About Art in Bloom Garden Tours

Art in Bloom Garden Tours is led by the accomplished partnership of Teresa Watkins and Tony DeSormier, whose combined expertise in horticulture, landscape design, education, history, and cultural studies creates an exceptional travel experience for garden enthusiasts.

Teresa Watkins is a nationally recognized garden author, landscape designer, horticulturist, and broadcast personality. She is the owner of Sustainable Horticultural Environments (SHE), where she designs distinctive, award‑winning sustainable landscapes for residential and commercial clients. Under her leadership, SHE earned the Best of Houzz Service Award for eleven consecutive years.

Over the past 25 years, Teresa has educated more than 44,000 homeowners, Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, cities, counties, and contractors, through her extensive catalog of landscaping programs. Her presentations span foundational environmental stewardship to specialized topics such as themed garden design, xeriscaping, and creative landscape concepts.

A member of Garden Communicators International, Teresa is a 28‑year veteran of garden broadcasting. After hosting the long‑running, award‑winning program In Your Backyard, she now leads the award-winning Better Lawns and Gardens, Florida’s most popular syndicated garden radio show, heard on WFLA‑Orlando, iHeart, iTunes, and all major podcast platforms. She is also the author of numerous gardening articles and three volumes of A Gardener’s Compendium, a series featuring curated collections of gardening quotations, history, and commentary.

Teresa’s passion for horticultural travel has taken her to celebrated gardens across the nation and around the world, where she now guides guests through curated itineraries that highlight exceptional landscapes, design traditions, and cultural heritage.

Tony DeSormier holds a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. For more than two decades, he has taught humanities courses at Valencia College and Seminole State College, bringing depth and context to subjects ranging from cultural history to the arts. A professional writer and avid storyteller, Tony enriches each tour with insights into historical, architectural, and cultural themes that complement Teresa’s horticultural expertise.

Tony’s interests include reading works by J. R. R. Tolkien, Carl Hiaasen, Jim Butcher, and Robert B. Parker, playing guitar, and creating intricate cross‑stitch patterns while enjoying the Red Sox, hockey, and with Teresa, their four children and 11 grandchildren.

Together, Teresa and Tony are committed to providing sublime experiences by leading a thoughtfully curated schedule of established tours while introducing new destinations that celebrate exceptional gardens, architecture, art, and regional culture. Their tours are designed for small groups of like‑minded travelers, offering intimate, enriching experiences in horticulture and beyond.

Teresa is a proud member of the National Garden Bureau and GardenComm: Garden Communicators International.