2012 Talks
Our talks are held at the nursery in our demonstration gardens and are always FREE! Join us!
| SATURDAY January 14 11 am |
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| SATURDAY January 28th 11 am |
Idell Weydemeyer – Chilean Guava? Jujubes? Cherimoya? There are many varieties of unusual fruit perfectly adapted to the Bay Area! We are so happy to welcome the ever-so-knowledgeable and lovely Idell Weydemeyer back to the nursery to drop some knowledge on those of us interested in adding unusual fruit to our gardens. Idell is a walking library of rare fruit information and her 3/4 acre home garden in El Sobrante houses an amazing array of fantastic fruits. Her depth of knowledge on edibles, from the unusual to the commonplace is outstanding! Idell will cover how to grow great fruit – including her favorite varieties, general care and feeding, as well as tips for common pests and diseases. | |
| Saturday February 11th 11 AM |
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| SATURDAY February 25th 11 am |
Annie Joseph - Integrative Pest Management. Learn how to control garden pests the green way! Annie will tell us how to differentiate the good guys from the bad guys and how to encourage the good bugs to stick around, enhancing the habitat and enriching the ecology of your home front! | |
| SATURDAY March 10th 11 am |
Stew Winchester – California Natives Come learn about California native plant expert Stew Winchester’s favorite California native plants for the garden, and how to combine them for maximum thrills! Stew talks about plants like no one we’ve ever met. He will enthrall you with his knowledge and deep understanding of how plants grow and relate to one another, and we guarantee you will walk away with a new appreciation for these wonderful treasures. | |
| Saturday April 14th 11 am |
SPRING PARTY | |
| Sunday April 15th 11 am |
SPRING PARTY | |
| SATURDAY April 28th 11 am |
Brad Gates, intrepid tomato breeder of Wild Boar Farms talk about his magnificent tomatoes! Brad has been breeding tomatoes from heirloom stock in an effort to create the most outrageous tomatoes in the world! Diverse, colorful and flavorful, Alice Waters calls them “tomatoes you will never forget.” Nuff said! | |
| SATURDAY May 26th 11 am |
CANCELLED! We are hoping to reschedule soon.
Betsy Clebsch - Spring Blooming Native Salvias We’re thrilled to have Betsy, author of The New Book of Salvias at the nursery to talk about all the ins and outs of growing glorious native Salvias with success. Bees & hummingbirds love our native beauties! Check out the twelve different types we carry at the nursery here. |
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| SATURDAY June 9th 11 am |
Bethallyn Black – Backyard Chickens Have you thought about integrating hens into your sustainable backyard? Hens provide fertilizer, weed control, insect control and can turn a compost pile for you! Not to mention eggs, wonderful, delicious eggs! In this class, Bethallyn will cover designing and building predator proof pens, chicken tractors, raising chicks, rescue flocks, breed differences, hens and other pets and local ordinances. With over 40 years of experience as an organic gardener, she teaches horticulture at Diablo Valley College and shares her urban farm with a passel of working hens. | |
| SATURDAY June 23rd 11 am |
John “Cedar” Seegar of Four Winds Growers – Citrus-ology | |
| SATURDAY July 14th 11 am |
Robin Stockwell – Succulent Gardens Father of the vertical succulent garden and owner of magnificent Succulent Gardens, Robin has been working with succulents for over 30 years. Come learn from the master just how easy it is to grow succulents almost anywhere. Giant vertical panels, wreaths, containers, massive landscape plantings, he’s perfected it all. You’ll walk away with tons of ideas to create your own stunning combinations. | |
| SATURDAY July 28th 11 am |
David Deardorff and Kathyrn Wadsworth – authors of What’s Wrong with My Plant and What’s Wrong with My Vegetable Garden will give us tips on how to keep our vegetables healthy with 100% organic solutions to common pests, diseases and even mysterious ailments that don’t seem to have an obvious cause. They will hold a “Plant Clinic” to triage your ailing plants – and get them on the road to recovery! | |
| SATURDAY August 11th 11 am |
Whitney Cohen and John Fisher, co-authors of The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids will present a super fun and idea packed talk on how to raise a garden alongside your kids with 101 engaging garden activities that gets the whole family in on the action. Theme gardens, recipes for cooking and preserving your bounty and simple, practical gardening advice are sure to pump new life into neglected garden spaces! | |
| SATURDAY August 25th 11 am |
TOMATO-TASTING! Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms returns – bringing bringing dozens of varieties to taste, including heirloom favorites and a huge selection of his personal inventions! He’ll be selling tomatoes, too, so bring a bag and save yourself a trip to the farmer’s market! We had tons of fun last year – see the SLIDESHOW! | |
| SATURDAY September 8th 11 am |
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| 2011 Talks | ||
| Date | Speaker | |
| SATURDAY January 15 11 am |
Idell Weydemeyer – Choosing and Growing Delicious Fruit! Idell will share her treasure trove of information on deciduous and evergreen fruit trees, as well as what specific varieties will grow and produce well in our Bay Area climate. | |
| SATURDAY February 12 11 am |
Annie Joseph - Integrative Pest Management. Learn how to control garden pests the green way! Annie will tell us how to differentiate the good guys from the bad guys and how to encourage the good bugs to stick around, enhancing the habitat and enriching the ecology of your home front! | |
| SATURDAY February 26 11 am |
