Judy Alleruzzo
co-host of "Garden
Time"
Judy
Alleruzzo has been the co-host of the Garden Time TV show since
its premiere in 2006. She also works for Al's Garden & Home as
the perennial plant buyer and the houseplant buyer.
Over 20 years ago, Judy arrived in Oregon to visit friends in
Canby on a glorious April day. She remembers it as a spectacular
sunny day and “Everything was in bloom.” Having lived in Chicago
all her life, she was awed by the colorful landscape in the
month of April. Of course, the Oregon weather turned back to its
true self of cool and rainy weather, but she was smitten. She
returned to Chicago, packed up and returned by September.
Needing a job, she walked into Al's, then called, Al's Fruit &
Shrub and was lucky there was a job opening for a cashier.
Working for what was a small company at the time, Judy was
excited to learn many different jobs including stocking,
planning and buying in perennials for the retail stores. Judy
has an Ornamental Horticulture degree but never worked at a
garden center before beginning her job at Al's. It has been a
busy and rewarding job, as Al's has grown to 4 retail stores and
doubled their growing facility.
Over ten years ago, she said yes to becoming the houseplant
buyer. It was a challenging job to learn and remember a whole
other palette of plants. Many years ago, Judy worked for a plant
rental company in Chicago during the indoor plant mania of the
80's. She is now in the middle of another indoor plant trend and
not only helps to take care of the plants, but orders in
tropical plants grown in Oregon, Washington, California, Hawaii
and British Columbia. These days her work week is touring each
store to check out the perennial and houseplant departments and
meeting with the Al's Perennial Head Grower to help with the
retail store's availability.
Filming Garden Time each week is an adventure. It allows Judy
even more opportunities to learn about all kinds of plants, meet
local gardeners, tour gardens around the area and overseas,
visit plant festivals and learn new gardening tips.
She says it's amazing to be exposed to the depth of the
horticulture and agriculture industry in the Northwest. Judy
enjoys meeting the people she interviews and the people that
watch the show. “Our viewers are such nice people and loyal fans
of Garden Time and our sponsors.”
Judy's two careers of talking about plants on Garden Time and
buying and caring for them at Al's Garden & Home is a great
match as she loves all kinds of plants. She is always happy to
meet that next gardener or grow that new plant!
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Ryan Seely
co-host of "Garden
Time"
Ryan
Seely joined the Garden Time TV show at the end of its 14th
season in 2019 and he is excited to be a part of the Garden Time
crew for its 15th season on local television.
As a sixth generation native Oregonian, Ryan grew up in
Wilsonville and graduated from Oregon State University (go Beavs!)
with a Bachelor of Science in business. Immediately following
graduation, he joined with two other partners to establish a
local retail garden center in the Wilsonville and North Plains
areas. After fourteen years, Ryan transitioned to the wholesale
side of the garden industry and is currently the Sales Manager
at Little Prince of Oregon in Aurora.
As a child, he was always drawn to farming and gardening, choosing
to work in the three acre family garden or playing in his
grandfather’s onion farm in Salem. After graduating from Oregon
State, Ryan furthered his plant education by taking several
horticulture classes at Clackamas Community College, and remains
active in the gardening community by attending local gardening
events, conferences, and trade shows. He particularly enjoys the
new and emerging trends in the gardening industry.
When not gardening in his own yard,
Ryan enjoys spending time in the outdoors hiking, camping,
skiing, and traveling with his wife Kim, and their two children.
He also volunteers with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and with
the Boy Scouts of America as an Assistant Scoutmaster.
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