macomber is the 2013 Pitschel Prizer winner for her essay entitled “Children Need Gardens.”

Darrell Schramm is a Master Gardener, a rose historian, author of Rainbow: A History of the Rose in California, and editor of two rose publications. He grows more than 250 roses in Vallejo, California.

Robert Herman, plantsman and educator, is an independent consultant and instructor of horticulture at Naugatuck Valley Community College where he teaches courses in herbaceous plants, woody plants, fruits and vegetables, landscape design, greenhouse management, and nursery management. He taught at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Bernburg, Germany in 2002 and 2003 as an instructor in the landscape architecture department’s Master’s degree program. Robert lectures widely and has contributed numerous articles to many horticultural journals and magazines.

Janet Mackey is an avid gardener and Conservation Director for Solano Land Trust. She is a recent transplant from a shady woodland garden in the Chesapeake Bay area to the San Francisco Bay area where she is enjoying the exhilaration of year-round gardening.

Janet Mackey has been an avid gardener since childhood. She is a recent transplant from a shady woodland garden in the Chesapeake Bay region to the San Francisco Bay area where she is enjoying the exhilaration of year-round gardening and learning to grow California native plants. Janet works as Conservation Director for Solano Land Trust, protecting land between San Francisco and Sacramento.