Chris McLaughlin – Composting at Home. Come learn how to make a worm bin in minutes! Anyone with a spare half an hour and some organic material lying around can get started with composting at home, no expensive supplies required! Chris will show you how. Bring your questions! | |
| SATURDAY March 12 11 am |
Come hear about the process of designing a sustainable native garden with Rebecca Schoenenberger of California Nativescapes. Bring your questions about garden design and plant selection! | |
| SPRING PARTY! SATURDAY April 9 11 am |
We are thrilled to have garden designer, writer and sustainability goddess Kate Frey talk about her favorite pollinator plants and how you can create a paradise of life in your own garden! Kate is the designer behind the *incredible* Melissa Garden honeybee sanctuary in Healdsburg, CA and a Chelsea Garden Show gold medalist,not to mention all-around fabulous person! |
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| SPRING PARTY! SUNDAY April 10 11 am |
We love us some wicked plants almost as much as we love author Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities (Algonquin Books, May 2009)! Amy speaks on Sunday at our Big, FAB Spring Party about some of Mother Nature’s most appalling creations – plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend. It’s sure to be a blast – don’t miss it! |
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| SATURDAY April 23 11 am |
Brad Gates, intrepid tomato breeder of Wild Boar Farms talk about his magnificent tomatoes! Brad has been breeding tomatoes from heirloom stock in an effort to create the most outrageous tomatoes in the world! Diverse, colorful and flavorful, Alice Waters calls them “tomatoes you will never forget.” Nuff said! | |
| *SUNDAY* May 22 11am |
Want your kitchen garden to produce all year long? Pam Peirce will show you how to have something delicious to harvest every month. Pam puts special emphasis on what to do from midsummer on for a productive vegetable and herb garden, whether it’s large or small, sunny or shady. Discussion includes less common crops, edible weeds and flowers. Pam’s book ”Golden Gate Gardening” is considered the definitive guide to growing vegetables in our climate & she’s also the author of Wildly Successful Plants: Northern CA. Both books will be available for purchase and signing. | |
| SATURDAY June 11 11 am |
Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet, authors of Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces, demystify living wall systems and demonstrate layering techniques for the tightest of spaces. Whether you’re interested in edibles, ornamentals or a little of both, vertical spaces is an easy way to take your garden to the next level! | |
| SATURDAY June 25 11 am |
Growing fruits and vegetables is all the rage, but let’s not forget that we also want glorious, sexy gardens as well as homegrown, organic food! Ivette Soler, the author of the bestselling “The Edible Front Yard” will show us how to select the most ornamental edibles and combine them to create a garden that will stop traffic if planted in your front yard, or stop hearts if planted in your back yard. Join us for this entertaining, informative afternoon and take your edible gardens to the next level!! | |
| SATURDAY July 9 11 am |
Come hear Brian Kemble, Curator of the beyond fabulous Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, talk about Succulent Oddballs! Brian’s work for the Garden has included hybridizing aloes, agaves and some South American cacti. He has traveled extensively in Mexico and South Africa studying and photographing plants in their native habitat. Don’t miss this exciting and interesting talk! | |
| SATURDAY August 6 11 am |
TOMATO-TASTING! Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms returns – bringing bringing dozens of varieties to taste, including heirloom favorites and a huge selection of his personal inventions! He’ll be selling tomatoes, too, so bring a bag and save yourself a trip to the farmer’s market! We had tons of fun last year – see the SLIDESHOW! | |
| SATURDAY August 20 11 am |
ROOTS: What Every Gardener Should Know. Take a look at your garden from the plants’ perspective! Chris Finch of the East Bay Municipal Utility District will give you a tour of the secret gardens under our soil. She’ll tell us about how roots travel, how they communicate and how their partnership with mycorrhiza has been helping you all along. Fascinating! | |
| SATURDAY September 3 11 am |
Laura Allen of Greywater Action will show you how to cut your water use in half while growing a beautiful garden. This enlightening demo will focus on simple, easy to implement low-tech options. Laura will go over the simple Commandments of Greywater Reuse, which household products to avoid, rainwater catchment and more! | |
| SATURDAY September 17 11 am |
Bart O’Brien, co-author of “Reimagining the California Lawn: Water-conserving Plants, Practices and Designs,” will share his extensive knowledge about how you can replace your lawn with a beautiful waterwise landscape! Whether you plan to save water, save time, or save money, this talk will help you get there by providing design alternatives and plant choices. The book is out in April 2011 and we’ll have it for sale at the nursery. |
The list is kind of confusing.
It says “2012″ talks at the top, but then it says “2011″ right under that.
Then lower down there’s a section break, and a whole other list of calendar dates, but no year is specified.
Which is the 2011 section, and which is 2012?
Hi Dan – it WAS confusing! Thanks for the heads up, all fixed now.
Dear Annie, I cannot find your email to tell you HOW FABULOUS your catalog is. It arrived this evening! I had a big work day, getting together for a month”s buying trip for my store. Exhausted, I came home, and I am on top of the world with my catalog. You do The Most Beautiful job!
Thank YOU!
Wendy Foster
Wendy – you just made our day!!! Thank you so much and enjoy!!