Leslie Finical Halleck, M.S. Horticulturist, Botanist and Gardener   Leslie is a Horticulturist by education and profession. She earned her Masters of Science degree in Horticulture at Michigan State University.  Prior to attending MSU she earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from the University of North Texas, Denton, where her studies focused on botany and plant ecology. She began her career in Horticulture in 1992, when she managed a retail plant nursery and operated her own gardening business. In 1998, after attending Michigan State, Leslie was offered a position at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.  As Curator of Plants, and then Director of Horticulture Research, her specific activities included the creation of their nationally recognized plant trials program and gardens, design and plant selection for all the display gardens, plant collections management, teaching, and website development.  In 2001, she was selected as an All-American Selections Judge and established an official AAS test garden at the Arboretum. Leslie maintained a joint appointment with Texas A&M University and worked on cooperative plant trials and research projects between the two organizations. Two important projects that resulted from this cooperative effort are the Benny J. Simpson Texas Native Trees and Texas Native Shrubs websites. After making the decision to move on from the Arboretum in 2003, Leslie spent two years writing and doing garden design/sales full time. In 2005 she accepted the position of General Manager for North Haven Gardens, an amazing independent garden center in Dallas, Texas. Over her career, Leslie has written hundreds of articles for local and regional publications such as D Home and Garden, Neil Sperry's Gardens, Edible Dallas & Fort Worth, Lawn & Garden Retailer, Garden Center Magazine and has research published in The Journal of Tropical Ecology, The Hosta Journal, Greenhouse Grower and Grower Talks.  She provides regular print interviews and has also made regular radio and TV appearances. She spent a year co-hosting the Saturday morning radio home & garden show on KLIF 570. Leslie continues to write for regional gardening publications and lectures regularly on a number of gardening topics. Leslie currently serves as a test gardener for Organic Gardening Magazine and as an All-America Selections Vegetable Trial Judge. She has spent time in both the Puerto Rican Rainforest and Peruvian Amazon studying indigenous plants. Personally and more importantly, Leslie has a passion for plants and devotes much of her gardening time to growing an abundance of perennials and vegetables year-round as well as raising backyard chickens and bees in the city.