About Erica Browne Grivas
A lifelong journalist and avid gardener, Seattle-based Erica Browne Grivas has been schooled by plants on both coasts. She’s worked at nurseries and as a gardener. Her feature writing, seen in the Seattle Times, Horticulture Magazine and the American Gardener has won two Garden Communicators International’s Gold Medals – its highest honor. A columnist for several Washington papers on gardening and wellness, she loves exploring the relationship between humans and nature and sharing ways to make us both healthier.
Education and Certifications
Certificate, Landscape Design, The New York Botanical Garden
Expertise
Sustainable Landscapes
Nurseries
Pacific Northwest Gardening
Favorite Plants
The more I garden, the more I appreciate plants that feed pollinators or me. I look for strong performers that need few inputs and provide winter interest. Salvias nourish bees and butterflies while blooming for a long season and are fairly drought tolerant. I have been finding more space for coral bells (heucheras), which offer a rainbow of leaf color (even in winter) and a long bloom period. While they need water, hydrangeas are another favorite plant because their flowers morph through the season. Additionally, oakleaf hydrangeas add fall color, and some panicle hydrangeas draw pollinators like crazy. When I have space for it, I will plant a white oak because oaks, the superstar of keystone species, support more than 900 varieties of caterpillars.