Bio

Marie Harrison was born and raised in rural Mississippi at a time when our country was just pulling out of the Great Depression. Each of the nine members of the family worked hard for life's necessities. They milked cows, raised chickens and gathered eggs, grew large vegetable gardens, and were largely self-sufficient. Crops furnished food for the family as well as for the animals. These experiences are mirrored in Marie’s writing as she relates how her family used sage in the making of sausage, remembers Granny’s favorite flowers, and tells of her personal experiences in many phases of her gardening life.

Marie earned a B.S. Degree in Music Education from Mississippi State University and then went on to earn her M.A. from the University of South Alabama. She taught school in Mississippi and Florida for thirty years and retired in 1997. Loss of a spouse, remarriage, and a move brought her to her present home in Valparaiso, Florida. Here she shares life with her husband, John Harrison, whom she affectionately calls "Amiable Spouse" in her writing. Marie and John share five children and four grandchildren.

Immediately following retirement, Marie began making up for lost time in pursuit of her lifetime gardening passion. She joined Valparaiso Garden Club in September of 1997 and served as president from 1999-2001. From 2001 - 2003 she served as Director of District I of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs (FFGC). Through the FFGC she earned credentials as an Accredited Flower Show Judge and a Floral Design Instructor. In 2003 she began to serve on the Board of Directors for both FFGC and the Deep South Region. She continues to be very active in this organization.

In 1998 Marie fulfilled a longtime ambition when she became a University of Florida Master Gardener volunteer. She served on its board of Directors and continues to participate actively in the Okaloosa County Master Gardener program. In 2001 she was awarded the Florida Master Gardener Award of Excellence for her work in Educational Materials Development. She developed educational programs on such topics as perennials, salt-tolerant plants, flowering shrubs and vines, plants for the floral designer's landscape, gardening for wildlife, native plants for home landscapes, and others.

Another longtime ambition was filled when Marie became a Flower Show School Horticulture Instructor for National Garden Clubs. In this capacity, she travels over much of the South and beyond teaching horticulture to soon-to-become Flower Show Judges. Now her sights are set on becoming qualified to teach Symposia and Flower Show Procedure.

After retirement, she began writing a weekly gardening column for local newspapers, the Beacon Express, the Destin Log, the Walton Log, and the Crestview News Bulletin. Later she began writing for the Northwest Florida Daily News and the Tallahassee Democrat. She is a contributing writer for Florida Gardening magazine.

Marie's gardening interests are broad in scope. She maintains a large perennial border and a not-so-measly group of flowering trees and shrubs. Herbs and vegetables, fruits, container plants, and many others are scattered throughout the landscape. Her garden contains plants for floral designs, and she incorporates plants to attract butterflies, birds, and other wildlife. Her garden is a National Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife Habitat and is frequently included on community tours of gardens.

Marie has won several awards from National Garden Clubs, including Member Award of Honor in 2005 and the Helen Hull Award for Literary Horticultural Interest for her books, Southern Gardening, an Environmentally Sensitive Approach (2005) and Groundcovers for the South (2006). From the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Marie has been awarded the Blanche Capel Covington Leadership Award, (2006), Horticulture Leadership (2003), Outstanding Service (2003), and #3 Leadership Award (2003).

Marie is a frequent lecturer at educational seminars, garden clubs, and other civic groups throughout Florida and the Deep South. Through her books, Gardening in the Coastal South, Southern Gardening, an Environmentally Sensitive Approach, and Groundcovers for the South, she hopes to help gardeners throughout the South learn to garden more effectively and with keener insight into the impact they make on the environment. Flowering Shrubs and Small Trees for the South is currently at the publisher, and Marie is working on Plants for the Floral Designer's Garden.