Mary Schier

Mary Schier lives in Minnesota and is a member of GardenComm Region 5! She has been a member for over ten years and is an author, blogger, freelancer, and podcaster.

GardenComm continues to appeal to Mary for the connections she makes with other members and the information she gains, such as the podcast power circle in 2020. Mary enjoys sharing information and getting to know garden communicators from different parts of the country. Mary has attended several GardenComm webinars on both business and creative aspects of garden communication and is part of the local arrangements committee for the annual conference in Minnesota in 2023. She says, "We're looking forward to sharing all our northern gardens with GardenComm members -- it's going to be fun!"

She produces content focused on providing practical ideas and information for cold-climate gardeners, mostly in USDA Zones 3-4. Currently, Mary is working with the Minnesota State Horticultural Society as it transitions Northern Gardener magazine to a larger, quarterly publication. Mary says the transition has presented some excellent opportunities to showcase different content types and appeal to younger, new gardeners.

Her book, The Northern Gardener: From Apples to Zinnias, combines how-to information with garden history in the North. It won a Silver Award from GardenComm in 2018. Mary's other work includes blogging at MyNorthernGarden.com and northerngardener.org, the website of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society.

Mary has been the editor of Northern Gardener magazine since 2005, and in 2020, she began a podcast called Grow it, Minnesota (growitminnesota.com). It is on hiatus, but the old episodes are still online and feature many GardenComm members.

You can find Mary on Instagram at @mynortherngarden_mary.