If you’ve been following my blog over the past couple of months, you may have noticed that I have been highlighting some of the “family members” from Hallmark’s Home & Family show. I am incredibly excited to share the last of this series (for now) in today’s post in which I am featuring garden lifestyle expert Shirley Bovshow. I only minimally knew about her before speaking recently with her, but I have to say her interview is the definitive grand finale in this series which I am honored to present here today. (Note: I know there are many strong opinions that exist out there concerning recent changes to this show, but I would request that my readers resist the urge to post negativity about this show on this post.)

RH: Shirley, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today.

SB: Ruth, thank you for reaching out.

I am thrilled to get to feature so many of the family members on my site. It is such a positive show, which is what I so enjoy about Home & Family and Hallmark in general. I appreciate the positivity of this show which is unlike some of the talk shows on other networks.

I agree with you. It is kind of an oasis.

Yes, that’s a good way to think of it. Now, even though I’m not much of a gardener, I always enjoy your segments. I don’t have much success with plants. I tend to be the one who kills them.

Are you a DIYer? Do you cook or do crafts?

Oh, yeah. I have a daughter who’s fifteen, and we live with my parents. We have lots of animals, and we live on this nice piece of property out in the country. I’m the one who cooks all the meals. I am constantly adding my own touches to our meals, and I enjoy doing that. I don’t always follow all the rules; I prefer to do my own thing.

Good, that’s basically my philosophy in life. I take the rules in general, and then I apply my own twist. There’s always that desire to create something original.

I think that’s basically what I do in my life too. Now, my daughter is pretty good with plants. She’s been working on taking care of her succulents and she loves going to the store and just spending the time looking at all them.

That’s really good to hear that she’s gravitating towards plants and nature. In this day and age, that’s not the norm.

Well, she’s very artistic. She loves drawing, painting, and she is very technologically advanced. She’s also a very good student. I know I am extremely blessed to have a good kid I don’t have to worry about. So, Shirley, how did you get started with…what is your official title?

I am a landscape designer by trade. But let me give you the details about how I ended up on Home & Family and my connection to plants. I’ll try to give you the Cliff’s Notes version.

When I got married, I was an instant mom. My husband had two daughters from his first marriage.  I remember I took the job of mom seriously. I remember telling my husband that although I had a career in real estate and then marketing, I decided I was going to take time off during my week and go to their classrooms and see how I could get involved. So I had that propensity towards wanting to be this stay-at-home mom, but a career person at the same time.

Shirley’s kids

Those two daughters of his warmed me up because when we had our two kids, I made the decision to stay at home. And it was only then that my eyes opened up to the natural world where I started to notice beautiful plants and gardens. I had zero interest in plants or flowers until then. I even told my husband when we were dating, “You’re the luckiest guy on earth because you don’t have to spend money on plants and flowers because I don’t like them.” I told him, “Don’t give me flowers! What do I need them for?”  {laughs} So you can imagine I’ve had a huge transformation.

Plants and flowers did not call my attention. In fact, what did call my attention was ultra-endurance sports. Like biathlons or doing cross-state bicycle trips and doing one-hundred-mile races on my bike. I was kind of like a little tomboy jock. I wasn’t into plants or anything. And that’s my background.

When we had our kids, I became a stay-at-home mom, and I always enjoyed being there for my kids. I had lots of help from my mom who would come by all the time to help me. Needless to say, I had lots of energy. Someone who rides a bike for a hundred miles tends to have a lot of energy. Well, I didn’t know what to do with my energy when my kids were sleeping, and my mom was there and we were hanging out. I remember going outside. I knew I wasn’t going to jump on a bike. I couldn’t go anywhere since my kids were sleeping at home.

Well, I remember noticing my neighbor’s yard for the first time. He had this beautiful, front yard, and he was always out there digging and planting something. To me, this was like something foreign. Like, what the heck is this guy doing?! Well, as a new mom, I was very interested in getting in shape. I remember I used to watch him digging, and he had the best legs. So it seemed that his yard work was giving him a good workout, and his yard looked pretty. For this first time ever, I looked at my yard, and I said, ” Wow! You don’t have a nice-looking yard!” Did I ever notice that before? Never. Did it bother me? Never. But for the first time, I realized there’s such a thing as a pretty yard and there’s such a thing as beautiful plants.

