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May 2026
Monthly Meeting
NEXT GENERAL MEETING: If You Build it, They Might Come, With Molly Rightmyer, May 16, In-Person, Oasis, Rancho Bernardo, 1:30p -3:30p
Molly Rightmyer is a bee taxonomist who has become increasingly interested in native plants while attempting to increase the bee diversity of her home garden, an experience she wishes to share with other gardeners who hold similar aspirations. She got her start as a freelance scientific illustrator here in southern California. She then worked with fossil turtles as an apprentice illustrator at the American Museum of Natural History, NY, eventually landing a job as scientific
21 hours ago
Articles
NEXT GENERAL MEETING: April 18, 2026 - Walker Wilson - Conservation Through Cultivation - Growing A Local Ecotype Nursery. In-Person, Oasis, Rancho Bernardo, 1:30p -3:30p
Viguiera laciniata - San Diego Bush Sunflower. Photo Credit: Walkers Wildlands – California Native Plant Nursery Viguiera laciniata - San Diego Bush Sunflower, a San Diego endemic species that happens to be excellent for garden conditions. Evergreen, tough and made for full sun conditions, it will still stay green with
Mar 1
MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: Things Go Boom
Words and pictures by Jim Bishop, for Let's Talk Plants! March 2026. Well, at least I think they went boom. I was asleep when all of the action took place. Following a very long, hot, and dry summer, we experienced an unusually wet fall and early winter. It seems we're experiencing a bit of a weather yo-yo pattern. 2023 was among the wettest winters on record, featuring a rainstorm that delivered more than 6 inches in just 24 hours. This is the most rain I've ever seen here
Mar 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
PLANT FORUM: At The February 2026 Meeting
By Susi Torre-Bueno, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2026. In July 2025, Anne Murphy brought in a delightful bouquet of nine species of flowering California native plants for the plant forum. Anne hopes that seeing these lovely specimens will encourage members to plant more natives in their gardens. Photo credit and Canva graphics: Karen England. For over two decades a meeting highlight was the Plant Forum, where a horticultural expert spoke about plants brought in by members. T
Mar 1
SHARING SECRETS: Early Bloomers
Edited by Cathy Tylka, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2026. This month’s question: With all the rain and sunshine that we’ve had, blooms are out early. Do you have anything blooming that has not done so in the past? This includes all, as in bulbs, trees, shrubs, flowers or anything else, in your garden or somewhere else. Vincent McGrath of 91941, shares… … My yard is like a nursery with different plants blooming 365 days a year!!! Grevillia Ned Kelly B
Mar 1
SHARING GARDENS REPORT: A Valentine's Day Members-Only Treat In Olivenhain
By Karen England, for Let's Talk Plants! March 2026. SD Hort Member-only Sharing Gardens events like this one in Olivenhain, California on February 14, 2026, have returned to rave reviews. Photo credit: Karen England. On February 14, 2026, SD Hort members were treated to a lovely two-acre open garden in Olivenhain, California. The day was perfect in every way; the garden was gorgeous, the gardener artist was out and about both the garden and the art
Mar 1
GOING WILD WITH NATIVES: The CNPS Garden Tour April 11 & 12 And More Pollinator Friendly Native Plants!
