It started in a garden

Jeffrey Allis

Founder & Principal Designer
TruVine Design

Thank you for visiting my site. My passion and love of plants and gardens began in the large country vegetable garden I created when I was thirteen. I was fortunate that my family owned one of the premier tropical greenhouses that specialized in interior tropical landscaping. My biophilic design and horticulture degree and years of hands-on growing and buying experience were extraordinary.

Adding diversity to my life, I spent 20 years in the financial business as a member of the Chicago Board of Trade as a U.S. Government Bond Options Trader and later as an Associate Director at Bear Stearns. My philanthropic endeavors also led me to chairing a Fine Arts Museum and a Decorative Arts and Garden Museum.

I have explored hundreds of nurseries and botanical gardens throughout America, Canada, Europe, Central and South America. Vertical green walls, plants and creative biophilic design have remained a passion throughout my life.

Today, through TruVine Design, I bring all of those experiences together.

I still approach plants with the same curiosity and passion I had when I was thirteen. I enjoy finding the right plant, the right container and the right placement - and seeing how nature can completely change the feeling of a space.

My philosophy is rooted first in sustainability, then in curiosity - understanding plants, understanding a space, and understanding how nature can change the way that space feels. I believe the most successful spaces go beyond how they look. They create a positive experience and a connection to nature that people remember and, most importantly, feel in the space.

I appreciate you taking the time to learn more about my work, my approach to design, and what inspires me.