Great Grow Along (GGA), an annual ten-day virtual festival, aims to connect and inspire gardeners with influencers worldwide while educating them on cutting-edge content. The 2023 festival, which ran in March, featured sixty+ educational sessions and virtual garden tours. A record-breaking 56k people logged in to see the speakers and chat with the community.

This event is for gardeners of all experience levels and is free for live streaming during the event. Every day of the festival is packed with expert education, practical advice, and creative inspiration from industry leaders and top influencers.

Now that the event has passed, viewers can subscribe for an on-demand session here.

Catchy names for each day, such as Wildlife Wednesday and Sustainability Sunday, aim to bring attention to the topics covered. Big-named brands like Park® Seed, Sunset® Plant Collection, and Garden For Wildlife™ sponsor the event to keep the content current and free of charge for viewers. 

Whether this was your first year attending or your third, everyone left the event with a wealth of information about various gardening topics. Sessions presented ranged from water-wise plantings to supporting hummingbird species and creating a healthy gardening ecosystem.
 
One of the festival's creators, LaManda Joy, believes the world would be better with more gardeners. "I am thrilled to empower individuals to reach new heights in their gardening journey," says Joy. "This festival allows us to share our expertise and advice and puts education at the forefront, giving new gardeners the confidence and tools they need to succeed."

Read on to learn more about the Great Grow Along and highlights from a few sessions!

Today’s guest on Grow! With Katie is Doug Tallamy, a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. 

He has authored eighty research articles and has taught Insect Taxonomy, Behavioral Ecology, Humans and Nature, and other courses for thirty-two years.

Tallamy devotes his time to research so he can better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. 

He also wrote a handful of books; Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard, The Living Landscape, and Bringing Home Nature: How you can sustain wildlife with native plants. All of these can be found at http://www.bringingnaturehome.net/.

For this week’s Speaker Series, we sat down with the newest member of the Garden Media team, intern Nicole Guarasci. Nicole is a Junior at the University of Delaware, majoring in mass communication with minors in advertising and journalism.

Nicole definitely stays busy at school! She is the public relations VP for her sorority Gamma Phi Beta, a social media ambassador for the University of Delaware (you can find her @BlueHenNicole on Twitter), and a Style Guru Intern at CollegeFashionista. 

Through her experiences at the University of Delaware, Nicole has really found her place in the PR world.

Continue reading to learn more about Nicole’s experiences at Garden Media.

For this week’s speaker series, we sat down with intern, Courtney Kates.

Currently a senior at the University of Delaware, Courtney will be graduating in just a few months. She majors in mass communication and double minors in organizational &community leadership and advertising.

Courtney has definitely found her place in the PR world. Not only is this her second semester interning for Garden Media, she is also on the PR team for UDress Magazine, a student run fashion publication at UD, and worked on the PR committee for Gamma Sigma Sigma, a service organization. 

All these experiences have made her realize her love for public relations.

Continue reading to learn more about Courtney and the role she plays at Garden Media.

For this week’s speaker series, we sat down with Jill Swartzentruber. As a rising junior at the University of Delaware, she’s ready to dive head first into the PR world and cultivate her green thumb in Kennett Square.

Jill is majoring in English with a concentration in Professional Writing and a minor in Community and Organizational Leadership. She is the publisher for her university’s fashion magazine, UDress, and a proud member and contributing writer to UD’s Public Relations Society of America (PRSSA).

Blogging is one of her true passions. She writes for Delaware’s The Odyssey Online and is a style guru for CollegeFashionista.

She is excited to embark on her first public relations journey!    

Continue reading to learn more about Jill and the role she plays at Garden Media.

We sat down with Nikole Gennari for this week’s speaker series. Nikole is a rising senior at Gonzaga University where she majors in public relations and minors in marketing promotions.

Hailing all the way from Seattle, WA, Nikole is eager to learn and passionate about a career in public relations. At Gonzaga, she is involved with the Public Relations Student Society of America and will be the organization's publicity chairperson in the fall. In addition, she is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communications Honor Society.

Continue reading to learn more about Nikole and the role she plays at Garden Media.

For this week’s speaker series, we sat down with Jourdan Cole to discuss her not-so-traditional path into public relations.

As an account executive, Jourdan works closely with a variety of clients to see that their needs are met and exceeded. Her background in journalism and criminal justice provide her with a unique industry perspective.  

Continue reading to learn more about Jourdan and the role she plays a Garden Media.

For this week’s speaker series, we sat down with James Hammond, Garden Media’s resident number cruncher and media monitoring maven.

During his time here, James has done everything from shipping out packages re-designing the website. In addition to monitoring media placements, he spends time laying out graphics and content such as e-books, flyers and web banners.

Continue reading to learn more about James and the role he plays at Garden Media.

For this week’s speaker series, we sat down with Tracey Brown, Garden Media’s office manager.

While her title is short, Tracey wears an endless list of hats when it comes to the office and making it run smoothly. From bookkeeper to resident office baker, there’s nothing she can’t do. It's why we call her our "BeeKeeper."

Continue reading to learn more information about Tracey and the role she plays at Garden Media. 

For this week’s speaker series, Garden Media was thrilled to sit down with a true garden rock star over lunch. Doug Tallamy discussed biodiversity, native plants and the future of the industry. 

Tallamy is the Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. He’s the author of Bringing Nature Home, The Living Landscape and an op-ed contributor for the New York Times.

He has authored 80 research articles and has taught Insect Taxonomy, Behavioral Ecology, Humans and Nature, Insect ecology and other courses for 34 years.

Tallamy answered questions and stressed the importance of supporting food webs, pollinators and native plants. He said we need to create living landscapes where life thrives, not "dead zones" that do not support ecosystems. 

Continue reading for more information about Tallamy and his visit with Garden Media.