The Team
Ian Connor
Ian Connor has been a horticulturalist since 1980.
Apprenticed at Billen Nurseries, Ian trained at Merrist Wood College, England, and learned valuable skills with trees and shrubs at both Hillier Nurseries and at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum, where he managed the bamboo in the pond valley.
Ian also managed prestigious compact urban gardens in London.
Specialising in bamboo since the early 1990s, Ian has given workshops, taught landscape design courses, written instruction manuals, and given lectures throughout England and across America focusing on designing with bamboo and its sustainable care in compact urban gardens.
Ian's drive is reversing ignorance regarding bamboo. He fervently believes bamboo is a sorely missing influence in gardens, seeking its integration as a vital and unique aesthetic presence.
Ian came to the USA in 1997 to further his research of cultivating bamboo sustainably in urban gardens.
Due to Ian's frequent articles in the British and (mainly) the American Bamboo Society (ABS), he was the editor of the their newsletter, which he transformed into a magazine in 2000.
A past ABS president, Ian is the current vice president, past representative of the Oregon Bamboo Association, and current Pacific Northwest representative on the board of directors of the ABS.
As a bamboo consultant, Ian has assisted botanic gardens across America, especially the Japanese and Chinese gardens in Portland, Oregon.
Ian has been on the tree advisory committee of Great Plant Picks for over a decade.
Ian also managed prestigious compact urban gardens in London.
Specialising in bamboo since the early 1990s, Ian has given workshops, taught landscape design courses, written instruction manuals, and given lectures throughout England and across America focusing on designing with bamboo and its sustainable care in compact urban gardens.
Ian's drive is reversing ignorance regarding bamboo. He fervently believes bamboo is a sorely missing influence in gardens, seeking its integration as a vital and unique aesthetic presence.
Ian came to the USA in 1997 to further his research of cultivating bamboo sustainably in urban gardens.
Due to Ian's frequent articles in the British and (mainly) the American Bamboo Society (ABS), he was the editor of the their newsletter, which he transformed into a magazine in 2000.
A past ABS president, Ian is the current vice president, past representative of the Oregon Bamboo Association, and current Pacific Northwest representative on the board of directors of the ABS.
As a bamboo consultant, Ian has assisted botanic gardens across America, especially the Japanese and Chinese gardens in Portland, Oregon.
Ian has been on the tree advisory committee of Great Plant Picks for over a decade.
Sharon
Sharon Ellis has an established reputation as a practising horticulturalist within just a few years of working beside Ian.