Diane has been an avid gardener since she was a teenager, and subscribed to Organic Gardening Magazine when she was 15. When she had her own home in Minnesota, she learned from every possible source, and one of the things she did was rescue native plants from construction sites. More recently, she has come to learn the native plants of the Pacific Northwest, after moving to Vashon and seeing all the native plants on her husband’s property on Vashon. Reading Doug Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home, Diane realized the critical importance of native plants in our landscapes, and started a nursery specializing in native plants.

Diane has over 40 years green gardening in Washington state, Minnesota, Iowa, New Zealand, and France. She was president of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, and introduced a community gardening program to the state, called Minnesota Green.