Nan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (roughly mid-Zone 6). Under the supervision of her two alpacas, Duncan and Daniel, she gardens on four acres in full sun: about two acres of managed meadow, one acre of pasture, and one acre of intensively planted and open shrubbery areas.

Nan has a B.S. in Agronomy and Environmental Science from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. After five years as a garden book editor at Rodale Press in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, she became a freelance garden writer and editor. Some titles she is known for include:

• Grasses: Versatile Partners for Uncommon Garden Design (with fellow GGW-er Saxon Holt as the photographer; over 100,000 copies in print)
• The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer (with GGW Guest Contributor Rob Cardillo as the photographer; winner of a Silver Award from the Garden Writers Association in 2006)
• Foliage: Astonishing Color and Texture beyond Flowers (again with Rob Cardillo as the photographer; winner of an American Horticultural Society Book Award in 2008)
• Fallscaping: Extending Your Garden Season into Autumn (yet again with Rob Cardillo as the photographer)

Her two most recent books were released in July of 2009:

• The Perennial Care Manual (once more with photographer Rob Cardillo)
• Lessons from Linden Hill: Design Tips and Planning Pointers (co-written with Jerry Fritz)

Nan’s own blog is at Hayefield