California Horticultural Society has been dedicated to bringing together gardeners and garden professionals, through meetings and other events, to share their experiences since 1937.

June

Coffee in the Garden

June 17, 9 a.m. – Danville
Full details sent when you RSVP
(if you are not a member but would like to be you can join here)

For our third CitG event this year we will be visiting the Danville garden of a long-time member who has successfully grown many plants you’d be surprised could grow in that area. CH provides the hot beverages, you bring a sweet or savory treat to share.

We’ll have time after to drop in the Western Hort Annual Picnic. Check your email or the June Bulletin for more details.

The Heat Dome of the Northwest and How Native Species Coped with the Adverse Climate Effects

with Paul Bonine, Xera Nursery, Portland, OR
Monday, June 19, 2023 -6:30 p.m. on Zoom or by phone
(if you are not a member but would like to be you can join here)

Continuing our look at the effects of changing climate on our gardens and the wider horticultural world we’ve invited Paul Bonine to discuss the heat dome over the Northwest in June of 2021 and how it has affected the plant world. Paul has studied the immediate effects and the effects over time of these events and will talk to us about how to deal with them in the moment and how to adapt our landscapes for the future. 

Paul Bonine is a garden writer, lecturer, and co-owner of the wholesale and retail specialty plant nursery Xera Plants, in Portland, Oregon. A lifelong plantsman, Bonine has worked in the nursery industry for nearly twenty years and has consulted for NPR, the Sunset Western Garden Book, and The Oregonian. He is the author of Black Plants: 75 Striking Choices for the Garden (Timber Press, 2009) and co-authored Gardening in the Pacific Northwest: The Complete Homeowner’s Guide (Timber Press, 2017).

July

The Flora of the Patagonia Steppe

Kiamara is a skilled grower and gardener with experience in many specialized plant groups: geophytes, ferns, alpines and alpine-like plants, succulents, and bryophytes. Ms. Ludwig was one of the primary instigators in starting the Bryophyte Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). She, and a small cadre of dedicated grower-gardeners, have recently rejuvenated the Western Chapter of NARGS. In 2020, she completed her four-year term as an Interpretive Student Aide at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in the Berkeley Hills, where she continues with her main interest in plant propagation. While a long-time member of NARGS, she has until recently focused primarily on propagating plants for the rock garden group at the San Francisco Botanical Garden and for private clients allowing her to install rock gardens.

Supporting Each Other

Plants do not recognize race, economic condition, or social class. Plants can take root in any spot where they can find sufficient sunlight and moisture. Appreciating and nurturing plants can reduce stress, provide food, and promote community.

Nurturing plants can be for everyone, everywhere. Spending time around plants—gardening, spending time in a park, hiking through trees, or playing in a meadow—is good for mental health, promoting relaxation and relief from stress and worries. There are physical benefits to sunlight, fresh air, soothing scents. 

Whether you have a full garden, some house plants, or a few herbs on your windowsill, we encourage you to take time to appreciate the colors, textures and, and to share your interest with others. Share photos and web links, offer horticultural help and advice, talk to young people about gardening, growing food, and the role plants play in our world. We can all help shape the future for good.