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October 2026
NEXT GENERAL MEETING: Ferns and Lycophytes of San Diego County, With Jon Rebman, October 17, In-Person, Oasis, Rancho Bernardo, 1:30p -3:30p
Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D., Curator and Chair of Botany, San Diego Natural History Museum. Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D., is Curator/Chair of Botany at the San Diego Natural History Museum (since 1996) and a plant taxonomist who conducts extensive floristic research in Baja California and in San Diego and Imperial counties. He leads field classes and botanical expeditions and directs the San Diego County Plant Atlas project (sdplantatlas.org). Personal scientific collections: 37,000+ plant
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SDHS Facebook Group
Join and visit our Facebook Group and interact with other San Diego Horticultural Society Members and friends.
Previous Zoom Meetings
If you missed a zoom meeting or want to watch all or part of it again, meetings recordings are now available via SDHS YouTube Channel, or use the links below.
This Month's Articles
NEXT GENERAL MEETING: Ferns and Lycophytes of San Diego County, With Jon Rebman, October 17, In-Person, Oasis, Rancho Bernardo, 1:30p -3:30p
Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D., Curator and Chair of Botany, San Diego Natural History Museum. Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D., is Curator/Chair of Botany at the San Diego Natural History Museum (since 1996) and a plant taxonomist who conducts extensive floristic research in Baja California and in San Diego and Imperial counties. He leads field classes and botanical expeditions and directs the San Diego County Plant Atlas project (sdplantatlas.org). Personal scientific collections: 37,000+ plant
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NEXT SHARING GARDEN: Vista Sharing Garden: Saturday, November 7, 2026, With Group Tours From 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM
By Susi Torre-Bueno, for Let's Talk Plants! October 2026. Photo credit: Member Sherry Simmons, used with permission. Registration for members to open soon: https://sdhort.org/FeaturedGarden Saturday, November 7, 2026, Group 1 – 10 AM to 11:30 AM Group 2 – 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Group 3 – 2 PM – 3:30 PM Julian Duval (the SDHS Horticulturist of the Year in 2014) was the first President/CEO of Quail Botanical Gardens (now San Diego Botanic Garden) from 1995 until 2019,
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FROM THE MASTER GARDENERS: A Case for California Native Plants
By Lucy Warren, UCCE Master Gardener of San Diego County, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2026. A Case for California Native Plants As gardeners, we are drawn to the latest, brightest varieties of exotic species for our gardens, always chasing the new and unusual. But as our world heats up with climate change, more and more water-thirsty lawns are being sacrificed for moonscapes of rocks and cactus, or spiky, heat-intensive green plastic “lawns.” Neither of these alternatives
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GROW IN ABUNDANCE: Beat the Heat: Smart Fall Gardening in San Diego
By Sommer Cartier, for Lets Talk Plants! October 2026 Shade cloth example. Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeyz51/ Jo Zimny Photos. Beat the Heat: Smart Fall Gardening in San Diego Fall always gets me excited about the garden. I'm ready to start pulling out tired summer plants, refreshing beds and making room for lettuce, broccoli, carrots and all the other cool- season vegetables I love to grow. But if you've gardened in San Diego for any length of time, you kno
4 hours ago
TREES, PLEASE! Ten Common Myths of Trees – Need a Reminder?
By Robin Y Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2026. Myth #1: “Topping” and “Lacing” are valid arboricultural pruning terms… They are not. DO NOT TOP YOUR TREES! Topping is destructive tree mutilation. You won’t find either term in the older ANSI A300 tree care standards or the 2023 updates. Although heavy crown-reduction in orchards may appear to ease fruit harvesting, the wounds increase risk of disease, sun scald and incur yearly high-maintenance - assumed by a grower
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GOING WILD WITH NATIVES: Bonsai - The Art of Making the Mighty into ‘Miniatures’ Even with Native Plants!
