Prior to founding Tree of Life Nursery with Mike Evans in 1981, Jeff was involved in landscaping in the Ventura/ Santa Barbara area. He is responsible for nursery production and quality control as well as introducing new and promising plants to the nursery industry. As Vice President, he continues in these roles today as well as overseeing sales and facilities and participating in strategic planning for the future.
When he is not growing plants or dwindling down the squirrel population you can find him enjoying his native plant garden at his home in Capistrano Beach with his lovely wife Joanne.
Mike is the founder and President of Tree of Life Nursery. After gaining experience in both retail and grower wholesale nurseries, Mike started Tree of Life in 1978 as a specialty nursery/landscape company. In 1981, he and Jeff Bohn became partners and began to focus on growing exclusively California native plants. Mike is responsible for nursery design, construction, direction, and management, including promoting Tree of Life and native plants wherever he can.
Mike has received several awards from various societies and institutions involved in horticulture, water conservation, and plant propagation. He speaks and writes extensively on his favorite subjects; California’s natural and cultural histories, how people relate to natural and designed outdoor spaces, the healing aspects of nature, natural gardens: their design, installation and maintenance, and native plant horticulture in general. Mike also teaches college classes part time.
There’s a fuzzy line between work and play, as Mike loves his work so much. Spare time activities include hiking and exploring, camping, reading, writing, surfing, and guitar. He enjoys precious time with Hilda, his wife of 45 years, when they can hang out with the families of their three grown kids and their four growing grandchildren.
Ramo is the Production Foreman for Tree of Life Nursery and has been for 40 years. He is the most interesting man in the world and there are too many stories to share in this short bio. Nothing gets done at the nursery without Ramo’s expertise. He has the best memory of anyone you will ever meet and he is never allowed to retire. His favorite plant at Tree of Life is Toyon. His favorite part of working at Tree of Life is everything but especially mixing soil on his tractor.
Elana Benge has two start dates…what? She first came to Tree of Life Nursery after graduating from Cal Poly, SLO with a B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture in December 1991. She has always loved getting out in nature, with a particular interest in the plants found growing naturally throughout California in a wide variety of plant communities. She managed wholesale sales at Tree of Life from March 1992 to October 2004 then took a break while she & her husband had young children. During that time she taught preschool (not really considered a “break”) and enjoyed exploring our natural world (lots of roly polys, ladybugs, butterflies, plants and how they grow) with the children in her classes.
She is happy to be back at Tree of Life in 2021, a silver lining to the changes and craziness of 2020. Getting to do life with this family of Tree of Lifers (including the dogs, birds, bats, snakes, lizards) is a treasure.
Elias is the trusty delivery driver for Tree of Life. If you have ever received a delivery of plants, you have met him! He drives all over southern California loading and unloading California native plants for nurseries, homeowners, landscape contractors and restoration companies. His favorite plant is Mimulus aurantiacus and his favorite part of Tree of Life is getting to drive plant orders to all our customers.
Gloria is the master of propagation from cuttings. She can spot a good plant for cuttings from a mile away. She cannot pick a favorite plant or a favorite part of Tree of Life because she loves everything so much. Fun Fact: Epilobium ‘La Gloria’ was named after her!
Johanna Cervantes has been working here since August of 2020 but has grown up here at the nursery. Her grandfather, Ramiro, has been TOLN foreman for forty years, so Johanna has been coming to Tree of Life Nursery and cultivating a love for nature and plants since childhood. She loves the native strawberries and Heucheras, but has a hard time choosing her favorite plant from the various species we have here. She is graduating from High School in September 2021. Congratulations Johanna!
Gregorio works hard every day to make sure that thousands of our native plants stay properly watered and that proper procedures are in place for our Integrated Pest Management plan. His favorite plant is Salvia greggii ‘Red’ and he loves everything about Tree of Life.
