My name is Lisa and I’ve been interested in the garden since I was 11 years old.  We moved into a house that was teeming with beautiful roses, colorful flowers and a giant plum tree.  I spent my first fall digging in the front flower box and uncovered a treasure trove of little round gems.  I spent my afternoons digging up my “crop” and hiding it away in the garage.  It was later that I found out that I had extracted every last tulip bulb.  Later that year I discovered that the previous homeowner had paid a tidy sum to a professional landscape designer to arrange her garden into something our giant German Shepherd dog (and a curious 11 year old) would later destroy.

Once I was married I used my free time to build a lovely patio herb garden.  My gardening mistakes were learned early when the mint choked out everything else in the pot.  I later went on to create lavish balcony gardens so thick we couldn’t see the surrounding landscape.  I suppose that is ok since apartment living isn’t that spectacular.

In 1998 I left my “high paying” job with a major greeting card company for a life that was a little more simple and a little closer to home.  The day after I turned in my resignation I drove around Leawood, Kansas looking for employment.  A sign reading “We’re Hiring” caught my eye.  I walked into an Earl May Nursery and Garden Center and found my true calling.

I worked for Earl May for 6 months and then moved back to my true home, Washington State.  There I enrolled at South Puget Sound Community College in their Horticulture program and 2 years later earned my Associates of Technical Arts.  I graduated with honors.  I started as a sesasonal nursery employee and moved up through the ranks.  I’ve been an assistant manager, a buyer, a tropical greenhouse manager and owned my own landscape design business.

Today I putter around in my own garden and grown vegetables for my husband (of 12 years) and our 4 year old son.

For me, Sprouting off is a way to bring my gardening knowledge to the community and spend a little time with my mom.