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Judy Alleruzzo
host of "Garden
Time"
[click here
for a PDF copy]
My name is Judy
Alleruzzo. I currently work for Al's Garden Centers as the
perennial plant buyer and the houseplant buyer. I am also the
Co-Host of Garden Time TV show which is in it's 8th
season!
Fifteen years
ago, I arrived to visit friends in Canby on a glorious April
day. Wow, it was spectacular. Everything was in bloom.
Having lived in Chicago all my life, I was awed by the colorful
landscape in April! Of course, the Oregon Spring turned back to
it's true self, cool and rainy, but I was smitten.
I returned to
Chicago, packed up and returned by September.
Needing a job,
I was lucky to walk into Al's Garden Center and get a job as a
cashier. I was happy just to be working in a nursery. I have a
Horticulture degree but never really used all that knowledge
until I began working at Al's. Working for what was a small
company at the time, I learned many different jobs and ended up
learning to plan and buy perennials for the growing facility
and the retail stores. It has been fun and rewarding to be with
Al's as we have grown to three retail stores and doubled our
growing facility.
Three years
ago, I said yes to becoming the houseplant buyer. It was a
challenging job to learn a whole other palette of plants. Many
years ago I worked for a plant rental company in Chicago. I am
now on the other end of that business as I order tropical plants
from California, Hawaii, British Columbia, and Florida.
Buying
perennials and houseplants may seem like an odd mix of a job.
I love all
kinds of plants and look forward to combining these two groups
of plants more and more in the years to come. |
William McClenathan
host of "Garden
Time"
[click
here for a PDF copy]
My earliest
memories as a child are in the garden, walking down a small
brick pathway with moss rose on either side, at my grandparents’
home in Pampa, Texas. Both sets of my grandparents were avid
gardeners and I must have received my passion for plants from
them at a very early age.
Although I
never thought I would make my career in this industry (my first
college degree was in Theology) I have fallen in love with it.
I began my
career in this industry at a well-known nursery in a north
Dallas, Texas suburb. When I quit, I decided that I would open
my own nursery, which I did.
Although
successful (we were wholesale and retail) life lead me through a
time of change. I closed the business and moved to Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida, where I worked as General Manager for a
company that grew roses for tropical climates (again, both
wholesale and retail). After a couple of years, my parents fell
prey to cancer (mother) and Alzheimer’s (father) so I moved to
Portland to take care of them and to pursue a degree in Opera.
While attending
Portland State University, I worked at Portland Nursery on Stark
street as a seasonal employee. I later worked at the Division
street location as color buyer and Asst. Manager, and then as
Store Director.
I currently am
the owner of Viscaya gardens and nursery, a boutique nursery
unlike any other garden center you have seen.
When I was
approached to work on Garden Time, I accepted without
reservation.
Nothing brings
me more satisfaction than to educate people about gardening and
attract new fans to this great hobby and lifestyle. Truly, I
have a passion for plants. I look forward to sharing that with
you in the future.
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