Ventura is a crucial member of our landscaping team and production team. He works on installing new Tree of Life Designs, NatureScape designs and transplants hundreds of plants in the nursery every week. His favorite plant is Tecoma ‘Orange’ and he loves everything about Tree of Life.
I was hired as Office Manager to the “Green Trailer” in November of 1989.
My husband loved Tree of Life Nursery and when he heard that they were hiring an office replacement, he suggested I speak with them.
My favorite part of working at TOLN has been the moral and ethical approach to business taken by the two owners, Mike Evans, and Jeff Bohn. Their respect for and support of their employees and customers is admirable. Yes, the advantage of location and atmosphere gained working in the nursery are enormous, but the owners, employees and customers are the foundation of this wonderful place.
Jeffrey Olmstead has joined us from the Disney Corporations where he worked 15 years. He created his first native garden in 2015 and has had the bug ever since! His garden is abounding with his love of nature and native plants. You will find him beautifying the gardens here at Tree of Life Nursery, or riding on the back of a tractor with German helping him pull plants for Casa ‘La Paz’. If you would like to keep up with this amazing man, follow him on Instagram @lovemyrb where he posts about California’s great outdoors.
Pamela Heiss came to us from the horticultural industry which she’s been working in since 1998. Her knowledge in both horticulture and wildlife is astounding and she will often point out the many wonders of Tree of Life Nursery if you are walking around with her, many things you may miss if you’re not with Pamela’s perceptive eye. Her deep love of the birds is present in all the plant advice that she gives, you’ll often find her singing to them by the bird “spa” she made in the fountain. Her favorite flower is the California Peony which is almost as beautiful as she is.
Antonio can always be found around the barn and the tool shed at Tree of Life. The production crew and field crew rely on him for many tasks. His favorite plant at Tree of Life is the Dudleya pachyphytum. He loves all parts of working at Tree of Life except for watering!
Serafin is responsible for all watering in the nursery. His favorite plant is Ruellia brittoniana and he loves everything about working at Tree of Life.
“Sinfo” or “Rosa” as she is called by the nursery staff is a crucial member of the propagation and production team at Tree of Life. Her favorite plant is Trichostema lanatum. She enjoys sticking cuttings, transplanting rooted cuttings and seedlings from flats, weeding and watering.
Salvador is an expert at installing and maintaining California naitve gardens. He works on all Tree of Life Design and NatureScape jobs. His favorite plant is Erigeron ‘Arthur Menzies’ and he loves everything about working with Tree of Life.
Haydee is the lead propagation specialist at Tree of Life. You will often see her working her magic with California native seeds in the barn. Her favorite plant is Ribes viburnifolium. Her favorite part of work is sowing seeds.
German is responsible for pulling all plant orders to our “will call” area, for assembling deliveries and making sure our retail shop, ‘Casa La Paz’, is fully stocked with all the best plants Tree of Life has to offer. He is an expert when it comes to identifying the best native plants for all our customers. His favorite plant is Salvia clevelandii and his favorite part of the work day is pulling plant orders on his trailer and supplying plants for all of Tree of Life’s customers.
Justo supports the landscaping crew, the production crew and also drives the smaller Tree of Life truck for local and small jobs. His favorite plant is Romneya ‘White Cloud’ and he loves everything about working for Tree of Life.
Laura joined Tree of Life Nursery in 1996 as an accounting consultant, and became an employee in 2001 right after 9-11 shocked the world. She previously worked as a certified public accountant in several industries, in both tax and accounting management roles. She earned a B.S. in Accounting at Pennsylvania State University, but has a long love of plants and almost changed her major to horticulture midstream, fitting in as many classes in the Penn State greenhouses as possible.
At Tree of Life, Laura oversees the financial side of the business, along with the sales and marketing, retail and landscaping divisions. She also plans the occasional TOLN board game night. She is the former President of the California Native Plant Society and an active board member in the Orange County Chapter. Laura is an amateur landscape and plant photographer, and with her husband Bob is an avid hiker in neighboring Caspers Wilderness Park and beyond.