PENELOPE O’SULLIVAN – BIOGRAPHY

Penny O'Sullivan

Penelope O’Sullivan is the author of “The Homeowner’s Complete Tree & Shrub Handbook: The Essential Guide to Choosing, Planting, and Maintaining Perfect Landscape Plants” (Storey Publishing, 2007) and 11 more books on trees, shrubs, hedges, flowers, herbs, and garden design. She also writes numerous articles for magazines, including Organic Gardening, Country Gardens, and Better Homes & Gardens, for which she is also a field editor. She belongs to the American Conifer Society, the Perennial Plant Association, and was a regional director of the Garden Writers Association. Penny trained as a master gardener at the University of Delaware and studied at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania and Radcliffe Seminars/The Landscape Institute in Massachusetts. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from the University of Delaware. She lives with her family in New Hampshire’, where she writes, gardens, and practices landscape design.

Penelope’s Current Lecture List

Designing Gardens with Trees & Shrubs: Tips on Choosing, Planting, and Maintaining Perfect Landscape Plants
How do you use trees and shrubs effectively in garden design? What’s the biggest mistake both homeowners and landscapers make when planting a tree? How can you prune a tree for a tropical effect? Based on my book, “The Homeowner’s Complete Tree & Shrub Handbook,” this talk answers these questions and many more.

Fabulous Foliage: Year-Round Color with Trees & Shrubs. New varieties of evergreen and deciduous woodies appear all the time, increasing the possibilities for striking plant combinations in the garden. But color and texture are potent design tools, and it takes some thought to use them well. In this talk, we’ll explore strategies for adding trees and shrubs of many hues for interest throughout the year.

Spatial Design: Form and Function
Successful landscapes create positive physical and emotional connections between designed spaces and the people using them. This talk explores how landscapes can respect peoples’ needs, stimulate their senses, and show conscious understanding of how mass and space relate.

Penelope’s Writing

The Pruning Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You’ll Ever Face; Answers to Every Question You’ll Ever Ask, by Lewis Hill & Penelope O’Sullivan, Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA, coming 2011

The Homeowner’s Complete Tree & Shrub Handbook:
The Essential Guide to Choosing, Planting, and Maintaining Perfect Landscape Plants
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA, 2007

Miracle-Gro Beautiful Perennials
Simple techniques to make your garden sensational
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Meredith Books/Meredith Corp., Des Moines, IA, 2006

All About Bonsai
Basic methods for raising miniature trees, and a guide to plant selection and care
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Ortho Books/Meredith Corp., Des Moines IA, 2004

Tips, Tasks & Timetables for a Beautiful Garden
A friendly, month-by-month guide with advice and ideas for gardens in Zones 3-7
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Country Living Gardener/Hearst Books, New York, 2003

All About the Easiest Flowers to Grow
A concise guide to growing 100 easy flowers, including 16 garden plans for varying conditions
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Ortho Books/Meredith Corp., Des Moines, IA, 2001

Garden Almanac: A Month-by-Month Guide
A friendly, month-by-month guide with advice and ideas for gardens in Zones 3-6
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Country Living Gardener/Hearst Books, New York, 2000

Color and Texture:
Decorative expressions for today’s home
By Ann Rooney Hever, Jessica Elin Hirschman, Penelope O’Sullivan, Ellen Plante
Michael Friedman Publishing Group, New York 2000

All About Shrubs and Hedges
Growing techniques, ideas, and easy landscape projects for 125 shrubs
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Ortho Books/Meredith Corp., Des Moines, IA, 1999

Taylor’s 50 Best Herbs and Edible Flowers
Favorite and uncommon herbs and edible flowers in an easy-to-use format
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1999

Taylor’s 50 Best Roses
A tempting glimpse of time-tested roses
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1999

For Your Home: Stone and Marble
An inspiring look at stone in houses and gardens
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Michael Friedman/Barnes and Noble, New York, 1999

For Your Garden: Garden Sheds and Potting Areas
Turn your shed, garage, or potting area into a garden asset
By Penelope O’Sullivan, Michael Friedman/Barnes and Noble, New York, 1998

Penelope O’Sullivan contributed to the following magazines:
•Better Homes and Gardens
•Traditional Home
•Country Home
•Country Gardens
•Perennials
•Flower Gardening
•Garden, Deck & Landscape
•Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living
•Garden Products & Planning Guide
•Organic Gardening
•Simply Perfect Garden magazine series
•Window & Wall Ideas
•The Designer: Journal for the Association of Professional Landscape Designers
•FTD in Bloom

Penelope O’Sullivan contributed to the following books:
•All About the Easiest Roses to Grow
(Ortho Books, Des Moines, IA, 2002)
•Sunset Northeastern Garden Book
(Sunset Books, Menlo Park, CA, 2001)
•Garden Favorites: Designing with Herbs, Climbers, Roses, and Grasses
(Michael Friedman, 1999)

Penelope’s Speaking Venues (partial list)

Wiggin Memorial Library, Stratham, NH (November 2007, January 2009, April 2010)
Seaspray Garden Club, Salisbury, MA (Nov. 9, 2009)
Portsmouth Garden Club, NH (July 24, 2009)
University of Vermont, Burlington, VT (April 24, 2009)
Ohio State Nursery Short Course, Columbus, OH (January 28, 2009)
Delaware Horticulture Industry Expo and Annual Pesticide Conference, Dover, DE (January 2009)
Cox Arboretum, Keynote, Dayton, OH (October 5, 2008)
Garden Writers Association, Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (September 21, 2008)
Exeter Garden Club, NH (May 15, 2008)
Scott’s Landscaping & Nursery, New Milford, CT (May 3, 2008)
Portland (ME) Flower Show, Portland, ME (March 8, 2008)
Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA (March 2 & 3, 2008)
Connecticut Flower Show, Hartford, CT (February 23, 2008)
Rhode Island Flower Show, Providence, RI (February 2008, February 2009)
Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Assn., Annual Meeting, State College, PA (February 12-14, 2008)
Tuftonboro Library, Tuftonboro, NH (January 3, 2008)
Mary E. Bartlett Memorial Library, Brentwood, NH (April 25, 2007)
Currey Ingram Academy, Brentwood, TN (February 23, 2006)
New Hampshire Master Gardeners Annual Meeting, Keynote, Manchester, NH (April 2005)

Book signings (partial list)

Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC, July 14, 2010
Village Books, Bellingham, WA, August 20, 2009
Powell’s Books, Beaverton, OR, August 18, 2009
Chaucer’s Bookstore, Santa Barbara, CA, June 11, 2009
Copperfield’s, Sebastopol, CA, June 9, 2009
Northshire Books, Manchester, VT, June 4, 2009
Blithewold Mansion and Gardens, Bristol, RI, April 2009