Acclaimed garden designer Barbara Blossom Ashmun is the author of six books, including Married to My Garden (Easy Chair Press, 2003) and Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary (Chronicle Books, 2000). She writes Garden Muse, a weekly garden column for the Portland Tribune (www.portlandtribune.com), and has written for many garden magazines, including Fine Gardening and Better Homes & Gardens. Ashmun lectures for garden shows, botanic gardens, libraries, and garden societies, and has been interviewed on TV and radio programs and for newspapers. She gardens on 2/3 of an acre in Southwest Portland and enjoys opening her garden to the public.