Nancy Conner has been fascinated by coastal California horticulture since she arrived here in the early 1960s. A graduate of Wellesley College and Stanford University, she was a docent at Strybing Arboretum in the late 1970s. She cofounded the San Francisco Landscape Garden Show and was instrumental in its organization for the twelve years it was managed by Friends of Recreation and Parks in San Francisco. She has long been active in the cause for parks, serving on the boards of both the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the Presidio Trust. Her pet park projects include restoring the Conservatory of Flowers and building the underground garage in Golden Gate Park. She gardens in Inverness.

Demi Bowles Lathrop learned to garden as a young girl alongside her grandmothers and mother and carries on the tradition. Since she arrived here and earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English Literature from University of California, Berkeley, her passion for gardening in California has grown. She has been a Certified Master Gardener and a contributing garden writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and Pacific Horticulture magazine. She has served as judge at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show and as editor and contributor to various arts, design, and literary publications. HGTV’s Gardening by the Yard featured her and her garden on a segment. In the garden community, she served on the boards of the Late Show Gardens and California Horticulture Society. She lives with her husband and children in San Francisco, where she writes and gardens.

Barbara Stevens has a proven passion for plants. A graduate of UC Berkeley, she has been very involved with the Strybing Arboretum Society and has served on its board. She was a cofounder of the San Francisco Landscape Garden Show and was its horticultural chair for twelve years. She is an active member of the California Native Plant Society, Marin and San Francisco Chapters; the California Horticultural Society; the North American Rock Garden Society; the Hardy Plant Society; and the San Francisco Parks Alliance. She has visited botanic gardens all over the world, traveling to China with the Alpine Garden Society and to Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, and New Zealand with the International Dendrology Society. She swims and gardens in San Francisco.