Co-Founder & CEO

Michelle Simpson is a fifth-generation Coloradan. She was the horticulturist for Denver’s Historic Mount Vernon garden in Washington Park where she designed and implemented its transformation from a high water, high input formal ornamental garden into a dynamic native public garden. She worked with the City of Denver on its resiliency task force and with members of the community to educate and empower sustainable systems and practices. She has worked in both public and private horticulture and design in Colorado for two decades. 

Co-Founder & COO

Katie Crowley is a fifth-generation Coloradan. She was the Director of Operations for the Denver Park Trust, a nonprofit partner of Denver Parks and Recreation, where she helped developed The Pollinator Trail: a private-public partnership to reclaim space in Denver for native habitats. Her family owned a greenhouse for many decades, and contributed to the early days of the Botanic Gardens on York Street. 

Consulting Ecological Horticulturist

Skyler Smith was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and works in botany and horticulture specializing in native prairie plants and ecosystem restoration. He currently works as a horticulturist in Denver's Washington Park where he is transforming the gardens there into native habitat landscapes. He also performs botanical and ecological monitoring of sustainably grazed rangelands across the western United States.