Our Founder
Denny McKeown
1941 - 2022
For thousands of Midwest gardeners, Denny McKeown was the man to ask about any lawn and garden problem. He was a respected, popular, and highly regarded gardening expert. Denny was a part of the nursery business for over 60 years.
McKeown’s love of gardening began at the age of five when the man hired to landscape his family’s home let him participate as much as he could with the project. “I am truly blessed,” says McKeown, “to be able to say that at age five I knew what I wanted to do as my life’s work.”
Denny attended Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati but said his practical experience was his true education. An uninspired scholar in high school, he was voted “most likely to fail” by his graduating class – a slight his classmates sought to rectify when, at their 25th reunion, they presented him an award for “most improved.” Among other professional and civic accomplishments, Denny was a former National President of the Garden Centers of America and he produced the first Jaycees Haunted House, a fund raiser that has inspired hundreds of similar projects across the country, raising millions of dollars for charity.
From 1981 to 2012, Denny hosted a Saturday morning radio program, “The Denny McKeown Gardening Show”, which aired on various local radio stations in the Cincinnati area. During this time, the show was also broadcast in radio markets throughout the Midwest. While hosting the radio show, Denny also produced weekly garden features for local news stations. For over 24 years, he provided weekly gardening tips on local news every Saturday and Sunday. With all of this radio and television exposure, Denny quickly became a local celebrity known as “Cincinnati’s Garden Guru.” Denny also wrote a weekly garden column for the Cincinnati Enquirer.
In 1985, Denny published his first book, “Denny McKeown’s Complete Guide to Midwest Gardening,”. Since then, Denny has written eight more garden books. His last book, published in 2015, is the “Ohio Getting Started Garden Guide.”
Denny opened Bloomin Garden Centre and Landscape in 1992. Denny set the standards, focusing on providing high quality and successfully proven plants, garden products, and landscape services to local customers. Denny’s son Chris also helped established the success of the company. In 2015 Chris became the owner of the company. Denny slowly transitioned to partial retirement to full retirement in 2019.
Denny’s life was dedicated to gardening. He was also dedicated to his family. At the time of his passing, he was married to Patricia. He also had two daughters, Molly and Jenny. Between Molly, Chris, and Jenny he had seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Over the years, Denny learned his success depended solely on the success of the customers’ yards we serviced and landscaped. His common sense, matter-of-fact approach to gardening focused on low-maintenance, high-performance, and high color plants, all delivered using his unique sense of humor, shared freely with everyone he met. His positive influences will always be part of the Bloomin Garden Centre and Landscape traditions.
