About Jenny San Filippo

Meet Garden Expert Jenny San Filippo

Her interest in plants and gardening came at a young age. One could almost say Jenny was genetically pre-disposed to gardening. Born with a green thumb and a mind that absorbs plant knowledge like a sponge. This young lady was destined to serve the gardeners of the world.

Her first plant memory involves getting in a tiny bit of trouble for picking the tulips at the park across the street from her house. Playing in and around neighborhood gardens were some of her fondest memories of summer break as a child. Picking green beans, tomatoes, and broccoli in her dad’s vegetable garden taught her the value of growing your own food.

This relation to plants continued as she grew up. Her first job was as a cashier at a regional garden center. She didn’t learn a lot about plants as a cashier. However, being surrounded by plants and the people who bought them would prove to be helpful in the future.  A couple of years later while going to college for her general education Jenny found herself working at a small family-owned garden center.

Working in Horticulture

It took a couple of years and plenty of new plant information for her to realize that she wanted to work with plants for her career. She enrolled at Milwaukee Area Technical College to get a degree in Horticulture. While she was going to school she continued to work at The Garden Mart, during this time she acquired more plant and gardening knowledge.

In 2006 Jenny earned a degree in horticulture from Milwaukee Area Technical College. For the next couple of years, she continued to work in the retail garden center industry. In March of 2010, a new opportunity presented itself, this opportunity involved working with customers, and plants. It was the ideal job for her it involved shipping flower bulbs, vegetables, and perennials to customers across the United States. In April of 2010, she began her career at Holland Bulb Farms.

Over the ten years she worked for Holland Bulb Farms, Jenny learned more about bulbs than she ever thought possible. Her knowledge of gardening with bulbs and dormant roots would grow. Her knowledge about gardening in different US climates expanded. Helping gardeners of all skill levels, in various locations and of various ages became her life.

Jenny had contributed to the Bulb Blog on occasion over the course of her years working at Holland Bulb Farms.  In 2018 Jenny knew the Bulb Blog needed attention. She wanted to spread her knowledge about bulbs, perennials, and vegetables to the world. Therefore, if she could help someone from making a gardening mistake contributing to the bulb blog was a great way to achieve this goal.

A Deep Love of Nature

Jenny’s life has always included nature and it always will. From her gardening memories as a child to her career choice in the green industry, nature has been with her. This love of nature is present outside of her world of gardening.

Jenny and her husband Jason who also works in the green industry spend most of their time with their 2 dogs, and 2 cats. Jenny lives in Milwaukee, WI, and enjoys finding new nature trails to walk on with her dogs. Enjoying nature is essential to Jenny. She enjoys the outdoors playing disc golf, a game with disc-like frisbees that is played in parks and wooded areas. Other activities Jenny enjoys are cooking food and listening to music.

Feel free to fill out the form on this page or email Jenny at any time with any gardening-related questions: jenny@bulbblog.com. 

Jenny’s Top 10 Favorite Perennials

• Snake Root (I have so much shade in my yard)
• Toad Lily (I love the intricate flowers)
• Hosta (The diversity of textures and colors are limitless)
• Ferns (ALL of THEM!)
• Peonies (Nostalgic reasons)
• Bleeding Hearts (Nostalgic reasons)
• Butterfly Weed (Butterflies—duh!)
• Brunnera (I love the silver foliage)
• Goatsbeard (The texture of the flowers and foliage)
• Salvia (Long bloom time and vivid blue flowers)

Jenny’s Top 10 Favorite Bulbs

• Allium giganteum (Purple is my favorite color)
• Species Tulips (Adorable and long-lived)
• Ruby Giant Species Crocus (Early purple blooms are a delight)
• Snowdrops (Dainty early spring blooms)
• Red, Pink or Orange Tuberous Begonias (Great shade plants for baskets)
• Pineapple Lilies (Long-lasting unique green blooms)
• Elephant Ears (Larger than life leaves)
• Pompon Dahlias (Fun, bold blooms)
• Tiger Lilies (Fierce late-summer blooms)