By Susan Lewitt, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2026. This Coast Live Oak is approximately 100 years old and has small leaves. Typically, bonsais have leaves that are smaller than full size trees of the same species. Photo by Susan Lewitt. Bonsai - The Art of Making the Mighty into ‘Miniatures’ Even with Native Plants! Do you want more native trees, but you have no space for them? How about having ‘miniature’ trees, or Bonsais, instead. There are many native plants that may d
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PLANT FORUM: At The August 2026 Meeting
By Susi Torre-Bueno, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2026. In July 2025 Anne Murphy brought in a delightful bouquet of nine species of flowering California native plants for the Plant Forum. Graphic made by Karen England on Canva. For over two decades a meeting highlight was the Plant Forum, where a horticultural expert spoke about plants brought in by members. These descriptions appeared in the newsletter and are available free to the public on our website at...
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GOING WILD WITH NATIVES ANNOUNCEMENT: New Native Plant Nursery Opening Soon!
By Susan Lewitt, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2026. Walker is shown here taking a photo of a potential assistant alligator lizard (lower left). Walker Wilson is the founder of Walker’s Wildlands and a member of the SDHS. Photo by Madeliene Meyer. New Native Plant Nursery Opening Soon! Walker’s Wildlands may already be open when you read this! Extensive searching led Walker to Fallbrook where he found a property that he is now developing into a much-needed native plant nurse
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SHARING SECRETS: What is growing that is good to eat in your yard?
by Cathy Tylka, for Let's Talk Plants! October 2026. Sharing Secrets graphic made by Karen England using Canva. Question of the month – What is growing that is good to eat in your yard? Is this the first year, or is this something you have had for a long time? Do you have a favorite recipe for this horticulture goodie? Vincent Lazaneo reports… This year I grew 'Tomatico' a new cherry tomato. It grew well, was very productive and produced lots of large, delicious, cherry tom
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GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Phenomenal Experiences in Nature
By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2026. Zinnias in bloom. Photo Credit: Francesca Filanc. Phenomenal Experiences in Nature Years ago, a close girlfriend told me of two phenomenal experiences she had had in nature. When we are watching and listening for it, we probably all get at least one of these experiences in our lifetime. Years ago, a close friend of mine told me of two such experiences that she had. One time she was above Vail, Colorado. Peggy and her b
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MEETING REPORT: Tony Gurnoe's Southern California's Oaks in Managed Landscapes, September 2026
Although we had announced Jeremy Spath presenting on his horticultural work and adventures focused on plants like Agave and Dudleya, that discussion instead had to be postponed until November 21. Jeremy wanted me to pass along the fact that he would have better pottery to offer alongside his plants in November than he would have in September, so hopefully that is a bit of redemption for those who wish to shop. We want to thank the members who attended September's meeting desp
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HERITAGE HAUNTS: Plants that Produce - Get Ready for Fall Planting! by Richard Frost
Presented by Cathy Tylka, for Let's Talk Plants! October 2026. This article was written by Richard Frost and first appeared in September 2010 edition of Let's Talk Plants! Photo Source: Lee Valley Tools In a word, the weather this year in San Diego County has been “mild.” If that trend continues, then the coming months should provide excellent weather for fall and winter garden crops. If you are thinking about what soil to use, then consider last months’ column on “Soils.” Fe
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EDITOR'S ARMCHAIR: So Many Oaks, Such Little Gardens!
By Tony Gurnoe, for Let's Talk Plants October 2026 Tony teaching people how to correctly plant an oak tree at the Encinitas Arbor Day Event. Photo credit: Nathan Davila. So Many Oaks, Such Little Gardens! Oaks are not the most approachable organisms, whether speaking botanically or horticulturally. I personally spent the first several years of being a professional horticulturist doing what I could to avoid them, because they scared and annoyed me. Nobody around me could tell
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SAVE THE DATES
Sharing Gardens
The popular Sharing Gardens returns. About once a month, a garden will be open for touring and socializing with other members.
Registration is for members only and opens 2 weeks in advance. More dates coming soon. Click here for dates.
Regular Meetings
Unless otherwise stated, we meet on the third Saturday of the month at 1:30p
Social hour and Plant Forum begin at 1:30p. • Presentations begin at 2:00p
Location - San Diego Oasis, 17170 Bernardo Center Dr., San Diego, CA 92128
2026 Dates
October 17 • November 21 • December 19
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