Diane Flowers started gardening before she was into double digits. “I knew how to prune roses before I could drive. We always had a vegetable garden and we were always creating new flower gardens all over my parents 8 acres of land. It was and remains today my favorite of all hobbies.”

Diane didn’t start out gardening as a professional but followed in her father’s footsteps as an engineer. Out of college with an aeronautical engineering degree this rocket scientist went to work for a parts manufacture in Wichita Kansas, adjusting designs for fuel pumps and actuators for small aircraft. “Yeah, I know it’s a bit of a stretch to be a gardener with that background. Anyone who has lived in the blue carpet, gray cubical world of humming computers will understand.”

Her hobbies were not limited to gardening; she enjoyed repairing cars and small appliances, sewing and cooking. “I still do all the things my mother taught me and everything my father was afraid I would hurt myself doing.” Another reason for some of her career choices was it was the only way she could afford her hobbies. “I had a job as a certified automobile mechanic, doing mostly diagnostic work, to keep my hot-rod running and I loved every dirty greasy bit of it.”

She gained experience in running crews, organizing projects, working with multiple departments, and operating heavy machinery at Walt Disney World. At Epcot she was an entertainment technician who specialized in special effects and lighting design. “Disney is a wonderful company to work for; they take the time and spend the money to make sure their cast members are the best at what they do.” It was there that Diane realized that entertainment is very similar to creating landscapes from a concept point of view. Both involve knowledge of materials, working with items that are dirty and heavy, and the need for an artistic view that is specific to the client not the artist.

During her tenure at Epcot, Diane worked closely with many divisions outside of entertainment and, specific to her career now, was her interaction with the horticulture department. “Disney as a whole is incredibly involved with their gardens and it’s well worth a visit any time of year to see what they can do with plants; Epcot specific even has a building to teach the future of gardening. In entertainment, it was our connection with the horticulture crews that finalized any stage setup; whether it was to have a sound or light booth enclosed in greenery, or a complete revamping of an area to fit a specific celebration or festival. Both departments often worked at night so replanting areas and building stages were common affairs.”

It was at Disney where the idea for a full time career in horticulture was born. “Secret is … I was thinking about leaving entertainment to work for the horticulture department and searched the country for the best school to learn what I didn’t already know about plants; two schools came up San Lois Obispo and Cabrillo College. Feeling that a community college best fit my needs I moved to Santa Cruz with plans upon graduating to return to Disney. Then I fell in love with Santa Cruz.”

In Santa Cruz most of Diane’s clients are women with established gardens in need of help to keep the maintenance going, replacing plants here and there. She loves the interaction as she does the hard work and her client friends prune or weed alongside. A dozen or so other gardens are on a regular maintenance schedule that Diane feels a personal attachment to as if they were her own yard. And she has a few younger gardeners that she helps with their vegetable gardens, providing tools and a helping hand while and teaching and learning the ways of the garden. For design work, she loves the challenge whether it is climate, soil, finances, or unusual landscape situations. “It’s the micro-climates here that make this place a gold mine; it’s very common to have completely different plant communities only blocks away from each other. It’s definitely something that can make a homeowner frustrated or confused on what plants to choose for the garden of their dreams. That where I come to the rescue and everyone, plants and all, live happily ever after.”

Diane’s goal is to create garden wise people who not only have a fun place to relax in but do it in a fashion that is good on the environment. “California’s weeds are very expensive plants to purchase in other parts of the country. And here we don’t have to do anything special to keep them alive. If your yard isn’t full of native plants then how about spending all that irrigation on vegetables or herbal plants.” She understands the desire for the Midwest cottage garden and expansive lawn since for years she mowed her family’s lawn every week but believe that instead of trying to copy their ideas we should create landscapes that they want to copy back east.

The last note she has for everyone is “my mother told me that the way her family survived the depression was by always having a garden. Doesn’t matter where you live there is always space for a tomato plant. Plant a garden today, do it for yourself, your family, and your friends.”