Resources

In Ohio, the flowers are blooming and the gardens are thriving, so why not take this opportunity to cultivate your own knowledge and expertise? For more information about botanical attractions and gardening, explore the following links to garden associations, books by Ohio authors and more.

Resources for Beginners

The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Includes gardening tips for beginners, book reviews, information on selecting and growing herbs, and much more.
http://www.almanac.comindex.php

Buckeye Gardening
A resource for Ohio’s gardening community, Buckeye Gardening provides useful and practical gardening information.
http://www.buckeyegardening.com

About Gardening
Getting started in the garden: Techniques and terms.
http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenprimer/

ACME Gardening
A guide for beginning gardeners including tips on soil, color scheme, bulbs, climbers, flowers, fruit and much more.
http://www.acmegardening.com

Gardening Guides
Gardening Guides is a resource for information, tips and ideas for year round gardening.
http://gardening-guides.com

Garden Advice
Learn solutions to common problems, utilize planers, read gardening how to’s and watch a video clip from the site’s library. Garden Advice has resources and information for anyone interested in starting a garden.
http://www.gardenadvice.com

Plan-a -Garden
Better Homes and Gardens members can use Plan-a-Garden to design anything from a patio-side container to an entire yard landscape by using the computer mouse to ‘drag-and-drop’ more than 150 trees, shrubs and flowers on the screen. The site also includes regional gardening tips.
http://www.bhg.com

I Can Garden
The site includes a gardeners question and answer forum, trip and tour information and even a weekly live chat.
http://www.icangarden.com

Garden Club
A Web site designed to provide a place for new gardeners to find information about gardening as well as where experienced gardeners can share their wisdom.
http://www.gardenclub.net

General Garden/Botanical Resources

The Ohio State University Extension
The Ohio State University Extension aims to improve the lives of Ohioans through research-based education programs in the areas of agriculture, nutrition and family and consumer sciences. The lawn and garden section of the Web site includes a garden tips calendar, links to other resources and a variety of online newsletters.
http://extension.osu.edu/lawn_and_garden/index.php

Master Gardener Program
The Ohio State University Master Gardeners are a dedicated group of volunteers who share a love of gardening and a desire to teach others in the community to practice sound horticultural principles. OSU Master Gardeners teach classes, conduct workshops and staff a hotline to answer gardening questions.
http://mastergardener.osu.edu/index.htm

Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves This site includes information about Ohio’s spring and summer wildflowers, dates and times for spring wildflower walks and a map of Ohio’s state nature preserves.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/spring

Associations/Links

Ohio Association of Garden Clubs, Inc.
The association’s mission is to promote interest in knowing, growing, showing and sharing and to encourage the youth in the same areas.
http://www.oagc.org/indexhome.htm

Garden Club of Ohio
Garden Club of Ohio, Inc. supports endeavors in every aspect of gardening through educational programs, horticulture and floriculture.
http://www.gardencentral.org/gco

Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association (ONLA)
ONLA is a non-profit association representing the interests of the state’s nursery, garden center and landscape industry. Membership is comprised of nursery stock growers, landscape contractors and maintenance firms, garden centers, arborists and allied suppliers.
http://www.onla.org

Ohio Landscape Association
The mission of the Ohio Landscape Association is to encourage professionalism and ethical standards among landscape contractors through educational opportunities and to promote the image of the landscape industry.
http://www.ohiolandscapers.org

American Community Gardening Association (ACGA)
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the ACGA is a bi-national non-profit membership organization of professionals, volunteers and supporters of community greening in urban and rural communities.
http://www.communitygarden.org

Herb Society of America
An organization focused on educating its members and the public on the cultivation of herbs and the study of their history and uses, both past and present. The Society’s motto is “for use and for delight”.
http://www.herbsociety.org

National Gardening Association (NGA)
Founded in 1973, the NGA serves a national audience with timely materials designed to foster an appreciation for the benefits of gardening.
http://www.garden.org

Perennial Plant Association (PPA)
The PPA is a professional trade association dedicated to improving the perennial plant industry by providing education to enhance the production, promotion and utilization of perennial plants.
htpp://www.perennialplant.org

Garden Club of America (GCA)
The GCA’s purpose is to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, to share the advantages of association by means of educational meetings, conferences, correspondence and publications, and to restore, improve and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and action in the fields of conservation and civic improvement.
http://www.gcamerica.org

The Gardeners of America/ Men’s Garden Clubs of America (TGOA/MGCA)
This national organization has more than 4,800 members in local clubs. The members place great emphasis on gardening education and community beautification.
http://www.tgoa-mgca.org

American Horticultural Society (AHS)
The AHS is one of the oldest national gardening organizations in the country. Since 1992, AHS has provided gardeners with the highest quality gardening and horticultural education possible.
http://www.ahs.org

Get Involved

The Green Ribbon Initiative
This initiative is designed as a grass-roots effort to save the Oak Openings Region. The Nature Conservancy has identified the Oak Openings region as “One of the 200 Last Great Places on Earth.”
http://www.oakopen.org/

Books

The Gardening Book for Ohio: Revised Edition by Denny McKeown

Month-By-Month Gardening in Ohio: What to Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year by Denny McKeown

Tree & Shrub Gardening for Ohio by Fred Hower and Alison Beck

Annuals for Ohio by Debra Knapke and Alison Beck

Wildflowers of Ohio by Robert L. Henn

Creating Beds and Borders: Creative Ideas from America’s Best Gardeners by Lee Anne White

Joy of Gardening by Dick Raymond

Best Garden Plants for Ohio by Debra Knapke

Panoramic Parks: An Appreciation of Cincinnati’s Parks by Thomas Schiff