Paul Craft moved to Florida in 1974 to get away from the cold dreary winters in Cleveland, Ohio. With little work available in chemistry, Paul found himself becoming self employed, starting a retail nursery and landscaping business. Those eventually grew along with a landscape design enterprise in Palm Beach County. Eventually, palms and cycads became the main focus of the nursery but in 1999, Paul sold off the nursery to devote more time to writing and traveling in search of more information about palms. To pay for his addiction, Paul became a horticultural consultant and before long became the head horticulturist for D’Asign Source.

Franco D'Ascanio got his passion for palms from his father at an early age. Born and raised in the Florida Keys, his knowledge of the plants that thrive in the area blossomed. He opened his first nursery in 1993 on a quarter-acre parcel of land. This business grew faster than a coconut palm! Today, D'Asign Source Botanicals features more than 20,000 plants on 20 acres. D'Asign Source Botanicals is a significant supplier to the landscape division of D'Asign Source, a turn key design/build firm.

As President of D'Asign Source, Franco manages the Outdoor Environment and Audio Visual departments. D'Asign Source has won several prestigious awards for their landscape design and architecture.

Keith Buttry grew up in SW Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin- Platteville, majoring in Biology. After a short career at a contract research lab in Madison, Keith’s passion for a tropical atmosphere led him to relocate to Marathon in 2002. The D’Asign Source nursery is where he began his education on tropical plants and palms. An opportunity at a private botanical garden prompted his move to Palm Beach County, and accelerated his learning of tropical gardens. In 2006 he rejoined the D’Asign Source team as the manager of the nursery in Palm Beach - D’Asign Source Botanicals.

In his free time, Keith enjoys spending time with his family, running, SCUBA diving, as well as enjoying the activities that are possible with the Florida climate.

Michelle Hayden is a South Florida native growing up in the West Palm Beach area. Her parents owned a nursery and landscape business so she was exposed to a wide variety of plants when very young. While growing up, she worked in the nursery at times, but back then, it was not something she particularly enjoyed. In high school and after graduation, Michelle worked as a veterinary technician and later did some bartending. She joined DSB in June of 2008 and discovered her inherent love for plants. Today, you will find her out in the nursery, the office, or helping customers with their questions.