Jessica Mercer, Ph.D., is a Senior Horticulturist, science communicator, and content strategist. She combines doctoral-level scientific training with extensive hands-on gardening experience to create clear, evidence-based guidance for home gardeners and consumer audiences.

Jessica gardens in the Northeast and has also gardened extensively in the Pacific Northwest, growing hundreds of shrubs, perennials, conifers, ornamental grasses, shade plants, houseplants, and container plants. Her areas of expertise include plant selection, pruning, propagation, plant troubleshooting, dwarf conifers and compact evergreens, deer-resistant gardening, shade gardening, low-maintenance landscapes, and native and pollinator plantings.

She earned her Ph.D. in Experimental Neuroscience from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2007. Before moving into horticultural media, she spent more than a decade writing and editing peer-reviewed oncology manuscripts and National Institutes of Health grant proposals. That background continues to shape her work today, as she evaluates university Extension guidance, horticultural research, breeder information, and cultivar-specific data to provide practical, trustworthy advice.

As Senior Horticulturist at Plant Addicts, Jessica researches, writes, edits, and reviews horticultural content for home gardeners and leads a 10-member freelance team. Her expertise has been featured in Martha Stewart, Homes & Gardens, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Real Homes, Den Garden, Livingetc, Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens, and The Spruce.