NHS BOARD BIOGRAPHIES

Dan Corson (2008-2010, First Term)

Dan works as an artist and his work straddles the disciplines of art, theatrical design, architecture and landscape architecture. His large-scale public projects range from railway stations and busy public intersections to quiet interpretive buildings and meditation chambers. Professionally he sits on the Seattle Arts Commission and is Co-chair of the office of Art and Cultural Affairs Public Art Committee for the City of Seattle. He has been a passionate gardener since his youth. His own garden won second place in the 2006 Arboretum/Seattle Flower and Garden Show competition.

Sue Dickson (2008-2010, First Term)

Sue arrived in Seattle about 20 years ago and after many years in the same job returned to school for a career change. She went through the Horticultural program at EDCC and for the last 3 years has had her own garden design business, The Artful Garden. Sue has a background in ceramic art and basketry but gardening allows her to indulge her passion for plants. This passion became a focus for her when she bought her home in the Rainier Valley 9 years ago. 2009 will be the third year that Sue has co-chaired the Annual Fall Plant Sale.

Lorene Edwards Forkner (2008-2010, Second Term)

A garden designer, writer, and speaker, Lorene co-founded and is now the sole owner of Fremont Gardens, a small specialty nursery in Seattle now in its ninth year. A two-time gold-medal winner at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, Lorene gardens in West Seattle and writes a fun and informative blog, plantedathome. She is currently one of the NHS representatives on the Pacific Horticulture board.

Sue Goetz (2008-2010, Second Term)

A garden designer, writer, and speaker, Sue is the owner of Creative Gardener, a garden design business where she works with clients to make their gardenscapes their own. She is a gold medal award-winning garden creator at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show. Sue is a certified professional horticulturalist, a member of WSNLA and the Garden Writers of America.

Greg Graves (2007-2009, Second Term)

Greg’s 24-year history with Burlington Northern Railroad is the only thing that held him back from being a full-time gardener from the get go. After completing the program in landscape design and ornamental horticulture at Edmonds, Greg became the head gardener at the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden. Greg’s passion for the educational program at NHS led him to joining the board as chair of the education committee and president 2005/6. He is also currently one of the NHS representatives on the Pacific Horticulture board.

Jean Hanson (2009-2011, First Term)

Jean has been an avid gardener since she began gardening in Vancouver, Washington and became an Oregon Master Gardener. She joined NHS when she moved to the area in 2001 and has attended most of the lectures and many of the classes plus volunteering at the NWFGS booth and the plant sale. When she moved to Snohomish in 2004 she designed a new garden in an acre of mud amid four acres of trees. She and her husband are currently planning a new home and garden on a 5.5-acre lot in Bay View.

Joyce Hawkins (2009-2011, Second Term)

Retired from a career in government agencies Joyce's serious interest in gardening began after adding a Japanese Koi pond to her landscape. She is a Thurston County Master Gardener and is involved with their annual plant sales and other activities. She is working with several local gardeners in creating a complex master plant database that includes descriptions of all the plants in their individual gardens, along with pictures and links to botanical Internet sites. She currently serves on the NHS Membership Committee, and is the publicity/corresponding secretary of NHS.

Deborah Heg (2009-2011, First Term)

Deborah has been a plant grower since college and those first Creeping Charlies, Piggy-back plants and Wandering Jews (all in macrame hangers). She continued to dabble in ornamental and vegetable gardening wherever she settled, but did not blossom into Latin and serious horticultural pursuit until arriving in her garden on Whidbey Island. She admits that she is now a hopeless and exhausted addict. She was a founding mother of the Whidbey Island Garden Tour in 1996 and has served on the Pacific Northwest Horticultural Conservancy board. We are happy to have her as the chair of our Elisabeth C. Miller Library liaison committee.

Lisa Irwin (2007-2009, First Term)

Lisa Irwin is a garden designer who specializes in using appropriate design, suitable plants, and organic gardening methods. Trained as an artist, her first career focused on hand-painted photography, subsidized by arts administration. She became a gardener because “Painting from the palette of the earth and experiencing how colors, textures, sounds, and scents change with the seasons gives me immense joy. I became a garden designer because I wanted to share that joy and the knowledge gained with others.” Lisa fed her horticultural curiosity with numerous seminars, lectures, and classes in horticulture before beginning her design business. She continues to enjoy learning all things horticultural and has co-chaired the plant sale and volunteered at the NWF&GS booth. Lisa has one son, one husband, two dogs and a garden on Whidbey Island that also keep her busy.

