Garden U

Speaker bios:
 

Diana Alfuth earned undergraduate and Masters Degrees in Environmental Horticulture from the University of Minnesota, where she focused on Landscape Design and Plant Pathology. In addition to teaching Landscape Design at the University of Minnesota and UW-River Falls, she spent 23 years as a Horticulture Outreach Specialist/Educator for UW-Extension in western Wisconsin. She’s also spent a lifetime growing and neglecting her own gardens, and learning from the results of that neglect.

Johanna George has over 20 years of experience in the green industry and enjoys sharing her expertise with many on all aspects of horticulture. As a trained landscape designer and horticulturist working for Bailey Nurseries, Johanna brings quality nursery stock to garden centers and growers from Southeast Minnesota through Missouri. She operates a small cut flower farm and farm stand on her rural Pemberton, MN property with her husband, Jon. Together they have many vegetable and fruit gardens, an orchard, and enjoy maintaining the integrity of their land with natives and plants for animal habitat.

Margaret Smith has worked in conservation since 2004- from land and water conservation with the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust to her current position as Executive Director of the Trumpeter Swan Society working on swan conservation across the USA and Canada. She loves native plants, their beauty and ecological importance. She has been a certified Wisconsin Master Gardener since 1997. She is a firm believer in the important impact of individual efforts to protect nature, such as through Home Grown National Parks. Her property is registered on the site- twinkling in the Kinnickinnic Township.


James Wolfin is a Twin City Seed sales associate and Conservation Specialist passionate about Bee Lawn and practices that help support the conservation of pollinators and natural resources. James is a native of Queens, New York, and he believes strongly that this environment shaped his personality and everything about him. Not the environmental upbringing one typically equates with an ecologist! James earned his Bachelor of Science in Ecology from the University of Delaware where he was first introduced to a Bee Lab and absorbed his professors’ passions for all things bees and pollinators. This love led him to the University of Minnesota where he earned his Master of Science in Entomology. There his research focused on how flowering turfgrass lawns could impact the conservation of bee species and other pollinators. At the U of M, James discovered the intersection of research and communication to advance the application of science in the world, and he became a prolific writer and public speaker. This led him to his role as Sustainable Landcare Manager at Metro Blooms where he developed many of their land management and educational programs focused on pollinators and clean water in partnership with Blue Thumb. At Twin City Seed James works to create high quality products for a variety of greenspaces,. He also works with land managers as well as commercial and residential users to advance the use of TCS’ lawn & garden products, including the bee lawn mix! In house, James enjoys collaborating with colleagues to create a positive work environment, even with Josh, where he is sure to use small words with less than 3 syllables.