By Susan Lewitt, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2026. “Where Native Plants Thrive, We Thrive.” Graphics by Artefact Design. Please join the California Native Plant Society’s Native Garden Tour which will include many exciting and beautiful gardens for you to visit. Where Native Plants Thrive, We Thrive: When native plants flourish, they create gardens full of life where everything is connected. The CNPS Garden Tour April 11 & 12 And More Pollinator Friendly Native Plants! Son
Mar 1
GARDEN SURROUNDINGS: Enjoying Our Pets In The Garden
By Francesca Filanc, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2026. Prince, a standard poodle, on the patio by a potted pink jasmine. Photo credit: Francesca Filanc. Enjoying Our Pets in the Garden “March comes in like a lion and moves out like a lamb” This is an old expression about the weather for the month of March. March, starting out blustery, windy and stormy and ending calm, birds chirping, with flowers beginning to bloom. But with climate change and also living in Southern Califo
Mar 1
NEXT HYBRID MEETING: Riley Black, When The Earth Was Green, February 21, Oasis, RB And Zoom
Riley Black is the bestselling and award-winning author of When the Earth Was Green , The Last Days of the Dinosaurs , and more. A regular contributor to National Geographic , Smithsonian , and Slate , as well as a repeat guest on NOVA and Science Friday , Riley has spent more than fifteen years bringing the public the latest about the deep past. When not enthusing over fossils in articles and books, Riley regularly volunteers with museum field teams to uncover new
Feb 1
NEXT SHARING GARDENS: Saturday, February 14, 2026, Stroll A Fabulous 2-Acre Open Garden In Olivenhain
Registration Opens Jan 31, 2026. Members bring your Valentine to a fabulous garden! On Saturday, February 14, 2026, a sumptuous garden will be open to members of the San Diego Horticultural Society (SDHS). Stroll this 2-acre garden in Olivenhain and see the paradise created over the last 30 years. The garden is a mixture of plants ranging from drought tolerant to tropical. Some special features are the lath house, tool shed, koi ponds, and numerous pieces of art. As a bonus
Feb 1
NEXT SD HORT BOOK CLUB: In Kiltumper by Niall Williams With Christine Breen, February 2, 2026, 4:30/5p On Zoom
By Karen England, for Let's Talk Plants! February 2026. Join us on Zoom for a discussion of In Kiltumper - A Year in an Irish Garden by Niall Williams with Christine Breen (Pacific Time) at 4:30p for social half hour and 5p for book discussion on January 12, 2026. Kiltumper in Co. Clare is where Niall Williams and Christine Breen have been living and writing for 40 years. This is a warm-hearted and uplifting memoir of their life in rural Ireland. "Its byways are as meande
Feb 1
BOTANICAL ENCOUNTERS: The Atacama Superbloom, Chile 2011
Words and pictures by Ida K. Rigby, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2026. The Atacama Superbloom, Chile 2011 Let’s return to the fog shrouded Atacama Desert coast in Chile… …and immerse ourselves in the abundance of tough desert flora that were exuberantly flowering in the aftermath of a rare phenomenon in the Atacama, rain. As we know, the plants survive on whatever moisture the perpetual fog offers. Each plant has strategies for waiting until the next time there is rain whe
Feb 1
TREES, PLEASE! Are Your Trees Climate Ready?
By Robin Y. Rivet, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2026. Photo credit: LadyCamera, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Are Your Trees Climate Ready? Valentine’s Day is looming, but February 2nd is Groundhog Day . Although we have ample sunshine for groundhogs to see their shadow, where are all the woodchucks? Duh. There aren’t any marmots in San Diego ( unless you count the one that hitch-hiked from NorCal in 2009 ). So how do
Feb 1
FROM THE MASTER GARDENERS: Staghorn Ferns
By Mike Harrelson, UCCE Master Gardener of San Diego County. First published in the San Diego Union Tribune March 2023. Republished with permission in Let’s Talk Plants! February 2026. Photo source: Staghorn Fern Background Images, HD Pictures and Wallpaper For Free Download | Pngtree . Staghorn Ferns For sheer pop, indoors or out, staghorn ferns ( Platycerium spp.) can’t be beat. Once considered difficult to grow in San Diego County, staghorn ferns are now commonly found in
Feb 1
GOING WILD WITH NATIVES: Pollinator Food And Host Plants For Butterflies And More!
By Susan Lewitt, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2026. What a great color coordination! "Desert Marigold Moth (in a Desert Marigold flower)" by Lon&Queta, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Pollinator Food and Host Plants for Butterflies and More! Native plants in our gardens create a sanctuary for nature that supports the local biodiversity by supporting native pollinators. Some pollinators are generalists and go to many different species of flowers, while others, known as spec
Feb 1
MEETING REPORT: Horticulturist Of The Year 2026, Nancy Carol Carter, Celebration
SD Hort president Karen England presented Nancy with her award basket that included a framed certificate, a lifetime membership to the San Diego Horticultural Society, Felco pruners and a carrying sheath, a 2026 journal and a maple wood-turned bowl by Ray Brooks. Photo credit: Rachel Cobb. Horticulturist of the Year for 2026 Nancy Carol Carter. There was carrot cake from VG's Bakery in Cardiff. Photo credit: Rachel Cobb. About Nancy - After a long and rewardi
Feb 1
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