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Judy Alleruzzo
host of "Garden
Time"
I
grew up in Chicago & had my first flower garden when I was about
10 years old. My Mom always says I inherited my love of
gardening from my Sicilian Grandfather, as she doesn't like to
garden.
Over the years,
I took care of the small veggie and flower garden in our city
yard. When it was time to get a job, I found a position in a
tropical plant shop. Houseplants were all the rage & I
collected a huge amount. Our family's home looked like a
jungle.
College came
along & horticulture was the natural progression of my interests.
A suburban college offered a 2 year horticulture degree so I
signed up. The classes were interesting & fun & I learned a
lot. (Even today, I remember many Botanical names that were burned
into my brain.) Unfortunately, the job market in Chicagoland
was not much, so the knowledge was just used for my personal
enjoyment.
Fast forward to
10 years later. My husband Ben Gentile & I are on a 1 year
"vacation," traveling around the world. I am visiting
gardens and seeing landscapes I had only seen in books. All the
years of gardening as a hobby paid off as I knew a little about a
lot of plants.
The year ended
with a re-entry into the U.S.A. in Portland, Oregon. It was
April and every plant seemed to have flowers. The sun shone almost
every day. Ben and I were hooked. We flew back to Chicago,
sold the house and were back in Oregon by Christmas.
Now I needed to
learn about gardening in the Willamette Valley. Marion
County Master Gardener's classes were starting up in January. What
a great bunch of people to meet & learn from! In the course
of those classes, I heard about a garden center called Al's Fruit
& Shrub Center. I needed a job & thought Al's would be a
place to start. Lucky for me they needed a cashier. My luck
held out & a Perennial Department position opened up.
It was near the
beginning of the perennial plant craze in gardening. I was swept
up in the explosion. I now buy the perennial varieties for
our production facility to grow and Al's three stores to sell.
It is challenging and a lot of fun. We now grow over 1000
varieties. I'm always on the lookout for interesting plants to
tempt our customers.
I know I will be
learning much more about gardening in Oregon through Garden
Time. I know the viewers will too!
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William McClenathan
host of "Garden
Time"
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 peruse 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 store as color buyer and Asst. Manager, and
then as Store Director.
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. |