Thursday Garden Talks with Lili Singer

Let us introduce you to some wonderful drought-tolerant plants!

At the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, garden talks are being provided throughout Fall 2014 on Thursdays, from September 18 through November 6. The sessions run from 9:30am – 12:00pm in the Palm Room at the Arboretum. Cost is $100 for the series, $20 per class. You may make reservations or you may pay at the door. For information and registration please call 626.821.4623 or email jill.berry@arboretum.org; pre-registration is required for field trips.
October 16: Creating an English Country Garden, California Style, with Susanna Dadd
This class offers the basics for constructing drought- and heat-tolerant landscapes that incorporate an Old World aesthetic with diverse arrays of California natives and compatible mediterranean-climate plants and succulents – gardens of year-round interest with maximum habitat value for insects, lizards and birds. Class coverage includes sprinkler systems, soils, gardening on hillsides and in dry shade, and saving water to our aquifers, plus design tips on structure, focal points and how to convert a sterile lawn into a lively welcoming space. Susanna is an Altadena-based artist and garden designer (www.realgardens.net ). She was born in England to a botanist father and zoologist mother. Her lifelong relationship with wild things and nature shaped her thinking about our responsibility to our land and how the land will reward you for its care. A field trip to three of Susanna’s gardens takes place Thursday, October 23.
October 23: Field Trip: Three Altadena Gardens by Susanna Dadd of Real Gardens 10:00am-12:30pm
Our autumn excursion for gardeners and plant lovers includes three naturalistic, colorful, resource-conserving, wildlife-attracting Altadena gardens: the designer’s own unique foothills landscape; a small, bird-focused garden of mediterranean-climate flora; and a rambunctious, half-native, drought- tolerant English country garden – California style. Learn more about Susanna’s design work at realgardens.net. Preregistration required.
October 30: Field Trip: A Super Somis Nursery Excursion, Greenwood and a New Succulent Operation
10:00am-12:30pm: Tour and shop at two Ventura County nursery gems. First, we stop at John Shoustra’s recently expanded Greenwood Nursery, with its new greenhouse dedicated to pelargoniums and clivias; new daylily varieties and hundreds of other plants being evaluated for future introduction; certified organic avocado orchard; and one-acre composting operation. Next we visit a brand new enterprise created by a trio of prominent succulent collectors – John Matthews, Tim Harvey and John Martinez – and specializing in common and uncommon succulents, including haworthias, aloes and dyckias. Leave plenty of room in the car for your purchases!Preregistration required.
November 6: No Plants! Hardscape Materials and Techniques with Andreas Hessing
How do you build the bones of a garden? This class surveys standard and alternative building techniques and materials for walls, walks, fences and seats and illustrates innovative examples of hardscape. Andreas is an artist, landscape designer and licensed contractor (www.scrubjaystudios.com ). For more than 20 years, his site-specific installations have celebrated regional biodiversity while focusing on the philosophical, political and social implications of California’s indigenous flora.

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