About Leslie
Hi! I’m Leslie, and I love growing.
I grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers—so many flowers!—in the front and back yards of my suburban home in Boise, Idaho. I also offer workshops and coaching to help people grow beautiful, productive gardens.
I’ve been gardening for years, but grew on a very modest scale or with varying levels of success—until recently, when I finally managed to:
- synthesize everything I had learned about gardening—and apply it.
- develop a system to design and manage a large, ambitious home garden.
- set aside the resources and time I needed to give the garden the attention it deserves.
For some neurotypical people, these tasks may seem relatively straightforward. But I have ADHD, which renders me endlessly curious and likely to make very big plans because I want to try all the things. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you!
If that description resonates with you—if you feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities, but you don’t know where to start—and you’d like my support, you can work with me [LINK TO PAGE].
About my garden
My home sits on a suburban 0.2-acre lot, and I cultivate flowers, vegetables, herbs, and fruit on roughly half of that space. During the spring and summer growing seasons, my yard has roughly equal parts sun and shade. Here are three views of part of my backyard:
Annuals
Although the majority of the plants in my yard are perennials, I’ve left gaps for annual vegetables and flowers. These annuals usually include heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and a variety of flowers, all of which I grow from seed.
Perennials
I love perennials because they require relatively little care. In my garden, perennials (or annuals that reseed themselves) include strawberries, penstemon, yucca, feverfew, calendula, salvia, bleeding hearts, allium, tulips, irises, and more—plus several fruit trees.
Vertical elements
I love to take advantage of fence space and trellises to grow vines and other plants that need support. Throughout the year, you might see beans, sweet pea, morning glory, clematis, and raspberry, among others, taking advantage of these supports.
Hi! I’m Leslie, and I love growing.
I grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers—so many flowers!—in the front and back yards of my suburban home in Boise, Idaho. I also offer workshops and coaching to help people grow beautiful, productive gardens.
I’ve been gardening for years, but grew on a very modest scale or with varying levels of success—until recently, when I finally managed to:
- synthesize everything I had learned about gardening—and apply it.
- develop a system to design and manage a large, ambitious home garden.
- set aside the resources and time I needed to give the garden the attention it deserves.
For some neurotypical people, these tasks may seem relatively straightforward. But I have ADHD, which renders me endlessly curious and likely to make very big plans because I want to try all the things. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you!
If that description resonates with you—if you feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities, but you don’t know where to start—and you’d like my support, you can work with me [LINK TO PAGE].
About my garden
My home sits on a suburban 0.2-acre lot, and I cultivate flowers, vegetables, herbs, and fruit on roughly half of that space. During the spring and summer growing seasons, my yard has roughly equal parts sun and shade.
Annuals
Although the majority of the plants in my yard are perennials, I’ve left gaps for annual vegetables and flowers. These annuals usually include heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and a variety of flowers, all of which I grow from seed.
Perennials
I love perennials because they require relatively little care. In my garden, perennials (or annuals that reseed themselves) include strawberries, penstemon, yucca, feverfew, calendula, salvia, bleeding hearts, allium, tulips, irises, and more—plus several fruit trees.
Vertical elements
I love to take advantage of fence space and trellises to grow vines and other plants that need support. Throughout the year, you might see beans, sweet pea, morning glory, clematis, and raspberry, among others, taking advantage of these supports.
Outside the garden
When I’m not gardening, supporting others in their gardens, and learning more about gardening, permaculture, and ecology, I am an associate professor of history and associate director of a faculty development center at Boise State University. As a historian, I specialize in public history, museums, U.S. history, and women’s history—with a special focus on women museum scientists and botanists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Although I am employed as an historian, I have a Ph.D. in cultural studies, and degrees in English and Creative Writing as well.) In my faculty development work, I help university instructors implement meaningful changes in their courses to better support today’s diverse undergraduate and graduate students.
I also am the mother of a bright teenager and the caretaker of two pets: Jasmine, a senior Malamute/Labrador Retriever mix with a smattering of Husky and German Shepherd, and EB, a young orange tabby with a serious attitude problem.
