Behnke’s Shrub and Tree Buyer Miri Talabac hasn’t worked at Behnkes as long as many of our staff have, though she started with us just as early – in high school.  Yes, she grew up not far from our Beltsville location, started working here in 1997, and since then has worked in annuals and perennials before moving to “woodies” as buyer.    And she’s done that while earning a degree in biology at the University of Maryland, with a concentration in entomology (bugs – she’s a big fan of ‘em).

Besides bugs and woody plants, she’s recently become enamored of native plants, but the central theme here is her love of being outdoors.  So, call her a “nature nut” and she won’t complain.  But a girl’s gotta go indoors sometime, right?  That’s when she brings out the Origami, cross-stitching, and all manner of crafts.   Miri’s outdoorsy and crafty, too.

Watch for Miri’s articles here and on our website, and stop her any time for questions about shrubs and trees – she loves answering them!

Do you recognize this face?  If you’ve been to our Beltsville location sometime in the last 21 years, you’ve probably seen Randy Best because he’s been everywhere and done everything for us over all those years (in charge of houseplants, perennials, the supplies shop, etc.)  Lately he’s been showing y’all how to “force” bulbs (really, it’s not nearly as violent an act as it sounds) in a series of workshops.   By popular demand, they’re being repeated on October 11, 17, 23, and 30, all starting at 11 a.m.  More workshop details here.

How Randy Got Here
But back to Randy.   Have you ever noticed what a interesting – nay, colorful – group of people work in the horticulture and gardening world?  Randy’s colorful past starts with his being a “NASA brat” growing up all over the Western Hemisphere – in Texas, Chile, California – before settling in Maryland in 1980.   And he aspired to be not a plant expert but an architect, which led to his joining Behnkes on the facilities maintenance side, and the rest is history, as history often evolves at family-owned and -managed companies.

Small tulips are great for forcing

Randy’s Garden
The key to Randy’s College Park garden is in the nickname he has around the store – Mr. Hosta.  That’s what happens when you grow over 150 different types of them, I suppose.   His garden is also known for Japanese maples, and lots of assorted “weird plants” that he can’t resist.   Randy’s agreed to share some garden photos with Behnkes Blog readers, so stay tuned.  Maybe some fall color on those maples?  Then in the dead of winter we’ll revisit his garden with summer photos of those hostas, okay?  We’ll be all yearning for that scenes of summer soon enough.

Posted by Susan Harris.  Tulip photo by Dubh.

Susan co-founded the popular national team blog GardenRant in 2006, and it’s been winning awards and press attention ever since.   Her Sustainable Gardening website teaches eco-friendly, low-maintenance gardening.

Susan’s other projects include founding the Lawn Reform Coalition, a national education campaign promoting natural lawn care, regionally appropriate lawn species, and alternatives to lawn altogether; and serving as an Advisory Member of Montgomery Victory Gardens, a campaign to promote and facilitate the growing of food in Montgomery County.

In print, Susan’s articles have appeared in national publications (Organic Gardening, Fine Gardening, Landscape Architecture), and in local newspapers (the Takoma and Silver Spring Voice and the Greenbelt News Review).

Susan gardened with her mother growing up outside Richmond, Virginia, and settled in the D.C. area in 1971.  Since ’85 she’s been gardening really intensely, first on her hillside property in Takoma Park, Maryland and now in Greenbelt.  She attained her Master Gardener certification in Washington, D.C.

Professionally, Susan blogs for independent garden centers. She’s also known to hundreds of area gardeners as a gardening coach.  That means working with homeowners one on one, teaching them to create, enhance, and maintain their gardens.

To contact her, email:  GardenerSusan@gmail.com.

Photo by Rob Cardillo for Organic Gardening Magazine.