Gardenia Organic: helping you garden with ease and expertise
Our mission started with the simple idea that anyone could become a gardener (or a better one) with just a little help.
We are that help!
Whether you are just starting out or a seasoned gardener, we are here to guide you on your green-thumbed journey.
We offer comprehensive, informative, trustworthy, and enjoyable content that gardeners like you can use to learn, grow, and accomplish your gardening goals.
We’re passionate about our work because you and your garden are worth it. We want you to be proud of your results without breaking your back to get there.
The Gardenia Organic team is a diverse group who share a deep-rooted love of gardening. We come with a wealth of knowledge, qualifications, and experience. Our mission is to share our passion and expertise to help gardeners garden better!
Our Team
Gardenia Organic: where passion meets expertise
Meet our amazing Gardenia Organic team.
Kyla Atkinson
Sustainable Gardening & Wildlife Lead
Kyla is an ecologist, writer, and photographer in the Pacific Northwest. She holds an Honors Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management, specializing in Wildlife Conservation. With over 10 years of experience exploring nature, horticulture, pollinators, and environmental sustainability, she has a deep passion for the natural world.
She is our wildlife expert here at Gardenia Organic. Want to know the geographic range of red foxes or what ladybugs eat? She’s our go-to resource! Her first love is animals and she loves sharing all her knowledge on her favorite creatures and their interaction within ecosystems and your garden.
In her free time, she enjoys beach-combing, fossil hunting, and bird-watching.
Kathy Goddard
Horticultural Lead
Kathy is an independent garden designer and consultant. She obtained her BSc in Botany/Environmental Sciences from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. She worked in the gardening retail industry for several years before running a small garden design and installation business on the west coast for eleven years. She then moved to the east coast, where she now works at a nursery and continues to consult with clients on all their garden and house plant needs.
Juliet Yates
Managing Editor
Juliet is the Managing Editor of Gardenia Organic, a writer, and a gardening enthusiast. Originally from the UK, she is now based in the mountains of Western Canada. She grows vegetables for self-sufficiency, flowers for hummingbirds, and owns a ranch. She loves learning new things and appreciates all the team teaches her!
She is passionate about sustainable living, food preserving, eating homegrown veggies, and her dogs and horses.
Contributors
Liz Stewart
Writer
Liz is a writer and gardener from southwest Manitoba. She grew up working on her family’s market vegetable garden and now oversees a community garden project. She has ten years of gardening experience. In the last three years, she’s especially become obsessed with soil health and low-cost gardening.
Liz is also a fiction writer, published in journals such as carte blanche and Plenitude Magazine. She loves traversing Canada with her girlfriend and cooking with the food that she’s grown.
Lauren Mackay
Master Gardener & Writer
Lauren is a lifelong gardener and writer, therapeutic horticulturist, former archeologist, hobby photographer, and new weaver and spinner.
Throughout her career, Lauren has observed and explored various connections between humanity and the natural world. She is currently focused on building resilience in the community through gardening and stewardship practices. She holds degrees from Carleton University and Grant MacEwan University, is a Master Gardener, and member of both Canadian and American Horticultural Therapy Associations.
Mackenzie Urquijo-Flores
Garden Advisor & Writer
Mackenzie is a gardening enthusiast, health coach, and writer. She obtained her Master’s degree from Universidad de Salamanca. She has been working as a gardening advisor for the past six years.
In her private time, she enjoys playing music, exercising, studying, and spending time with friends. She enjoys deep conversations and forest walks.