I remember going to the garden center and picking up my first six-pack of pansies. I remember bringing them home. I didn’t have any type of tools, but I remembered there were some old, rusty shovels in the garage that somebody had left. So I took one out, and I went over to my juniper bush–if you’re not familiar with junipers, they grow in very hard soil. So I started digging underneath because I wanted to put these pretty pansies underneath the juniper. But it was really difficult to do. But I got my little pansies in there. I watered them. Then I went to tell my neighbor Rob, “Rob, come over here! You’ll never believe what I did today!” He said, “Oh, I see you planted some pansies. That’s nice, but it looks like you buried a horse.” I was like, “What do you mean?” He said, “Well, you’re supposed to level the soil after you plant it. It looks like you’ve got molehills there.” I remember feeling like my little balloon was busted. I was wanting to show off to him!

I remember he gave me his gardening book, The Sunset Garden Book. He said, “It looks like you’re out here a lot. Here, you need this. Read it.” And I did–cover to cover. I became obsessed, and this is where the story gets faster. I had become so obsessed with gardening that any minute I had was spent gardening. I would even take the kids and put them in the van and go to the garden center and walk around with them. We would look at plants. We would photograph them. I would just study, study, study. My front yard became a lab. It was like going to beauty school and changing your hair color every week. That’s what beauty stylists do when they’re going to beauty school. And I was planting trees and digging them up the next week, changing them out, moving them, while not realizing, that that is not the way you do it.  But I spent my time working in this lab furiously for one to two years, as any free time I had was spent gardening.

People–strangers–would drive by and they would stop and knock on my door. They’d ask who did my yard. And I’d tell them I did it. Then they would ask, “Oh, could you do my yard?” My response was, “Well, I’m not a professional. I’m actually a stay-at-home mom, and this is not a business for me; I just do it for fun.” And people said, “Well, you could consider going into business because we like your landscapes.”

This went on for years. The kids were now four and five and ready to go to preschool and kindergarten. I remember telling my husband at the beginning of summer, “In September, when the kids start back to school, I’m gonna go back to work.” He said that sounded good to him. But that month of August was pivotal. I had about three or four people–strangers–ask me to landscape their yard. And I remember telling my husband that I’d like to go back to school. I wanted to go into landscaping, and I thought I could make a business of it. He asked if I thought I could make any money. I said, “I don’t know. All I know is that people are always asking me to landscape their yard, and I don’t want to do an amateur job. I want to learn the nuts and bolts, drainage, all the un-sexy things. ” And he said “yes.”

Shirley’s yard

With his blessing, I went back to community college. I did a two-year program; it was very intense. It was Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 3:00 every day for two years. It was a very esteemed course that people look for because it was comprehensive and really intense. I got my professional certification for landscape design and nursery practices and horticulture. During that time, I remember taking on my first client. This happened while I was still in school. So what happened is that once I started taking on clients, I had to book a year in advance without any type of advertising. I began to landscape complete neighborhoods.

My business was growing so quickly, but it was a crazy time. During this time, I was trying to keep a good schedule so I could still be there for my kids right after school. So what makes my career path a little bit different is the way I approached my work hours. What I would do is I would go and do the landscape projects while the kids were at school two days a week. And then two days a week, I would be at school being the school mom, the room mom or whatever. Then all my design work I would do while my kids slept. So between the hours of nine and three in the morning, Monday through Friday, I would do my design work and the business side of things so that I could be available during the day most of the week for my kids at school. So I again used the extra energy that God has given me because I don’t need a lot of sleep. I would do intense work in the middle of the night. Through that time, my business just continued to grow immensely.

Five or six years into my career, I became a contributing designer for HGTV and did a lot of shows for them. The first time I was on the show called Outer Spaces, I remember the producer took me aside and said, “Have you done a lot of garden TV before?” And I said, “Oh, no, never.” She went, “Wow, you’re pretty good!” I said, “Well, thank you.” And she said, “I bet you’re gonna have your own show one day.” And I responded, “Oh my goodness, I’d love to have my own show.”

