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October 2026
Monthly Meeting
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
Oct 1
Articles
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
Oct 1
TREES, PLEASE! An Update, a Suggestion and a Request
By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! September 2026. Washingtonia filifera proving their resilience, even to wildfires, within their natural habitat in Anza Borrego. Photo: Tony Gurnoe. An Update, a Suggestion and a Request Several years ago, in “Diamonds Are Not a Palm’s Best Friend,” (SDHS Newsletter of November 2021) I wrote about California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) suffering from diamond scale in coastal San Diego County. The palms pictured with that article p
Sep 1
TREES, PLEASE! Bananas – Are they Going, Going - Gone?
By Robin Y Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! August 2026. Banana Flower Close-up - Musa paradisiaca (Musa acuminata x balbisiana). Ruestz, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons. Are bananas as we know them doomed? Probably yes. Considering it’s the most popular and widely distributed fruit in the world, that ought to be a scary thought. Wild vs. Commercial Bananas. Composite image by ryrivet for SDHS 2026. What’s up? Bananas use
Aug 1
TREES, PLEASE! America's First Urban Forest Xylarium - A Legacy Project for Encinitas and a National First in Urban Forestry
By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! July 2026. Oakcrest Park entrance, February 2009. Image snipped from Google Maps by the Chartreuse Appreciation Society. America's First Urban Forest Xylarium Proposal Summary Encinitas has the opportunity to create what is likely be the first Urban Forest Xylarium in the United States—a permanent collection of wood specimens, tree cross-sections, photographs, and historical records documenting the trees that have shaped our community
Jul 1
TREES, PLEASE! The Case Of The Collapsing Canopy
By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! May 2026. Oakcrest Park entrance, February 2009. Image snipped from Google Maps by the Chartreuse Appreciation Society. Adios amiga. West of the entrance to Oakcrest Park. April 2026. Photo credit: Chartreuse Appreciation Society. The Case of the Collapsing Canopy California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California is home to the Urban Forest Ecosystem Institute (UFEI). UFEI exists to research and share knowledge abou
May 1
TREES, PLEASE! Graft Smart - Don’t Grift
By Robin Y. Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! April 2026. Cherry Tree Grafting Calyponte , CC BY-SA 4.0 < https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 >, via Wikimedia Commons. Graft Smart - Don’t Grift Grafting is not mysterious. Like other forms of plant propagation, success requires knowledge of biology
Apr 1
TREES, PLEASE! Don’t Park Your Baby Buggy Under City Of Encinitas 6281ETREE
By Tim Clancy, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2026. City of Encinitas 6281ETREE p re-construction, notice sidewalk and bench. Photo courtesy of the “Chartreuse Appreciation Society”. Don’t Park Your Baby Buggy Under City of Encinitas 6281ETREE Like many human relationships, with trees the relationship between a tree’s above ground parts (A) and below ground parts (B) is complicat
Mar 1
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