As a child, I vividly remember admiring all the enchanting and mysterious plants at the nursery. I would take one home, plant it and sometimes watch it slowly dwindle or, worse, die! I was like most people back then, but my fascination and love of plants drove me on. Now I have twenty-plus years of hands-on gardening experience. I've mastered the secrets and my love affair with gardening is stronger than ever.

I have always been raised around gardens. My grandparents were farmers and when they moved to common housing they maintained gardens, so I was encouraged to 'play in the dirt' from a young age. The thought of becoming a gardener never entered my youthful mind.

Early on, I was very interested in art and excelled at the art courses I took. I had a successful year of vocational training in an adult educational class held, coincidentally, at my high school during my senior year. By the time I graduated from high school my aim was being a commercial artist. While getting the basic courses out of the way, I enjoyed many art classes. I tried to pursue my childhood love of gardening by signing up for a course on plants, but it was canceled because the teacher could not make it. I was disappointed, but not devastated.

I worked part-time during my college career. One of the jobs I had was at 'Simpson's Nursery' in Jamul CA in 1985. I had really liked the place before and now I worked there, wow! But, being the new kid on the block, I was relegated to sales - only. Simpson’s was a "self serve nursery" so the sales staff was not supposed to give much advice. We motioned people to the almighty Sunset Western Garden Book Simpson’s had conveniently on hand went back to the basic transactions. We sales people would only do minor nursery work if it was not busy. This did not engage me enough so when I got the chance to work for 'Botanical Design' I left for “greener pastures”—both literally and figuratively. Botanical Design was an interior and exterior plant company, catering to business and high end clientele. The work though varied and interesting was only part-time, so I had to seek more employment to sustain myself. Thus working at 'Mission Hills Nursery' on the weekends came to pass. Mission Hills really opened up my opportunities and mind: helping people one-on-one with gardening questions ALL DAY; answering call-in horticultural questions (ask me later about this...); keeping abreast of the latest plant culture and fascinating introductions; taking notice of how our Southern California seasons affected the plants. I was fortunate to be at Mission Hills Nursery during its golden age when most of the staff were horticulturally savvy. I absorbed all I could during those six years. In addition, I attended the newly formed 'San Diego Horticulture Society' every month – priceless resource of networking, keeping informed of horticultural changes and updates. All this theory and practice lead me to acquire my own clientele. This hands-on “school of hard knocks” experience honed my skills in a way academia could not. Finally there came a time when I asked myself: why am I working for someone else? I officially opened Koby's Garden Alchemy in 1992 and from that seed, my business grew.