Don't be surprised if Art bleeds green, because gardening is in his blood. "I've been interested in plants since I was a kid," he says. "My grandparents had big gardens, my father had a huge orchard, and my mother grew lots of flowers." Unfortunately, his childhood fascination with plants left less-gifted friends and classmates wondering if he was a bit loony. "I would take hyacinths I'd grown to show the kids at school and say, 'What's up with your gardens?' '' he recalls. "More than once, the teachers screamed at the class, 'Why can't you be more like Arthur?' You can imagine what recess was like."

photo: A peony, an old rosebush laden with blooms clings to a fence for support.