Scott Beuerlein, Author at GardenRant

Scott Beuerlein

Over twenty years, Scott Beuerlein has published hundreds of articles for several publications and online. Apart from his contributions to Garden Rant, Scott writes two columns for Horticulture Magazine–the (hopefully) humorous and/or insightful Deep Roots column and also the Garden Views column in which he interviews some of the green industry’s top professionals. Since 2019, Scott has won two Gold Medals and two Silver Medals from Garden Communicators International. None of this has made him rich.

Scott’s day job is Manager of Botanical Garden Outreach at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. In 2024, Scott joined the Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum’s Board of Directors as an advocate for its legacy of tremendous horticulture. Scott is also the Chair of the Boone County Arboretum Collections Committee. He is the Founder and past-President of the tree planting initiative Taking Root, past-President of the Cincinnati Flower Growers Association, and past-President of the Northern Kentucky Urban and Community Forestry Council. None of this has made him rich, either.

Scott is married to Michele and has been for 40+ years. They are empty nesters living a pretty good life based on hard work, good food, travel, and wine. A lot of wine. Their garden is best described as over-sized and under-maintained, which, actually, is also a pretty fair description of Scott.

As a self taught, late to the party, second career horticulturist, Scott is proud of being an OGIA Certified Landscape Technician and an ISA Certified Arborist and has repeatedly defeated the efforts of both organizations to expel him from their ranks in court.

Articles by Scott Beuerlein

Tripling Down on Zinnias

Tripling Down on Zinnias

By Scott Beuerlein|2021-11-19T08:34:03-05:00November 17, 2021|

So let's be more careful about labeling plants our grandparents grew as old-fashioned because, let's face it, Rick Danko was way the hell cooler than Taylor Swift and your grandmother was way the hell cooler than you. In fact, there's no possible way that the world's coolest millennial, or GenXer, or GenYer, or BroodXer, or whatever is even half as cool as the least cool person at Woodstock. If you exclude all the members of Sha Na Na. So don't give me no shit about Zinnias being old-fashioned. You should be so lucky to be that kind of old-fashioned.

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Weepers Are the Pedal Steel Guitar of the Garden

Weepers Are the Pedal Steel Guitar of the Garden

By Scott Beuerlein|2021-10-20T20:06:40-04:00October 20, 2021|

Any weeping katsura is not only proof that God exists but one will also answer any other hard questions you might have. ‘Amazing Grace’ weeping katsura, however, does all that and also makes you rich.

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Gauging Horticulture’s Place in the General Public’s Consciousness: A Letter From The Midwest.

Gauging Horticulture’s Place in the General Public’s Consciousness: A Letter From The Midwest.

By Scott Beuerlein|2022-09-22T12:35:58-04:00October 17, 2021|

One of the challenges horticulture faces in proving its importance is that it does most of its best work at the subconscious level.

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Putting Words of Wisdom into the Mouths of Strangers

Putting Words of Wisdom into the Mouths of Strangers

By Scott Beuerlein|2021-09-26T22:04:53-04:00September 26, 2021|

Over the years, I have found that putting words into other people's mouths can be a lot of fun. And it can get one into big trouble. But I've never [...]

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Getting Hosed in the August Garden; Another Letter from the Midwest

Getting Hosed in the August Garden; Another Letter from the Midwest

By Scott Beuerlein|2021-08-19T11:45:37-04:00August 18, 2021|

But, until I actually get around to planning a reptilian vacation, I'm dragging hoses. And hoses are the work of the devil! Evil, terrible products. Horrendous inventions from the very beginning.

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On Wild Mushrooms, Bears, and Teenage Girls: A Letter from The Midwest

On Wild Mushrooms, Bears, and Teenage Girls: A Letter from The Midwest

By Scott Beuerlein|2022-09-22T12:40:12-04:00June 28, 2021|

If you insist on traipsing around in the hollers of Virginia like Lewis and Clark, out there randomly meandering about along with all the various drug runners, moonshiners, and village psychopaths. Making yourself subject to the mood, hunger, and whims of every snake, spider, bear, and cougar loose in the woods. Completely vulnerable to things like quicksand, booby traps, landmines, and God knows whatever else, then at least be smart. Bring a teenage girl with you! Which, in fact, is what Lewis and Clark did. They knew.

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Brood X Cicada Observations, Unenlightened and Free of the Usual Facts

Brood X Cicada Observations, Unenlightened and Free of the Usual Facts

By Scott Beuerlein|2021-10-29T08:11:12-04:00June 16, 2021|

This won't be one of those cutesy, fawning posts that all the shiny, happy cool kids seem to be writing on Facebook and in blogs all over the Western world. And don’t expect any facts either--just observations. My observations, and, yes, I fully admit that I'm nothing more than a very tired and intellectually lazy horticulturist who is living under a dome of cicadas for the fourth time.

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The Joy of Natural Beauties

The Joy of Natural Beauties

By Scott Beuerlein|2021-05-22T06:53:01-04:00May 19, 2021|

You’ll prize the rarity of bloom. Look forward to seedlings from those that drop dead. You’ll have fewer seizures in a garden with less variegated plants. And you’ll take pride in living long enough to enjoy the slow grower that has finally achieved some size.

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Resilience!

Resilience!

By Scott Beuerlein|2021-10-29T08:11:37-04:00April 21, 2021|

But, in the end, I think the only message here is how much life wants to live, what a miracle it is, and how amazing it is to observe and to be a part of.

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I’m Project-ed Out! Weariness Projected Through Labor Day! A Letter from The Midwest.

I’m Project-ed Out! Weariness Projected Through Labor Day! A Letter from The Midwest.

By Scott Beuerlein|2022-09-22T12:44:13-04:00April 4, 2021|

Usually March around here is pretty dire. It is when the novelty of the outside air being so cold you can freeze water in it has long lost its charm and when the utter lack of any color outside becomes unbearable. Invariably, it’s the time of year when anything in the garden that might have once promised “winter interest” can only still be identified by means of dental records.

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Instant Gratification Is No Match for the Garden

Instant Gratification Is No Match for the Garden

By Scott Beuerlein|2021-03-19T08:50:49-04:00March 17, 2021|

Yes, gardening certainly has its moments of pleasure, but it takes time and effort before those pleasures grow from an intermittent trickle to a steady flow. Keep at it. Enjoy the process all along the way. Sooner or later, your garden will reach that critical mass when it surrounds you like a warm embrace.

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