Garden Police

And about a year later, this same producer was interviewing at Discovery Channel for a new makeover show called Garden Police. She wanted to work on that show, and she asked the interviewer, “Who are the hosts?” And the person answered, “Well, we’ve been scouting and doing interviews for three months across the country. We don’t have a host. There will be two hosts. We have final auditions this Friday.” This was a Wednesday. She asked, “Do you have Shirley Bovshow on that list?” They looked and said, “No.” And then she told me that she begged them, “Please call Shirley! I think you’ll like her. Add her to the list.” So I got this call on Wednesday night, “Sorry for the late notice, but you were highly recommended. Would you like to come to a casting call audition on Friday?” I said, “Sure!” There were like twenty other people there for the finals, and I got the job for my own TV show! I did the Garden Police for three years, which was amazing. It was my own makeover show. After that show ended, I did lots of national talk shows all over the country.

I was called by Home & Family‘s talent director, who had known my work on the Discovery Channel. She was an expert at locating experts for TV. She invited me to this new show taping out of Universal Studios, which is only ten miles from my house, but I was a bit unsure. She said, “It’s just as a contributor. It’s a show called Home & Family.” And I will never forget that she said, “And I promise you. If you come, there will be a future for you on this show.” And I said, “Really? How do you know?” And she said, “Because everyone likes you!” {laughs} From her mouth to God’s ears! I’ve been there from the first week of the show, and it’s now been on the air six seasons. I feel like a survivor. Through all the changes, I’ve survived and I’m still there.

Well, my mom and dad watch the show too, and when I mentioned you to my mom, she knew right away who you were.

It’s happening more and more. Whenever I got to any Home Depot, Lowe’s, or garden center, at least a couple times a week, I’ll have people come up to me and say, “Oh, you’re from Home & Family.” It’s so cute. Even at Home Goods. That’s a huge place for Hallmark viewers. And I can’t go in there without people knowing because they’re looking for things to beautify their homes.

What I love about your segments is that even someone like me who knows nothing about plants, I can still watch your segments and learn from them and get ideas. 

Right! A viewer will either start out watching a segment of mine thinking,” Gardening is a chore to me, but I want to learn about this.” Or they will say, “Ooh, I love plants! I want to learn about this one.” What’s neat about my segments is that it’s not always just plant information. I get to use my creative chops as a designer and do a lot of DIY floral design projects that I love. I’ve done makeovers on the show. I’ve designed original things for the landscape. I’ve been able to show people how to use food from the garden: how to grow their own spices, how to make their own tea, how to make art from the garden. I really love my job because I feel it’s so multifaceted that I will never run out of material. Ever! I’ll just kind of dig deeper.

I love all of you on Home & Family. Seriously, you guys always make it so much fun, and I can’t think of a single person connected with the show who doesn’t make it fun. It’s not like you’re sitting there thinking, “This is the most boring thing I’ve ever seen in the world.” Everyone seems to have great enthusiasm.

I agree and it comes from the heart. I’m so excited about what I’m presenting that it is fun to me. It’s not a chore. My goal is always for the audience to have a takeaway, maybe they’ve learned something. I always want them to say, “Wow, I didn’t know that. Isn’t that interesting?” That’s always the end goal for me is to make something that people will think about or use something that is very practical and useful but also inspiring.

Well, Shirley, I would say you definitely reach that goal. 

I appreciate that. You know, something that is important to me is not only to show up and present on camera but all the things that you see on my set…days before I present those, I source my own materials and I have my own design studio. My assistant and I make all the props and all of the things for my display. It has to be highly visually beautiful. So when you see my segments, everything you see in the display is pretty much handmade in the studio and we bring it to set ready to go. I feel like people need to be visually enticed. I don’t just bring a plant and put it in one little pot. I make a display of it. I think people need to be captivated.

That’s really neat. I don’t think we viewers often realize how much work goes in behind-the-scenes on these segments. We probably tend to take it for granted. We see it and we think it’s nice, and we forget about the work you did to prepare.

It’s interesting because it is a multifaceted job. I’m considered an expert in my field, but to me, the term expert is a misnomer. I am knowledgeable, and I continue to learn. But for me, it’s not just presenting; it’s designing. It’s putting the script together. It’s not something that everyone knows about, so there’s a lot on my plate.

