Beauty and Bounty: Creating Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens for People, Plants, and Pollinators
Imagine your garden, yard, or patio full of blooms and abounding with bees, butterflies, and wildlife with beautiful, sustainable plantings for every season. Learn the secrets for success during this 90-minute seminar with horticultural experts from the University of Minnesota and Bachman’s as they take you through best practices and resources in sustainable design, pollinator support, and how to create and care for a gorgeous garden you can learn from and love. Heather Johnson, who regularly appears on Bachman’s WCCO segment as their lead horticulturalist, will moderate the presentations.
About our speakers:
Julie Weisenhorn, Associate Extension Professor and Horticulture Educator, University of Minnesota
Julie Weisenhorn holds master’s degrees in visual communication and horticulture from the University of Minnesota where she taught landscape design and served as state director of the Extension Master Gardener Program. As an Extension horticulture educator, Weisenhorn has statewide responsibility for horticulture teaching, research and outreach with special focus on plant selection and sustainable residential landscape design. Weisenhorn serves on the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association Education Committee and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Noxious Weed Advisory Committee. She also coordinates and regularly appears on the popular WCCO Radio Smart Gardens show (Saturdays, 8-9am, AM 830). In her own words, “This is the best job I have ever had.”
Heather Johnson, Lead Horticulturalist, Bachman’s
Heather Johnson is the lead horticulturalist at Bachman’s. They initially studied plant biology at the University of Minnesota before moving west for graduate school. They received their masters in plant pathology at the University of California – Davis, then moved to Oregon to work as a plant diagnostician in the lab and in the field. They have coordinated international research trials for pome and stone fruit trees, working towards limiting chemical input and manual input necessary for fruit production. Through this they have gained a passion for sustainability and community development within agriculture, and now focus on making local community and homestead gardening easily accessible to the public.
Holly Miller, Perennial Buyer, Bachman’s
Holly Miller joined Bachman’s in 2022 as the perennials buyer for retail locations. Before Bachman’s, Holly spent several years as a horticulturist at their alma mater, Colorado State University, where they designed and installed annual, perennial, and edible gardens for the Fort Collins campus. During their time at CSU, Holly served on the Campus Pollinator Committee, where they developed a passion for learning about how communities and individuals can support local ecosystems through intentional plantings, habitat creation, and preservation.
Rachel Spiess, Landscape Designer, Bachman’s
Rachel Spiess is a designer with the landscape design team at Bachman’s. Her background is in fine arts and education, receiving her BA in fine arts, with a minor in horticulture, and Masters of Education from the University of Minnesota. Having taught drawing and painting in Minneapolis Public Schools for eight years, she has abundant experience presenting creative and design-based concepts to a wide variety of learners. During her summers off while teaching, Rachel landscaped for residential homes around the Twin Cities. Now with Bachman’s, she generates hand-drawn landscape designs for residential homes and commercial properties. Outside of work Rachel spends a good chunk of the year tending to her own yard in St. Paul, focusing on edible and native plant selections this past season.
