Natalia has worked in the horticulture indsutry since graduating in 1986 with a BS in horticulture from the University of Missouri. She started her career at Powell Gardens, a public botanic garden near Kansas City, developing educational programs and marketing the Gardens; served as the horticulture editor at a national gardening magazine; worked at a Kansas City advertising agency where she focused on national and international marketing and advertising for horticultural clients; co-owned a retail nursery and finally joined a North Carolina based marketing company specializing in marketing services for companies in the horticulture industry.
Natalia is an avid photographer, writer and lecturer. She has contributed to a number of gardening books and is the author of 100 Easy Perennials. She writes regularly for consumer gardening and trade magazines and a number of industry clients. As far as plants go, Natalia has a long-standing interest in natives. In addition to growing a wide array of native plants in her own garden, she studies native plants in the wild and in garden settings across the country.
A recent transplant from Lawrence, KS to Athens, GA, Natalia is working on a graduate degree in horticulture at the University of Georgia. Her research emphasis is on new crops for the greenhouse industry. She will graduate in December 2006 and plans to combine her marketing experience with her interest in new crop introductions.
