About Us

A passion for plants, pots and the Pacific Northwest...

Dragon Gardens Northwest was conceived by Eric Paulson in 1998, while he was grooming Walter and Anne Liew's bonsai at their nursery in Waimanalo, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.  By 1999, Eric and his growing family moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon, leaving his job at Castle Medical Center in Kailua, Hawaii and Dragon Gardens Northwest was born. 

Since '99 we have evolved from a quarter acre pasture in Tualatin, to a 100-year-old grass seed mill in Estacada to a 10,000 ft2 warehouse on Swan Island at the Portland Flower Market.  And now we are taking the next step in our development...Dragon Gardens Northwest is now located in the heart of downtown Tualatin.

Over the past ten years we have refined our products quality with multiple trips and extended stays in China.  In 2007 we decided to focus all our exports from China, minimizing our stocked merchandise from Vietnam.  There were a number of reasons we made this decision, but it was primarily due to the quality individuals we had cultivated relationships with in China.

Jon Paulson (Eric's father) continues to provide valuable design and production support and oversight with our factories in China.  His 30+ years of teaching ceramics and art has helped Dragon Gardens define its brand and refine it's quality.  Dragon Gardens has put together a solid local accounting team that supports Eric's management, development and purchasing duties.  Tom Feller provides a friendly, knowledgable and steady presence at the yard in Tualatin five days a week, as Retail Sales Manager for Dragon Gardens Northwest.

We look to 2011 to be another healthy step in Dragon Garden's development and an exiting opportunity to cultivate, collaborate and stimulate new customer relationships and refresh and reinvigorate existing client relations.  We will continue to strive to provide our wholesale clients with a simple, convenient and profitable experience with us each time they make a purchase and our retail customers with sound advice, support and competitive prices.