Southern California Horticultural Society Where passionate gardeners meet to share knowledge and learn from each other. socalhort.org NEWSLETTER April 2018 OUR NEXT MEETING SCHS WELCOMES SHARING SECRETS IN THIS ISSUE The SCHS Sharing Secrets April Program Details . 1 Thursday, April 12 NEW MEMBERS question for April is: Huntington Gardens “Hello” to the following Do you know of any venues March Program Recap 1151 Oxford Road who have joined our group: we could use for our monthly and Sharing Secrets . 2 meetings? We are considering San Marino, CA 91108 Douglas Hart rotating locations to improve Green Sheets: Oct. & Dec. 2017, d Vicky Perez accessibility to more members. and Feb. 2018 . 3 & 4 Amanda Sigafoos Tour with Panel: 5:30 pm Respond by Monday, April 16 Horticultural Happenings . 5 Meeting begins: 7:00 pm www.socalhort.org Online at socalhort.org OR send Upcoming Programs and e-mail to [email protected] SCHS Contact info. 6 SUCCULENTS IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LANDSCAPE PLEASE NOTE - DIFFERENT VENUE and TIMES for APRIL MEETING !!! The SCHS April meeting will be After our held at the Huntington Library, Art private tour, TIMES, LOCATIONS, Collections, and Botanical Gardens, we will head metz and MEETING DETAILS and features a panel discussion on to the Brody succulents, as well as a private tour of Botanical 5:30 - TOUR BEGINS the Huntington’s 10-acre Desert Garden Center for a Sign in at the Entrance & Visitor Center prior to the general meeting. (Please slide show and see side panel for times and details.) discussion Leading the tour will be John Trager, on succulents 7:00 - PANEL PRESENTATION Curator of the Desert Garden and Desert and their many and SCHS MEETING To be held at the Brody Botanical Collections at the Huntington. He will landscape Stein Sabine credit: Photo be pointing out plants of interest, and uses, presented jointly by panelists Center in the Ahmanson Classroom. also those he feels are deserving of wider Laurel Woodley and Steve Gerischer. d cultivation. You will see many succulents Laurel Woodley is a retired biology in full flower, including aloes, iceplants, professor from Los Angeles Harbor ENTRY FEES Crassulaceae, cacti and more. Increasing College who has been involved in Southern The Huntington is waiving admission water restrictions have upped the demand California horticulture since the mid fees for this event, but the SCHS fee of for these plants more than ever, and with 1960s. A past Director and President of the $5.00 per non-member guest will apply. 100+ years of trialing succulents in our Cactus & Succulent Society of America, she climate, the Desert Garden provides a now serves as their Advisor. She has long FOOD tremendous resource for horticulturists collected and grown succulents and is an You may bring your own food to eat and casual visitors alike. active member of the Sunset Succulent and ONLY in the Brody Center or the Trager has been at the Huntington South Coast Cactus & Succulent societies. Entrance / Visitor Center areas. Food is since 1983, and his writings have Steve Gerischer is the current not allowed on the Huntington grounds. appeared in the Cactus and Succulent president of the SCHS, a landscape Journal, the Euphorbia Journal and designer, and owner of Larkspur Garden VENDORS & PLANTS many other publications. Also known Design. He has an extensive knowledge Vendor displays and sales will take for his photography, over 2,000 of his of succulents and their myriad uses, and place during the meeting, but there will images have been published. He holds is a popular speaker on a variety of topics a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture in the local horticultural lecture circuit. be NO PLANT FORUM or RAFFLE. from Cal Poly Pomona and has traveled We invite you to attend this special globally in search of plants and insects. evening and hope you will be able to join us. Mark Your Calendars !!! u MARCH PROGRAM RECAP • COFFEE IN TARZANA • SHARING SECRETS NOTE: If you would like to at home or a local community garden obtain a downloadable PDF of instead. Sanchez presented a list of SHARING SECRETS the entire March presentation, go native edibles that can easily be grown, to the “Monthly Meetings / Past and various foods that can be derived RESPONSES Meetings” tab on our website at: from them. His top growing picks What critters are you www.socalhort.org. d included: welcoming (or discouraging) in your garden as we head In March we were treated to a • Claytonia perfoliata-Miner’s lettuce into spring? And how? program presented by native food (fresh greens, soup, pesto) d expert, educator and enthusiast, Antonio • Salvia clevelandii and hybrids Sanchez, who not only gave us a history (seasoning, pesto, beer, ice cream, My critter issue is squirrels. I can’t stop them from visiting, of California baked treats, infused in