Now, in addition to all this background information, Ruth, there is one thing I would really love to emphasize. In my job, all the passion and excitement that people see and that I bring to the show about plants and flowers, it pales in comparison to my passion for people. I see my job on Home & Family as a ministry. My goal is to bring joy and connect people back to Eden. That’s why my moniker is “Edenmaker.” God created a beautiful garden for us, and we were the ones who left. So now I want to bring people back to Eden. I want to entice them. I want to show them. For example, look at how beautiful this creation is. Look at this flower. Did you know that this flower is completely designed so that it is a perfect fit for the hummingbird’s beak? Every flower has a purpose. There are complete communities in an ash tree. It only attracts a certain kind of birds. For me, it’s to make that spiritual connection that people may not be aware of. I want to make a deep connection.

The opportunity I have to go deeper with people happens on my Facebook page. I will post some of the things from the show, and I’ll get tons of comments. My goal has been that every single comment that somebody makes is one hundred percent replied to. And I’m talking about threads of sometimes two hundred comments. Every single one is replied to because I feel that if someone is going to take the time to communicate with me, then who am I to ignore them? I mean, am I too busy or too important and these people are not? No, their time is just as valuable as mine, so with the help of my assistant, we respond to one hundred percent of the comments. And I’ve had the opportunity to form some really nice relationships and give extra encouragement to people going through hard times. I don’t know why they seek me out, but I can just say it’s a divine appointment sometimes. I’ve talked to people who were lonely and even ones who were wanting to take their own lives. And just the fact that they were replied to, they decided not to. And I’m not giving myself credit. This is through God. He knew that this person needed somebody to acknowledge them. And that’s the work that we do. People who are sick and who need prayer. If I can make myself available for the work which is to be there for others, then I’m doing my work. So being on TV is just an excuse to meet people so I can do what I’m really supposed to do and that is to serve others. To share the joy, the hope, the love, the passion that I have for life and God…share it with others on a one-to-one basis. That’s my purpose in everything that I do.

Shirley, you and I have almost the same outlook. Everything that I do through my interviews is part of the ministry that God has given me, and I hear you about responding to everybody too. I try my very best to do that as well. People say I don’t have to, but like you, I feel it’s what I am called to do. And people are sometimes so surprised when I do respond to them.

You know, just the fact that people are so surprised by that gives you an idea of how people have expectations of others, especially people on television. They are surprised when I do pay attention to them. But why wouldn’t I? Each person is precious and important. I am blessed to be able to have a platform where I can make myself available to others, and that is my whole purpose in life. A lot of times I think, “I’m a very simple person. I don’t need a lot of fancy things.” What makes me happy is just to be with my family and friends and to be serving and helping others. I often feel like God’s given me everything I need and I want for nothing. I’m the most content person you’ll ever meet. Now, my life is not perfect. There’s a lot of challenges in my life. But for some reason, God has seen fit to put an incredible amount of joy in me. It’s just there. And sometimes I wonder, “Why am I like this?” All this overabundant joy and all that energy…it’s because God wants me to share it with others. Why would He give me so much if it’s just for me? I don’t need it! It’s because it has to be given away. So I see myself as a mail carrier where God’s just given me all these bags and He’s loaded them up with all these gifts and different things and He’s like, “Go out and give it away!” And that’s my job to carry that bag of good and to do my best to bless people with what God wants to give them. Myself, I don’t have anything of value except the preciousness that has been entrusted to me. And this tremendous love for people.

What an awesome reminder, Shirley. Thank you for that. You have greatly encouraged me. It reminds me of why I do what I do with these interviews. 

I’m so happy to hear that, Ruth. When I present on a plant, I present on the beauty of it. The benefit of it. The magnificent design of it. And people are then blessed. They go, “Wow! I didn’t know that. That’s so great.” In so many ways, we have similar jobs, Ruth. I am presenting the plant life, and through your interviews, you are presenting the people life. We’re both gardeners in a sense. I cultivate plants. You cultivate people. My field is people too, but I do it in a roundabout way. There’s no way I’m going to get on that show and just start talking about how I’m going to encourage you and how God loves you. It’s not the time and place for that. God gave me an excuse to be on TV. He gave me a design talent that I never knew I had. And He gave me a platform. I never forget why I’m here. I’m not here to be famous. God has certain people He wants me to connect with. And I’m certainly happy doing it.

