Q I tried to tally the number of garden books you've written or edited, but I lost count. What's the number?
A Ah, I don't really know. I generally use the number 12.
Q You have books on hellebores, water gardening, shady borders and organic gardening, to name a few. Did you ever feel the need to specialize?
A I call myself a chlorophyll whore. If it's green and noninvasive, I'm interested in it.
Q Do you have a favorite group of plants?
A Native and woodland plants are my first love, but I also am very interested in tropicals.
Q Tropicals? That's something of a surprise for a native plant enthusiast. How did that develop?
A As a kid, I always dreamed of going to a tropical forest. I was interested in the birds and I'd see pictures of colorful birds perched on a tropical plant. So I guess I came to plants in an illogical way.