Margaret Roach
Naturalist, Author, Columnist, Podcaster
Member since: 2025
Proposed by: Philipstown Garden Club, Zone III
Seconded by: North Suffolk Garden Club, Zone III
Horticulture superhero Margaret Roach describes herself as "a corporate-publishing dropout, having left the city and 'success' in late 2007 for a life lived much more quietly and close to nature." Her corporate roles included the position as garden editor for Newsday, as first garden editor for Martha Stewart Living magazine, and as executive vice president and editorial director of magazines, books, and internet for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Margaret Roach is currently a contributing columnist for The New York Times, the best-selling author of A Way to Garden: A Hands-On Primer for Every Season, and The Backyard Parables: Lessons on Gardening and Life. She presents a weekly public radio podcast, posts a blog, welcomes visitors to her garden, teaches workshops, and hosts a virtual garden club.
Her writing and counseling have inspired an ever-increasing number of home gardeners to delight in the joys of the practice and appreciate the role they play in creating habitat for nurturing wildlife. The forum she provides in her column, blog, and podcast for voices in support of native plants and biodiversity such as Dan Hinkley and Doug Tallamy awakens the sensibilities of her audience to horticulture in important ways.
