Gloria is retired from the Lab School of the University of Chicago and specialized in early childhood education for 36 years. As a master gardener she carries her work with children to her favorite volunteer project, which is working at Lincoln Park's Farm in the Zoo. Gloria brings books she has collected over her years of teaching to the garden and reads to the children who visit. She uses the books to educate them on fruits and vegetables. She also volunteers at the Garfield Park Conservatory when she can. She loves being a master gardener because of the people she meets.

Gloria lives in a condo building and has no yard. She does have an indoor garden and plants annual flower boxes. She has some geraniums that she has been growing indoors for over 5 years.

Some other things about Gloria you should know:

Favorite flower: Shasta Daisies

Favorite perennial: Peonies

Gardening Tip: Keep up regular care of your plants, and get a plant sitter if you go on vacation.

Reporter: Chicago Master Gardener: Jerry Hossli

Cookie's efforts to sell a gardening tool she invented to keep soil from dropping on her neighbors while potting plants on her balcony, is what got her to become a Master Gardener. Hosting an exhibit at garden walks and flower shows, she was constantly asked gardening questions. Although a farm girl all of her life, she did not know many of the answers, so she decided to become a Master Gardener.

Today Cookie is a regular volunteer at the Lincoln Park Conservatory as a docent when not tending to plants on her balcony or her cottage garden at a summer cottage in Michigan. The rest of her day she spends selling her product called "The Wedgie." (www.wedgie.biz)

Some other things about Cookie that you should know:

Favorite annual: Double Impatiens

Favorite perennial: Phlox since they attract hummingbirds

Gardening Tip: Practice composting, use your table scraps. Amend, amend and amend your soil.

Reporter: Chicago Master Gardener: Jerry Hossli