Episode 173: Plants with Style: Kelly Norris

We Dig Plants

Kelly Norris is a 20-something, award-winning author and plantsman from Iowa and the first director of horticulture at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, a newly revitalized 14-acre public garden in Des Moines, Iowa, and this week he joins Alice and Carmen for this season’s last show of _ We Dig Plants _. Popularly known for his book “A Guide to Bearded Irises: Cultivating the Rainbow for Beginners and Enthusiasts” and his second book, “Plants with Style,” he is also a speaker that has garnered acclaim for his high-energy, zealous presentations on the national stage, leading many to call him one of the rising stars of American horticulture. He shares with the hosts that his career infamously began at age 15 when he talked his parents into buying a nursery (Rainbow Iris Farm), and since then he’s become one of the few gurus on marketing horticulture to emerging demographics. Tune in for an inspiring show!

> #### “Horticulture is about humanity: it’s about people, plants, and passion.” [17:00]

“Plants have personality, sure it anthropomorphizes plants on some level, but gardens have a distinct personality. Gardens should be expressions of their creators.” [19:15]

–Kelly Norris on We Dig Plants