PlantRight is pleased to welcome the newest member of our Plant List Committee, Taylor Lewis, Nursery Manager at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. Taylor will be taking the place of Ellen Zagory, former Director of Public Horticulture at the UC Davis Arboretum, who served on the Plant List Committee for many years. PlantRight appreciates all Ellen’s contributions to our work, and we wish her well in her retirement. We are glad to have Taylor on board with his breadth of experience. Taylor has been doing Horticulture in the Sacramento Valley since 2004. Graduating from UCD in 2009 with a BS in Environmental Horticulture and Urban Forestry with an emphasis in Nursery Management, he has 10+ years of nursery management experience. Taylor has worked as a wholesale grower, retail nursery operator and currently in the education realm for UCD. His UC Davis repertoire employs retail sales while wholesale growing and running the internship program for UCD students to gain hands-on experience of day-to-day nursery operations.
Taylor has a passion for growing as many “drought tolerant”, regionally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable plants as possible, with an emphasis on California native plants, for yearly plant sales. His knowledge of plant propagation and nursery operations allows his nursery program and facilities to grow and improve each year. His ability to think outside-the-box allows for flexibility and innovation while introducing new species to trial gardens and pushing the envelope of Horticulture during a dynamic climatic swing. Taylor has an ability to relay scientific horticulture skills to the average gardener in a comprehensible fashion.
Taylor’s main goals for his time at UC Davis are: to broaden the acceptance of environmentally beneficial/sustainable plants to homeowners, to train the next generation of Nursery Managers in the art/science of nursery management, and to work with groups of conscientious environmental stewards, training the trainers, who will pass along information gained through years of nursery experience.
Taylor will joining our talented roster of Plant List Committee members:
- Randy Baldwin, San Marcos Growers
- Travis Bean, University of California at Riverside, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences
- Doug Johnson, California Invasive Plant Council
- Jutta Burger, California Invasive Plant Council
- Ramona Robison, Cal Botany
- Nicholas Staddon, Village Nurseries and Mountain States Wholesale Nursery
- Ron Vanderhoff, Roger’s Gardens
The Plant List Committee helps keep the PlantRight invasive plant list relevant and up to date. Committee members also help to identify regionally appropriate, noninvasive alternatives to the invasives on the PlantRight list. The List is reviewed on an annual basis.
