Profile: Diane & Randy Jackson

Funny how often one thing leads to another. 

Diane Jackson first learned about the Civic Garden Center in 1986 when her mom was a patient at the original Bethesda Oak Hospice on Reading on Oak. Diane remembers her mom telling her “there’s a beautiful botanic garden across the street.” 

It was only later, when she began working at the Cincinnati Hand Surgery Center across the street from the Civic Garden Center, that she really discovered that “beautiful botanic garden.” She would venture over often to enjoy her lunch at a favorite spot in the garden. She was surprised that more of her colleagues did not do the same. “It really was like this hidden treasure that people didn’t take the time to appreciate. I just loved it,” she recalls.

From Visitors to Volunteers

Then in 2020 Diane and her husband, Randy, both retired. They had always enjoyed gardening, so they decided to join our Friday volunteer workday. They found they really appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the gardens. “We found we were learning a lot, both about the history of what Cornelius Hauck created here more than a hundred years ago and about how to really care for the diversity of plants and trees alive in these gardens today,” Diane said. They think weaving horticulture education into a volunteer workday makes for a more meaningful volunteer experience and helps the volunteers do better work.

Making Art

Like many people when they retire, they like to keep busy and love having the time to pursue other hobbies. And sometimes you find that you get pretty good at those hobbies! For Diane it was jewelry making and making unique sun catchers. For Randy, who has always liked woodworking, it was making quirky bird houses.

Diane started selling her jewelry and sun catchers at outdoor parties at their home. “At first it was just my sisters buying my stuff, but then other people began buying it too,” Diane recalls. “It was really fun, so I kept going.” They even have named for their new ventures: Eyes on You by Lady Di and Yard Art by Mr. J. Now, they’re often vendors at our spring Plant Sale!