I hope that everyone will come over to Edenmakers and connect with me. There is so much more to us than just digging a hole and putting the plant there. It’s really a meeting place where people can discover how special they are and how unique they are. And I feel that is all part of the message that is inside my heart. It is to share with people how important they are. Everyone has a special gift, and that is not just some trite thing to say. It is the truth. As I say, I may love plants, but I love people more.

Because you have so many guests come on the show, are there one or two shows that really stand out to you as being very special?

Some of the people who have come on the show and been interviewed have had some of the most amazing lives and stories. Recently, a woman by the name of Donna J. Hopkins was on the show. She is a woman who has a metal leg. She is a double breast cancer survivor. Then she had a life-threatening situation and the end result was they had to amputate her leg from the knee down. And she was an athlete, a runner. When she was on the show, I just gravitated towards her. Her book is called Getting To the Other Side of Victory. And here you had this woman sitting there with one leg amputated, the biggest smile on her face, having gone through cancer twice…which is such a scary thing. No one wants to have that diagnosis. But she wasn’t there for anything else but to give. To give them hope and encouragement. She had the biggest smile. And she said, “I’m not smiling because I’m happy that I had cancer.” But then she talked about how her faith helped pull her through and how that is really her mission. She and I were talking after the show and she said, “You know what? I was not happy when I had my leg amputated and breast cancer. I asked God, ‘Why? why?’ But now I know why. Because He knew He would never give me anything more than I could handle and He knew that I would be able to take the situation and still love Him and somehow ask Him every day for the strength to go out and to give.” Sometimes people give to people with one leg, but she’s the one who’s giving. She’s not there to get anything for herself, but to give from her abundance. And I was so impressed by her.

So far I’ve asked the other Home & Family members, so I’ll ask you too. If the opportunity presented itself, would you like to have a cameo in a Hallmark movie or show?

You know, on a creative level, that would be fun to do. I also sing. I haven’t sung in a while, but that’s a little talent I have. I think it would be great to do some musical theater some day. Of course, my aspirations are more in line with sharing what I’m sharing here on Home & Family and with Edenmakers, but I’m not opposed to having a small role in a Hallmark movie or show.

Shirley, I cannot thank you enough for today’s chat. God has certainly used you to speak to my heart and encourage me, so I thank you for that.

Ruth, it was such a pleasure. Everything I do in my day I want to be fruitful. It doesn’t always happen, but I want it to be meaningful and fruitful because days are scarce. Hours are scarce. And there’s so much that needs to be done. So if I can have a fruitful day with somebody–I’ve blessed them, they’ve blessed me–that’s really what it’s all about.

While I adore every member of the Home & Family show that I’ve had the honor of interviewing, Shirley, for me, was someone who came along at the precise moment I needed her. She speaks of divine appointments, and I can state with impeccable assurance that our chat was divinely appointed. You cannot visit with Shirley long before you are exposed to and influenced by her infectious energy, her joyful persona, and her generous spirit of giving. Rarely do I see someone in the entertainment industry who is so unconditionally committed to being of service to others. Even from her origins with her marriage and the talent that God provided to her, she is one who invariably puts others first. In fact, I don’t believe Shirley spends much time thinking about herself at all, and the term unselfish is practically an understatement regarding the way she lives her life. Shirley is one who has remained steadfast throughout her career, and no matter what God may have in store for her in the future, I have no doubt that she will remain dedicated to her purpose in this life–to assist others.

If you have not had the opportunity to watch Shirley in action, I would encourage you to turn to Home & Family on the Hallmark Channel every Monday through Friday as you are certain to catch a glimpse of the prowess, professionalism, and enthusiasm Shirley provides to each of her segments. Additionally, I would invite you to check out all of Shirley’s links below and consider testing her statement about responding to every comment on her Facebook page. After all, who would NOT want to connect with someone as benevolent, accomplished, down-to-earth, and positive as Shirley? While her segments have gone somewhat under the radar for me at times, there is no doubt that after chatting with her, I have become a true fan and I don’t want to miss any of her exemplary and inspiring segments!

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