Tomoko Lee

Tomoko’s passion in gardening was inherited from her mother, Takeko. Even when the family lived in a small apartment, Takeko was always able to maintain flowering plants. Tomoko did not have a chance to do gardening in full scale until Ivan and she moved to San Mateo, California in 1998. Her interest grew into landscaping when the couple moved to Redwood City in 2000. The property was previously neglected and this opportunity presented a blank canvas for her to design a garden from scratch.

Of all the flowering plants, her most favorite are roses. She particularly likes the bi-color ones, such as Cherry Parfait. She also belongs to Peninsula Rose Society and shares information with fellow rose gardeners and volunteers to manage their website.

Tomoko is a certified Sogetsu Ikebana teacher (flower name:  芳柚 Hoyu) whose work has been exhibited at Bouquets to Art, the Bay Area Sogetsu Artscapes, the Ikebana International San Francisco Bay Area Chapter Flower Show, the San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Filoli Flower Show. Her design philosophy centers on seasonality and sustainability. Tomoko also creates floral design tutorials on YouTube. For her everyday arrangements, nearly all materials are organically grown or foraged from her own garden.

Tomoko was born and raised in Yokohama and Tokyo areas, Japan. She graduated from University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1995 then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a video/event producer.