My mother named me “Lily” after her favorite flowers. Her grandfather had a garden for most of his life, growing annuals, perennials, including daylilies and Asiatic lilies, and shrubs. Later, he would take me on walks through his garden after daycare or elementary school. One day in third grade, we took a walk around the garden with my younger sister, Desiree, and she asked him, “Where are the Desi’s?” We then renamed the “Daisies” as “Desi’s,” and she had the brightest smile on her face. Soon after that, he retired from his full-time job. The garden upkeep became too much work for him, so he closed his garden and began working part-time in a local florist’s greenhouse. I watched him pursue a different facet of plant care, and with that, he ignited my passion for plants that continued to grow as I did. My great grandfather passed away before I began studying horticulture, but as I worked towards my degree, my grandma (his daughter) and I often reminisced about him and talked about how much he would love the path I was taking.As a full-time employee in the green industry, I try to carry his tenacious spirit with me as learning and networking opportunities are presented. In designs, I remember how much he loved coming home to his garden and landscape, and I love making my customer's dream garden or foundational planting come to life.