Behind the scenes at iloveplants.com

About Susan

Susan Myers, creator and head gardener of iloveplants.com is an avid gardener with a passion for plants. When she's not working at the computer she enjoys gardening year-round in her Florida (Zone 9) garden. Her greenthumb sprouted at the age of 15 when her mother bought her an African violet. "My bedroom windowsill was the perfect location for growing violets and my love for plants blossomed and continues to grow." Her very favorite plants are roses, daylilies, orchids and perennials, but there are many more that she enjoys growing.

In 1996 she completed the Florida Master Gardener Program with the University of Florida. "It was a great experience and I encourage anyone with an interest to participate. It is a wonderful program and the information is invaluable, plus it's fun to spend time with other plant enthusiasts."

While seeking to find a way to combine her love for plants with her desire to create a home-based business, a friend encouraged her to use her talents and organizational skills to create a website designed to help gardeners find the information they need on the internet. "I discovered that finding information through search engines was time-consuming and cumbersome. I would end up with a lot of sites to weed through before finding any pertinent information." With the help of another friend, web designer Mary Mangold, the dream became a reality. The two artfully conspired to create an inviting and functional site for everyone who loves plants and gardening. "iloveplants.com offers a quick and easy way for viewers to find the best gardening sites on the internet, so they can spend more time enjoying their gardens."

Susan is looking forward to incorporating new ideas and information in iloveplants.com so that it will remain the premier gardener's guide to the internet. "iloveplants.com will continue to be a work in progress. As it grows, so does my enthusiam to share my passion for plants and nature with others."

About Mary

In 1999, Mary was about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. She and her husband were moving out west to Idaho, and a totally different lifestyle, and she took this opportunity to launch the career of her dreams - to become a web designer.

Mary and Susan began to conspire about the Internet, and how it might fulfill Susan's plans to utilize her certification as a Florida Master Gardener. Soon, ideas sprouted that gave Susan the perfect plan, and gave Mary her first client as a professional web designer. iloveplants.com was born.

Since then, iloveplants.com has evolved to become the most popular web directory for plant and gardening lovers on the internet. Together, Mary and Susan have partnered together to create a useful, easy and dynamic tool for anyone looking for gardening websites.

Mary's web development business has grown and prospered too, but her favorite website continues to remain iloveplants.com. "I will always feel something quite special for iloveplants.com and Susan Myers. Susan was the first person to believe in my talent when she hired me to create her web presence. She has been a loyal customer ever since. I was able to draw so much confidence from Susan's willingness to put her own hopes and dreams into my hands. I don't know if she ever knew just how much I appreciate her giving me the wind beneath my wings. Thank you Susan!".

Not only does Mary love computers and the internet, but her passion for gardening is also a driving force behind the graphical representations of the web layout and her enjoyment of using iloveplants.com to research her own interests about plants and gardening topics.

Mary Mangold owns and operates Wild Web West Computer Services, Inc. and has expanded her web services to include not only design, but hosting, ecommerce, copywriting services, graphic design and merchant services. She can be reached at 1-888-289-5219 or by email at mary@wildwebwest.com