We wanted to bring a bit of beauty and nature to people's lives, and from that, Native Gardeners was born.

As native Texans, we appreciate and understand the struggles associated with maintaining lush gardens. Both of us aspire to wander through gardens that make magazine covers, and we want to be the ones creating these spaces. Despite our careers having virtually nothing to do with gardening, both of us found our reasons for gardening. Our journey has been as winding as a branch, but we have bloomed along the way. When we needed a place to garden, we made it. When we needed plants that would survive in our climate, we grew them. As our lives changed, so did our plants. In the end, we both found that we needed a space to de-stress from our stressful careers.

" I have always wanted to create spaces for other people to enjoy. Growing up, my parents owned a motel. Consequently, gardening catalogs would come to our house from all over. I would spend hours looking at the roses and dreaming of how I would turn my parents' business into a beautiful garden. During my 4-H program in the fourth grade, I was able to build a garden. It was then that I caught the gardening bug. Over time, my career led to more travel. Being a resident of an urban dwelling, the spaces I have had to grow in were never big enough to allow me to share my love of color and design. As a result of the succession of deaths in my family, I knew I needed to change my career path. I wanted to be outside again. I wanted my hands in the dirt. I felt like I needed a fresh start. My in-laws had flower beds that needed redoing, so I started doing that. My next relative asked me to redo hers as well. A friend and another friend followed. Thus, Native Gardeners was born. "I wanted to create spaces that people could enjoy."

 “I will be the first to admit that my bean struggled when it came to the bean growing experiment in school. I wanted to know why mine failed. From that relentless curiosity, I would constantly learn more about gardening. When I spent my summers with my grandparents, they had me plant trees, make trellises and catch insects to look up in my identification books. I developed a love for nature and gardening from these early memories—a passion that has stayed with me throughout my college years and on every patio ever since. When Derek initially came to me with the opportunity to start a gardening business, I said no. But Derek was determined to design better yards, and his passion for color encouraged me to grow a business with him. It's been thousands of flowers later and a lot of hardscape since then.”

The roots of our business stem from our early experiences in learning how to thrive in communities. The people and wildlife that frequented these communal gardens nurtured our sense of place and community. In developing Native Gardeners, we wanted to maintain the importance of working within our communities.

We recently began a partnership with Bryan Adams High School to integrate green spaces into their courtyard, an area that is central to the entire school. This partnership fosters new connections to nature for the next generation. Hopefully, more gardeners will be ready to take on the challenges of growing in the future.