Ran Levy-Yamamori received a B.A. in horticulture from Hebrew University and has worked as a field biologist and natural history writer. He wrote Wild Flowers of Japan and co-authored Flowers of the Eastern Mediterranean. Currently he writes on nature for various publications in Japan, Europe, and his native Israel, and for several years, he wrote the popular "Flower of the Week" column, which appeared on the front page of The Japan Times Sunday edition.
Gerard Taaffe received his horticulture education at National Botanic Gardens in Dublin, the Royal Horticultural Society garden at Wisley, and the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. He has held several senior positions in horticulture and is currently a freelance landscape gardener and designer who teaches garden design in Japan. He also writes a garden column for the Japan Times.