We lived through a snow “storm” here in Santa Clarita in January and now we’re in for some warmer weather, Santa Ana winds and who knows what all else! Though we may not know what it will be like one day to the next we sure do know that it is a lot nicer weatherwise out here than most any other place in the U.S. As a New York transplant, I can tell you that I moved here for February. The New York weather in February has just about worn out it’s welcome and the clear blue skies of Southern California are an unbelievable comparison. So enjoy the weather and get outside and do something fun!
As always, I want to remind you to shop local, and get the freshest produce around by heading out to the local Farmer’s Markets in Santa Clarita:
Sundays 8:00am – noon
College of The Canyons Parking Lot
Don’t forget to visit my friend Sarah from Worldwide Exotics Nursery
There is also another great Farmer’s Market:
Thursdays in Old Town Newhall from 3-7pm.
Now here are some other events you might be interested in.
Plant Information 1st Tuesday of the month:
Tuesday 2/1/11 – 1:30-3:00pm / Bamboo Room – LA Arboretum
Frank McDonough, instructor
Free for Arboretum members/ free with Arboretum admission
Stay on top of the world of botany & horticulture when Arboretum botanist Frank McDonough covers various landscaping and gardening topics plus the latest news in gardening and plant science. Frank will also reveal some of the more important or unusual or entertaining questions that he and the volunteers have received from the public during the previous month. Bring your own plant questions for discussion. You never know what unique and fascinating topics will be addressed!
www.arboretum.org
Photo by Marlon Molinare of Chan Teas
Chinese New Year: Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit
Tuesday 2/1/2011 3:30 PM
Location: Newhall Library
22704 W. Ninth Street, Santa Clarita, CA 91321
Santa Clarita, California 91321
*Children’s Program
Tales of Asia and the Pacific Islands are shared, as we celebrate the Chinese New Year. Registration required. A Season of Diversity Event
Chinese New Year: Interactive Art Project
Tuesday 2/1/2011 6:30 PM
Location: Valencia Library
23743 W. Valencia Boulevard
Santa Clarita, California 91355
*Children’s Program
Children in kindergarten through sixth grade will create an interactive art piece to represent the Chinese tale of the Golden Carp Boy.
Registration required. A Season of Diversity Event
Thurs – 2/3/11 – 9:30 – noon – Palm Room
Thursday Garden Talks With Lili Singer
(Please note special times for field trips, self-driven & require pre-registration)
$100 for the series, $20 per class / Reservations or you may pay at the door
Information and registration: 626.821.4623 or [email protected]
Building a Better Rose Garden with Steve Gerischer
Hear one passionate amateur rose lover’s perspective on making a rose garden, then editing it – sometimes mercilessly and usually with humor – over time, as both garden and gardener evolve. Steve has been collecting and growing roses since childhood. He divides his time between designing award-winning gardens with his firm, Larkspur Garden Design, and lecturing at the Arboretum and beyond. He is president of the Southern California Horticultural Society.
www.arboretum.org
Sat 2/5/11
Arboretum Adventures
Free with admission Kids & Families
Free with Admission
10am-12noon – Oak Room
Meet by the fountain in front of the Oak Room.
Join your adventure guide as we explore the Arboretum. Each Saturday is new and exciting, and will have a different theme relating to nature. Come early, as space is limited to 25. Children of all ages are welcome! Family adventures will go on rain or shine so dress appropriately
This month: Native Plant Exploration
www.arboretum.org
Sat 2/5/11 – 9:30 – noon
Discovering Mushrooms at Descanso Gardens – Center Circle
Learn about the fungus among us from mycologist Florence Nishida of the Natural History Museum. This walk and talk includes a one-hour lecture giving basic information about mushrooms, then a one-hour walk to seek and identify the many fungal species that live in Descanso Gardens. Free with admission
Sat 2/5/22 – events all day
Celebrate camellias with faeries, lectures and fun – Descanso Gardens:
The camellia is called the Empress of Winter. And in the Descanso landscape, this winter bloomer has won legions of admirers for the seemingly endless variety of its flower forms and colors.
Descanso will celebrate this signature bloom with a daylong Camellia Festival on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011. with garden tours, a class and a guided walks. Enjoy a variety of activities, including:
· Faery Tours of the Enchanted Forest | 9:30 a.m. to noon | Magnolia Lawn free with admission, first come first served.
· Things to Do With Sinensis | 11 a.m. | Van de Kamp: Botanists call it Camellia sinensis. The rest of us call it tea. $20, $10 members. Advance registration is required; phone (818) 949-7980.
