Jan Vaccaro, Office Manager

Jan is a South Florida transplant and previously owned several businesses, including a flower and gift store. She lives in Buckhead with her rescue dogs and has one daughter that also lives in Buckhead with her husband. She loves gardening and spending time at Lake Lanier with her dogs.

Favorite Plant: Hydrangeas….they come is so many colors and as an ex florist this was one of her favorite flowers to use in arrangements.

Favorite Season: Fall and Early Spring…she doesn’t have allergies!

Best Garden Ever Visited: Any garden is beautiful but I do love Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Not only is it beautiful but they have so many events. The Holiday Light event gets better every year.

Biggest Gardening Mistake: I am continually frustrated by my yard as I want near perfection. It has so many challenges (including too much shade, moles, moles and more moles. I have lost so much due to things I simply didn’t have to deal with in Florida. It has been an ongoing learning experience.

Most Promising Gardening Herb: Rosemary is my favorite, second to Basil.

Most Valued Gardening Tool: Honest to God, I love the plastic insert that you put in those brown lawn bags. It makes them stand up and I don’t have to fight them falling over continually as I load the bags. I also love my big plastic yellow garden thongs to pick up debris. Makes it much more efficient to bag debris.

Best Treasure Ever Found in a Backyard: What a funny story. One of my first boyfriends in grade school gave me a ring that his father got him in Australia “to go steady”. LOL! I lost the darn thing and 25 years later when I was raking leaves at my mother’s house under her big Ficus tree, I found it. Can you imagine??? I returned it to him and we laughed because it didn’t even fit his pinky finger.

Best Reason to be in the Backyard: To feed my birds and watch the hummingbirds.

What I love most about living in Atlanta: Having come from South Florida where everything was either Palm Trees or Hibiscus, I love all the plush greenery, and variety of landscaping. I also love all the NATURE you see. I love all the critters and birds (love the geese) and seeing deer in my neighborhood in Buckhead no less. Who would have thought?

What I love most about working at Contemporary Gardens: We all love landscaping and helping others achieve their ideal outdoor space. As a team, we all work really well together and that makes our work life enjoyable.

Alma Mater: I attended several colleges, but my heart belongs to University of Kentucky where I spent 2 years. Although the UGA Dawgs are awesome, I am still a UK Basketball lover at heart.