Ray Larson (2009-2011, First Term)

Ray Larson is a lifelong Seattle resident. Although he earned bachelors degrees in economics and history (with a minor in art), his lifelong interest in gardening led him to the UW’s Center for Urban Horticulture while still an undergraduate. He began working there full time shortly after graduation and eventually earned his Master of Science in Urban Horticulture in 2005. While working on his masters he interned for a year at the Miller Botanical Garden. He left CUH in mid-2006 after several years as Facilities Coordinator, accepting a new position as Head Gardener at Hill-Crest, the Madison Park home of UW President. There he is overseeing the renovation of the nearly 1.5 acre garden. Ray and his wife Acacia live and garden in northeast Seattle. Ray has chaired the Scholarship committee for the last couple of years.

Ann LeVasseur (2009-2011, Second Term)

Before gardening Ann had a career as a nutritionist working in public health programs. After a life long interest in art, she enrolled at Cornish College of the Arts as an “adult” student working primarily in print art. Her art has influenced her gardening as she works on her “outdoor installation.” Ann has worked on the plant sale every year since she joined even chairing it for a couple of years. This will be her fourth term on the NHS board where she served as secretary and then president 1999/2000. She is currently treasurer of NHS and also one of the NHS representatives on the Pacific Horticulture board.

Hans Mandt (2007-2009, First Term)

Hans was born in Germany, grew up in southwestern Ohio where he graduated from Miami University with a degree in Physics. During his forty year career as a Computer Scientist he had the dream job of teaching at his Alma Mater for five years. Having gardened most of his adult life, he decided to pursue gardening seriously as his next career. This brought him to NHS (two prior board terms), where he has served on the education committee and developed our enlightening book corner since joining the organization. In his current garden he is attempting to set new planting density records. We are glad to have Hans, who is in his third term on the board and has served on the Education committee and been the permanent Book committee for many years, as our new president.

Judy Massong (2008-2010, First Term)

My undergraduate and Master's degrees are in Nursing. I spent 8 years after I received my Master's degree teaching nursing in the School of Nursing at University of California, San Francisco, then University of San Francisco. While I taught nursing, I went to Law School at night and graduated in 1980. From 1981-1983, I was a lobbyist for the Washington State Nurses Association, then the Washington State Trial Lawyer’s Assocation. Since 1984, I have been in the private practice of law, focusing on civil trial practice. Needless to say, this is a far cry from horticulture. But I love to garden and began experimenting in my yard, then became more serious and actually read stuff on the subject. When my friend asked me to help with the NHS Plant Sale, I decided to dive in. Not having as much practical experience in the field, no pun intended, I was assigned signage and parking responsibilities. I had a great time working on the sale and really enjoyed the people. Later, I was asked whether I would like to be on the Board, and, of course, I accepted and was very honored to join the group.

Gillian Mathews (2007-2009, First Term)

British-born Gillian followed her gardening sister to the United States, where she developed a passion for retail with the Made in Washington chain. Six years ago she established the retail chain Ravenna Gardens. She served on the NHS board for two prior terms with a particular passion for the educational program where she has arranged many exciting tours.

Renée Montgelas (2009-2011, Second Term)

After a 30-year career in planning, public policy and management in the public sector, Renée now wants to explore her many other interests. At the top of her list are: more travel, renovating her small but design-challenged Seattle garden, and broadening her horticultural knowledge. Renée’s involvement with NHS began with volunteering at the 2003-05 plant sales, including leading Member Donations in 2004 and coordinating the new Garden Antiques Market with Gillian Mathews in 2005. She joined Gillian on the tour committee for the last couple of years and organized some fabulous tours, both local and of course last year's East Coast tour.

Lee Neff (2007-2009, First Term)

Lee was an English teacher for 15 years, and chaired an English department, where she taught by helping students learn to edit their own work. She also taught Journalism, and for ten years advised and edited student newspapers. Lee has gardened since 1982, taking classes as often as possible, attending lectures, reading widely, and writing about gardening since 1996. For over 5 years she has edited the Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin, where she had the privilege of meeting many individuals in the horticultural community. Lee says they taught her something new every minute! Lee will be serving as secretary for the second year.