· Camellia Walk and Talk | 1 p.m. | Center Circle: Free with admissio
Saturdays 9:30 am
Descanso Gardens:
Garden Chats With Mike Brown
Back by popular demand: Mike Brown, Descanso’s Display Horticulturist, leads informal talks on gardening issues. Bring your gardening questions. Mike’s chats are most Saturdays, except Christmas and New Year’s. Meet at Nature’s Table, Descanso’s garden of edibles.
Free with Gardens admission.
Sunday 2/6/2011 2:00 PM – Valencia Library
Adelante: Let’s Go!
*All Ages and Families
This is a musical theatre program about Hispanic heritage in America. Follow Carlos, a modern Latino boy living in Los Angeles, as he tells the story of his ancestors migrating from the Caribbean over Mexico to California.
23743 W. Valencia Boulevard, Santa Clarita, CA 91355
A Season of Diversity Event
Thursday 2/10/11
Thursday Garden Talks With Lili Singer
(Please note special times for field trips, self-driven & require pre-registration)
$100 for the series, $20 per class / Reservations or you may pay at the door
Information and registration: 626.821.4623 or [email protected]
Currants, Gooseberries and Manzanitas for Your Southern California Garden
with Bart O’Brien
These beautiful native shrubs and ground covers – also known as Ribes and Arctostaphylos – are among the very first plants to bloom with the coming of the rainy season. Both groups have much to offer to gardens and gardeners: diversity of flowers, fruits, scents and growth forms. Bart is director of special projects at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont and a recognized expert on plants of California and Baja California. He is co-author of California Native Plants for the Garden and Care and Maintenance of Southern California Native Plants Gardens..
www.arboretum.org
Backyard Chickens and Bees at Descanso Gardens
Sat 2/12/11 – 10 a.m. to noon Birch: Turn your backyard in a mini-farm. Local expert John Lyons will teach the basics of raising chickens and backyard beekeeping. $25, $15 members.
Companion Planting at Descanso Gardens
Sat 2/12/11 – 1 p.m. Maple: Learn the basics of “companion planting’’ – as a member, you can bring a buddy for free! Rose Garden Horticulturist Amanda Everett leads this class, which includes a discussion of the benefits of companion planting and how this technique creates a healthier, more attractive garden. Then take a guided stroll through the Rose Garden (one of Descanso’s most romantic spots) for a close-up look at companion plants in the landscape. $20, $10 members.
Los Angeles Mycological Society Mushroom Fair at LA Arboretum
Sunday, 2/13/11 10:00am-4:00pm
Los Angeles Mycological Society (LAMS) will have their Annual Wild Mushroom Fair that includes a demonstration on how to grow mushrooms, cooking demonstrations, a special guest speaker, and wild mushrooms with proper identification on display. Professional mycologist(s) will be on site for consultation. The public is invited to bring their found mushrooms for identification. In addition to the main event, there will be vendors with books/posters, mushroom kits, T-shirts, art related objects on mushroom theme for sale. There will also be educational materials with an environmental focus on display. For more information on the Mushroom Fair
For information on the Los Angeles Mycological Society
Tuesday, 2/15/11 – 6:00 p.m. – La Mesa Jr. High
Theatrical Presentation: Freedom Child
*Adult/Teen/Family Program – Open to the Public
Dr. Bernadette McAllister was 13 years old on May 3, 1963, the day this drama unfolds. She lied to her mother and went to the Civil Rights demonstration in downtown Birmingham instead of to school. Her powerful one-woman show recalls the courage it took for her to march with the freedom fighters. She portrays a young white female college student who marched with her and protected her when the peaceful march took a dangerous turn. McAllister dramatizes the unforgettable events of the “Children’s Crusade,” and shares with the audience her painful experience in helping to change race relations in America.
La Mesa Junior High School
26623 May Way, Santa Clarita, CA 91351
A Season of Diversity Event
Wednesday, 2/16/11 – 7:00 p.m. – Valencia Library
Celebration of Music Around the World
*Children’s Program
Summary: This special puppet show, for all ages, celebrates the diversity of music around the world.
Valencia Library -23743 W. Valencia Boulevard, Santa Clarita, CA 91355
A Season of Diversity Event
Square Foot Gardening Workshop at LA Arboretum
Sat 2/19/11
Your choice of 5 different dates:
Saturday: February 19, March 26, April 30, May 21, June 25
10am-1pm/Garden for All Seasons & Education Greenhouse
Jo Ann Carey, instructor
$25 members/$28 non-members
“Saving the world, one square foot at a time.”