oils) • Allium unifolium - one-leaf onion but I force them to share the native edible nectarines and plums with me plants, but (use like garlic, shallots, or chives) by protecting the larger fruit also brought • Vitis ‘Roger’s Red’ and other grapes clusters with drawstring net bags. along recipes • Ribes aureum - golden currant I purchase two or three sizes and tasty (jams, eaten fresh, cordial, medicinal) online. Unfortunately, squirrels samples. He can gnaw holes through the fabric Other plants not typically used in food when motivated, and both the has worked by: Maher Laura Photo cultivation but that should be considered fruit and bags must be monitored with California native plants and foods occasionally, but it slows them for over a decade, and was one of the for the near future were mentioned, such as various native berries, pinyon nuts, down a lot and allows me to lead organizers for the 2015 California pick a decent harvest. I intend Native Food Symposium in Claremont. purslane, and the Slim Jim bean. to experiment with other barrier He also co-founded Nopalito Native In addition to “growing our materials this season or next. own”, Sanchez also recommended Plant Nursery in Ventura. Yoav Paskowitz Sanchez began with an introduction introducing these foods through to common food crops historically community and demonstration Spring brings the flush of found throughout Mesoamerica and gardens, local farmer’s markets, and fresh new growth in our gardens. the Californias, some of which have even selling food products derived And sometimes the heartbreak been lost to us, but many of which from these plants online. of finding that fresh new growth are viable options for growing today. To wrap up the evening, Sanchez took pulled out or chewed up! audience questions and invited attendees I’m always happy to host the Among the reasons he cited to consider White-Crowned Sparrows over growing native foods are to providing to sample some of the foods he brought the winter, and am sad to see a sustainable and available supply, with him, all of which were mentioned them go in the spring. But I am cultural revitalization, commercial in the lecture. He left us intellectually glad my pea shoots will have a development of a regional resource and gastronomically satisfied, with much chance to recover. (food security) and water conservation. “food for thought” to take home to our Anonymous He strongly advocated against foraging own kitchen gardens. Thanks for sharing! in the wild and suggested growing them d Sabine Steinmetz On Sunday, March 25, 2018, the SCHS Mountains Wildfowers. They spoke of After the presentation, Wood led a hosted a special Coffee in the Garden Bill Baker’s many plant introductions, garden walk and pointed out many unusual at “Baker’s Acres,” a specialty cactus and including: Pachyphytum ‘Bill Baker’, specimens (not all succulents) growing on succulent nursery in Tarzana. Donna numerous Dyckias, such as ‘Brittlestar’, the grounds, including: Xanthorrhoea preissii, Marie Baker, the wife of late founder and ‘California’ and ‘Tarzan’, plus other plants Strelitzia juncea, Erythrina flabelliformis, plantsman Bill Baker, graciously opened like Aloe ‘Hercules.’ Brachychiton rupestris, and the Buddha’s the gates of her one-of-a-kind nursery Hand citron. Following the tour, guests and garden to us for a few hours. We browsed for plants, botanical prints and were able to explore the grounds and books that were offered for sale. enjoy refreshments provided by SCHS Many thanks again to our hosts, and board members. to the SCHS board for arranging this We heard about the history of the memorable Coffee in the Garden event. nursery in a short presentation given by d two of the Bakers’ longtime friends: Royce Sabine Steinmetz Wood, botanical illustrator and landscape designer, as well as Tim Thomas, botanist Visit our Facebook page and co-author of Southern California Steinmetz by: Sabine Photo to see more photos of this garden! v Southern California Horticultural Society GREEN SHEET Plant Forum ∙ October & December 2017 The Plant Forum is a display of plants grown by members & exhibited at our monthly general meeting. PLANTS SHOWN at OCTOBER 12, 2017 MEETING Bouquet (cont’d) Rosa moschata (Rosaceae) Cemetery Musk rose is a shrubby rose that can be grown Antigonon leptopus (Polygonaceae) as a climber and has long been used in cemeteries and Coral Vine, shown by Aprille Curtis. This rampant vine church yards. Origins are uncertain, but probably from comes from Mexico. Cordate (heart-shaped) leaves the western Himalayan region. Blooms for a long period are dark green and the from May to November with small, pale pink flowers. pendulous stems of coral-red flowers are striking. It does best PLANTS SHOWN at DECEMBER 14, 2017 MEETING in warm areas and will sulk if shaded or Salvia madrensis ‘Red Neck Girl’ (Lamiaceae) too cold.