Mary Palmer (2008-2010, First Term)

Mary worked previously as an Architectural Sales Rep and when she was downsized moved into Horticulture. She was bitten by the gardening bug when she first visited Heronswood in the early 90’s. She turned this passion into a career by going to work for Bamboo Gardens of Washington and now currently works at Boxhill Farm Nursery in Duvall. Mary uses the down winter months to indulge her other passion which is travel.

Lois Pendleton (2007-2009, First Term)

Lois’ interest in gardening started with nurturing nasturtium seeds as a child in her family’s backyard. With each circuitous turn in her professional career, the focus on gardening and creating beauty with plants has intensified. Her 10-year tenure at Sunset magazine, the work she did on the interactive gardening CD-Rom at Microsoft, and—the pinnacle of it all—her role as producer of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show for two years, fed the passion that continues to expand. Lois loves her seasonal work at Fremont Gardens with Lorene Edwards Forkner, and hopes to grow her own small landscape design enterprise.

Rizaniño Reyes (2008-2010, First Term)

Riz’s interest in plants and gardens began as a young boy growing up in a family fruit plantation in his native Philippines. Immigrating to the US in 1989, he was exposed to a new environment that unveiled an overwhelming diversity of plants he was compelled to learn about and grow on his own. This led him to displays at the NW Flower and Garden Show, a BS degree in Public Horticulture from the University of Washington, and travels in China where he teamed up with renowned plant explorer, Dan Hinkley. Currently working part time as the Soest Perennial Gardener at the UW Botanic Gardens, he plans to continue his various horticultural projects and work for a few years before returning to school to pursue a master’s degree abroad. Riz gardens and runs a small operation, RHR Horticulture, in Shoreline.

Nita Jo Rountree (2008-2010, Second Term)

Nita Jo was the owner of LeGrand Gardens in Atlanta and is a lifetime Georgia Master Gardener. She then went on to become the manager of merchandising and marketing for Hastings Nature and Garden Center in Atlanta, where she was the buyer of plants and hard goods. During her time in marketing she appeared on the CBS Evening News, in Horticulture magazine, and in numerous newspaper articles promoting the garden center. Relatively new to the Pacific Northwest, Nita Jo and her husband garden in Bellevue. Nita Jo has arranged the tour of board members gardens the last three years and has planned exciting displays at the 2006 & 2007 NWF&GS as vice president and membership chair of NHS. After serving two years as president of NHS, she will again chair the membership committee and the Windcliff fund-raising event.

Daniel Sparler (2007-2009, First Term)

Even a cursory glance at Daniel’s exuberant jumble of a garden in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood reveals his passion for plants and obsession with collecting cultivars from many climes. Although he has no formal training in horticulture he brings a linguist’s love to the study of botanical nomenclature. After working nearly a decade as a journalist for the Seattle P-I, Daniel has been serving as a full-time high-school teacher (Humanities and Spanish) for the past 17 years. Currently he is about midway through his goal of visiting the world’s major botanical gardens.

Nancy Strahle (2007-2009, Second Term)

Nancy currently tends both sides of her brain by managing her CPA practice and creating beadwork art and projects for the classes she teaches. Having grown up in Hawaii and lived in the Northwest for the past 20 years, she has both a tropical and temperate understanding of gardening. Her current home gardens are happily evolving and ever hopeful of receiving more of her split attentions. To the Board of NHS, Nancy brings many years of experience in founding, managing, and consulting for not-for-profit organizations.

Wendy Welch (2008-2010, First Term)

Wendy has been designing, installing and maintaining gardens in this area for over 10 years. She specializes in container gardening, creating display containers for Swansons Nursery, speaking regularly on the subject and teaching it at EDCC. Her commitment to envionmental stewardship is reflected in her designs as well as in her teaching. In 2004 her display garden 'Rambler Revisited' received a gold medal at the NWFGS. 2009 will be the fourth year that Wendy has been involved in the design of the NHS exhibit at the NWFGS.

Lois Willman (2008-2011, Second Term)

Lois is retired from a varied career with the State of California. Her passion is to teach people how to grow their own food and the continuation of sustainable small, family farms. Aside from being a Master Gardener, she is a mentor and instructor for the county GRUB — Grow You Own Bounty program, which provides food-growing opportunities to low income families by building raised garden beds and then teaching them how to grow their own vegetables. She is also Treasurer for the South Sound Seed Stewards which encourages community independence and self-reliance by producing and sharing locally adapted, open pollinated seeds. She currently serves on the NHS Membership Committee as co-chair of the volunteer committee and is the new chair of the nominating committee.

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