By Karen England.
The board of directors met for their first meeting of the year via Zoom on January 18, 2021, and much was accomplished in a relatively short amount of time of 2 hours.
The year ahead looks to be exciting.
We are fleshing out the bones put in place by the pandemic, i.e. Zoom and YouTube, in order to carry on as a vital organization and grow even through continuing uncertain times. We know firsthand just how hard Zoom fatigue is for some folks and we are anxious to safely resume in-person meetings right along with you.
· John Beaudry has come up with creative ideas for reinstituting our biggest fundraising event of each year, the Spring Garden Tour, which was, of course, as you know, canceled last year, and John is hard at work to make it happen this year anew. I'm confident you are going to enjoy this newfangled event. Stay tuned . . .
· The board is working together as a group to put on programs these days. And will do so until such time as we can find a new board member to be in charge of meeting programs.
If you want to help the San Diego Horticultural Society, this is how! Please step up and volunteer to help with this important board position.
In the meanwhile, each board member has great input for making the year ahead one filled with wonderful programs that we think you will enjoy.
· Jim Bishop and I are tackling two different aspects of bringing our Mediterranean trees of San Diego book online. I am heading up the effort to turn the book into an e-book so that, once the remaining copies are gone, we still have the book available to sell and give going forward. We are not able to do a third printing of this self-published book for several reasons, printing costs, of course, are a major consideration, but the damaged and missing manuscript, as well as, lost photographic slides and masters are the main reason we will not be reprinting the book. (There are 600 plus copies of the Second Printing left in stock. Want to buy a hard copy? You can do so here: SDHS TREE BOOK We sold 90 copies last quarter, in case you are wondering.)
Separate from what I'm doing to turn the book as it is currently into an e-book, Jim Bishop is leading the charge to update the book completely, by taking it online in order to add more photographs, more tree varieties, tree locations, working GPS coordinates and more useful information. If you want to help Jim and the board with the re-imagining and modernizing of our treasured tree book, we can use your help, send an email to info@sdhort.org with TREE BOOK in the subject line.
· Ken Kubarych has noticed a slight decline in membership, even with the new members we have garnered recently, which is to be expected considering the global crisis, but Ken and the board are hopeful that things will change as we move forward. Importantly to that end, Ken has upped our Zoom account to allow for more than 100 members to attend a meeting and has found a helpful video editing app needed for dealing with the Zoom recordings that we need for our YouTube channel.
· Our advertisers and sponsors are sticking with us and we are sticking with them. Please patronize our supporters and tell them thank you for their important support of the San Diego Horticultural Society!
-Evergreen Nursery
-Green Thumb Nursery
-Agri Service, Inc.
-Greatsoil LLC
-Kellogg Garden Products
-KRC Rock
-Moosa Creek Nursery
-Solana Succulents
-Sunshine Gardens, Inc.
-Walter Andersen Nursery
Did you know? Kate Sessions Commitment and Walter Andersen Nursery have partnered to ensure that healthy, high quality ornamentals, native trees, and fruit trees are available for all San Diegans to plant this winter. Certified arborists worked with nurseries that grow these trees and have given the Kate Sessions Commitment logo as an indication of meeting quality standards. These recommended trees are in 5-gallon containers for easy transport, lower pricing, and good adaptability to their permanent home in San Diego neighborhoods. Look for the Kate Sessions Commitment logo at Walter Andersen Nursery in San Diego.
-APLD - San Diego District
-Grangetto's Farm and Garden Supply
-Chris Drayer, ASLA Landscape Architect
-Cuyamaca College
-Multiflora Enterprises
-Obra Verde Growers
-Ozlos Law Firm
-Southwest Builder and Stone
-Cadence at Poway Gardens, formerly Sunshine Care
· You may have noticed that the newsletter has swelled to almost double its size (as in more columns) from a year ago. This is intentional. Expanding the newsletter in this manner is one way to compensate for not being able to meet in person. As newsletter contributor Robin Rivet said, for the first time in a very long time, because of the pandemic, "she has time to read the newsletter fully these days."
As a board we will continue to do everything we can to keep the San Diego Horticultural Society vibrant and growing throughout whatever 2021 throws our way in order to fulfill our mission and vision.
This is Our Mission: To inspire and educate the people of San Diego County to grow and enjoy plants, and to create beautiful, environmentally responsible gardens and landscapes.
This is Our Vision: To champion regionally appropriate horticulture in San Diego County.