Nothing compares to the flavor of food that is grown in healthy soil, without pesticides, and allowed to grow until just the right time for harvesting. Square foot gardening uses only 20% of the land space of a conventional garden and saves both water and time. There is no tilling of the soil so anybody can do it. Recommended reading: All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, available in the Arboretum Garden & Gift Shop
www.arboretum.org
Thursday Garden Talks With Lili Singer
Thursday 2/20/11
(Please note special times for field trips, self-driven & require pre-registration)
$100 for the series, $20 per class / Reservations or you may pay at the door
Information and registration: 626.821.4623 or [email protected]
Plant Favorites from the Huntington Nursery with Shirley Kerins
A special program for plant nuts! Our guest speaker will discuss and show a range of flowering and herbal flora easily grown in Southern California gardens. The morning ends with a plant sale. Shirley, a landscape architect, is nursery manager, manager or plant production and plant sales and curator of the Herb Garden at the Huntington Botanical Gardens. She also designed the Kallam Perennial Garden at the Arboretum.
www.arboretum.org
Tuesday – 2/22/11 – 6pm
Santa Clarita Valley Green Drinks Meetup
Salt Creek Grill
Towne Center
Valencia, CA 91355
Green Drinks allows for anyone concerned about environmental issues to get together over a drink. Green Drinks events are very simple, informal, unstructured, and self-organizing. We bring together the environmental community and have fun doing it! Please join
Green Drinks MeetUp
Thurs 2/24/11 10am – 1pm
Thursday Garden Talks With Lili Singer
(Please note special times for field trips, self-driven & require pre-registration)
$100 for the series, $20 per class / Reservations or you may pay at the door
Information and registration: 626.821.4623 or [email protected]
Arboretum Plant Introduction Program: A Retrospective with Jim Henrich
Take a walk back in time to when “Los Angeles State & County Arboretum” was actively engaged in plant evaluation and introduction to the landscape industry. Experience an overview of the 116 varieties introduced between 1957 and 1991. Learn the history of the Arboretum plant introduction program, its mission, selection process, benefits to the trade and opportunities for the future. This session includes an indoor lecture and a walk on the grounds. Jim is curator of living collections at the Arboretum. He has held various horticultural positions at the Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco Botanical Garden, Denver Botanic Gardens and Missouri Botanical Garden. Pre-registration required. www.arboretum.org
Sat 2/26/11 – 11 – 11:30
From Seed to Skillet: Vegetable Gardening with Jimmy Williams & Susan Heeger
Presented by Garden Conservancy and the Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden at the Arboretum – Illustrated talk, book sale and signing
$20 for Garden Conservancy and Arboretum members / $25 for non-members (includes admission to the Arboretum)
Purchase Tickets online at www.gardenconservancy.com or call 845.265.2029
Box lunch available for sale after the talk; enjoy the afternoon exploring the garden.
www.arboretum.org
Sat & Sun 2/26-27/11
Santa Clarita Street Fair in COC Parking Lot 8
A once-per-month marketplace that is fun, festive and entertaining for the entire family. Open Saturday and Sunday, 8am-3pm. Vendors offer arts, crafts, handmade items and new merchandise presented by some of Santa Clarita’s most innovative and creative entrepreneurs.
So come on by to browse, shop and have lunch. We will have special lunch vendors arriving between 11am and 2pm each day.
So come early and come often as the admission and parking are always FREE!
We will continue to look for new vendors, entertainment and attractions for you to enjoy month after month.”
10% of proceeds will benefit SCV Emergency Winter Shelter.
Introduction to Permaculture
Sunday, 2/27/11 – 9:30am-12:30pm Caitlin Bergman, Instructor
$25 Arboretum members / $28 non-members
Please call 626.821.4623 to reserve your place
or email [email protected]
Create a layered food forest in your own backyard by working with nature, not against it. Discover a growing revolution in
sustainable gardening where overlooked materials become free resources, yields increase, work is minimized, and the mutual support between people and the local environment is restored.
Participants will gain an understanding of the basic concepts in permaculture. Ecological solutions such as composting in place and soil-contouring to conveniently replenish nutrients and
reduce irrigation will be covered.
We’ll also do some hands-on permaculture gardening as we tour the Permasphere and learn the ins and outs of the fascinating practices and easy annual maintenance involved in this kind of garden. Be sure to bring water, gloves, and a hat!
For more information: www.SayPermaculture.com
Monday, 2/28/11 – 6:00 p.m. – Santa Clarita Activities Center
A Season of Diversity Contest Awards Ceremony
*Family Program – Open to the Public
The winners of the contest will be honored. An invite-only event.
Santa Clarita Activities Center – 20880 Centre Pointe Parkway, Santa Clarita CA 91350
A Season of Diversity Event
I hope you like the list that I have compiled and that you can attend some of the events. We can always use volunteers at the Community Garden and we’ll be working hard to be open this March, so please visit our Facebook Page for updates and to offer your volunteer Services!
For more on my designs, check out my website!
