4 Questions for Kate, a Garden Center Owner

Throughout 2026, host Bill Calkins has been catching up with different people in the professional horticulture space and find out a little bit about their careers, passions, journeys in the world of plants and much more. He sent each potential guest a list of 12 questions and they picked four to answer and discuss. This episode, Bill is joined by his friend Kate Terrell, owner/president/GM of Wallace’s Garden Center in Bettendorf, Iowa. Kate is pretty much an industry icon at this point. She heads up her family’s business growing and selling plants and a whole lot more than that. She’s active in tons of industry leadership roles, writes articles for industry magazines, serves on committees and boards and is also a leader in her local community. It’s amazing she finds enough hours in her days to do everything. Plus, she’s a mom, Cubs and Cyclones fan and top-notch businesswoman. She has a lot to share this episode so be sure to stick around all the way to the end!   Here are the four questions Kate selected: Q: What’s something about professional horticulture that annoys you and how would you change it? Q: What are your top 3 favorite annuals? And perennials?   Q: What advice would you give to a young person considering pursuit of a career in horticulture? Q: What advice would you give to an industry veteran currently dealing with “burnout”?   This episode is sponsored by Mycorrhizal Applications—master distributor of biological and botanical plant support solutions and the world’s leading supplier of mycorrhizal soil inoculants. Learn more and connect with the expert team at mycorrhizae.com. (https://mycorrhizae.com/)