Sean McManus was born and raised in western Washington State (having various different hardiness zones and growing conditions) where at the early age of 5 years old, he began helping and learning how to propagate and grow at his parents Rhododendron Farm in Olympia, WA. Gardening also became part of Sean's interests at home helping care for different plants, which led him to have a lawn-cutting "business" at age 11. Up until graduating high school, Sean had various landscape and garden care jobs around the city for pruning, mulching, watering/irrigation, renovation, and installations. Sean eventually started studying environmental horticulture at Washington State University where he earned both a Bachelor's ('00) and Master's ('04) in Environmental Horticulture. The plan was for Sean and his twin to take over the family Rhododendron farm, but the business had to be closed before he graduated, so he made other plans. From that point until now, Sean was an assistant greenhouse grower, teach and research assistant, research associate, gardener/landscaper, project coordinator, and garden care podcaster/blogger/videographer. Sean and his wife Allison want to help you become better gardeners through their books, podcasts, blog, videos, and online courses. You can find out more about Sean, and Allison, at spokengarden.com .
