If you ever needed some know-how on gardening, Denny McKeown was your guy.
McKeown was known to many from his Saturday morning radio program, “The Denny McKeown Gardening Show,” and from his Blue Ash business, Denny McKeown’s Bloomin Garden Centre and Landscape.
He died Sunday at age 81. His show was syndicated across the Midwest, but back home McKeown was always known as Cincinnati’s garden guru
And his impact went beyond the garden, according to his son Chris McKeown. He was remembered for his community work, as well as his humor and kindness toward others.
“He was good at making people laugh, even at his own expense,” he said of his father.
McKeown was widely recognized for his green thumb, but his impact was far-reaching. He previously served as a Deer Park city councilmember and a Sycamore Township trustee upon moving to each community. “He always wanted to give back,” his son said.
One of his most prized community initiatives, according to his son, was organizing the charitable WSAI haunted house in the 1970s. In the first year, $21,000 was raised. That was a fraction of what they’d raise in years to come, with $121,000 raised in the next year’s event at $1 admission.
Still, gardening was both a day job and a passion. The passion turned into the radio program and a column in The Enquirer, which his son has taken over.
McKeown’s word was the law of the land in the gardening world.
“If he said he liked a knockout rose on the radio, by the time he had been done talking about it, everybody in Cincinnati had a knockout rose,” Chris McKeown said.
The same went for his famous three-step fertilizer program.
“If he did to do it a certain way, that’s the way they did it,” Chris McKeown said.
McKeown is survived by his son Chris, daughters Jenny and Molly, and wife Pat. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Vincent Ferrer, located at 7754 Montgomery Road in Sycamore Township.