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Incredible Insects in Your Garden
June 13, 2009
Dominican Republic Walking Stick

Kids will have the opportunity to hold a Botanic Dominican Republic Walking Stick at this month’s Saturday at the Garden educational program.  Like other stick and leaf insects, Walking Sticks are masters of camouflage and disguise, blending in with the surrounding foliage.

Botanic Dominican Republic Walking Stick
(© Dennis Sheridan)
Botanic Female Heteropteryx
(© Dennis Sheridan)

June 13, 1–2:15 p.m.
Garden Amphitheater
$4 members; $5 nonmembers
A free docent-led Garden tour follows
Mr. Sherdan’s presentation.

Entomolo­gist Den­nis Sheridan will discuss the fascinating world of insects in a hands-on program. Learn how they affect the environment and our daily lives.

Children as well adults will have an opportunity to hold friendly insects. Mr. Sheridan will bring a Walking Stick and a Mada­gascar Hissing Cockroach for holding as well as other arthropods including tarantulas, centipedes, and scorpions for close inspection (not for holding).

“Insects are our heroes,” he says. “They affect our daily lives and are indicators of a quality environment.”

Many of Mr. Sheridan’s insects and other arthropods have been “movie stars.” His Walking Stick was rented to the company which produced the movie Pan’s Labyrinth. The cartoon character which led the little girl Ofelia through the woods was based on his insect. His arthropods have also appeared on the Jay Leno Show, The Letterman Show, and X Files.

Dennis Sheridan is a biologist with special training and experience in ento­mology (insects), herpetology (reptiles and amphibians), and mycology (the study of fungi). He travels to wild parts of the planet in search of exotic species, including the Amazon Basin (Peru and Ecuador), Galapagos, Chile and Argenti­na, Australia and New Zealand, Indone­sia, New Guinea, Africa, and Asia. He has lived on the Central Coast for 30 years and specializes in photography of all natural subjects and field monitoring for species of special concern.

 


Past Events


At Home in the Garden
Join us for two weeks of activities Sunday, May 3 through Saturday, May 16, 2009 for sustainable landscape design demonstrations, daily docent led tours of our straw bale ‘Oak Glen Pavilion’ and the Preview Garden, educational and informative presentations, plants sales and kids’ activities. Cost: $10 per person, per program for non members and $8 per person, per program for members. For more information download the PDF or call Sioux Strebin, Facilities Manager at (805) 541-1400 ext. 305.
 

Saturday at the Garden – April 11
Oak Glen Pavilion • 1pm $5 ($3 members)
flower

Botany for Gardeners
Have you every wondered about the details of plants’ lives? And about the enormous diversity in their ways and means? This is your chance to learn from a distinguished botanist in this program designed for beginning and advanced gardeners alike. Matt Ritter will give an essential overview of Botany and discuss the basic elements of plant growth, reproduction and evolution. He will emphasize the diversity found in different leaves, stems, fruits and flowers, such as the Grevilla ‘superb’ shown above. Come and learn to see plants from a new perspective.

Matt Ritter, a botany professor at Cal Poly, is Director of the Cal Poly Plant Conservatory. He holds a Kenan Fellowship at the National Tropical Botanical Gardens and is the Ray Collett Visiting Scholar at the U.C. Santa Cruz arboretum. Author of a number of scientific papers, he has contributed to botanical references including the upcoming second edition of the Jepson Manual of California Flora. He studies trees, particularly those in the genus Eucalyptus.

Docent-led Garden Tour
2pm • Free of charge (following the program, Botany for Gardeners)
Plant Pollination
Nancy Hartwick will explain how plants produce the seeds which then grow the next generation of plants. Many interesting ways have evolved for moving pollen from plant to plant. These vary from a system as simple as wind to one as complex as capturing a wasp, holding it prisoner for a time and then releasing it. Flower characteristics that attract bees, butterflies, birds, and other pollinators will be seen on this tour.

 
 

A Curator’s Tour of Lotusland
Oak Glen Pavilion • 1 pm • $5 ($3 members) Saturday March 14
     
Lotusland

 

 

 

 

Lotusland is the 37-acre estate of the late Madame Ganna Walska, the well known operatic singer and socialite, who created a botanical display garden featuring tropical and sub-tropical exotic species. The estate is now owned and operated by the non-profit educational Ganna Walska Lotusland Foundation, which she established to carry on her work after her death in 1984. Virginia Hayes, Curator of the Living Collection, will take us on a guided tour in pictures of the garden and some of its amazing plant specimens.

     
Virginia Hayes
 

Before coming to Lotusland, Virginia managed Santa Barbara Water Garden Nursery, specializing in aquatic plants, and owned a pond maintenance business. She holds a Master’s degree from UCSB where she did research on the unique floral characters of lotuses (Nelumbo nucifera) and their variation among wild populations.
Virginia writes a popular gardening column for the Santa Barbara Independent, contributes to Montecito Magazine, Pacific Horticulture Magazine and others and has recently written a book titled The Gourmet Garden..

Virginia Hayes, Curator of the Living Collection, Ganna Walska Lotusland.
   
     


Eden Project Raffle
     

 

 

 

 

The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden has GREAT news: Raffle tickets for a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two to the Eden Project and ten other gardens during Cornwall's annual Spring Gardens Festival will go on sale Wednesday, December 10. (Flyer with prize details attached.) Tickets are limited--only 500 will be sold--so call us right away (805/541-1400, ext. 302) to make sure you get your tickets before they're gone. And remember, raffle tickets make a great holiday gift for your family and friends! Call us today and give us your credit card information over the phone and we’ll send you your tickets. Proceeds benefit the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden; cost of tickets is tax deductible.


Kitchen Garden Workshop
     

 

 

 

 

The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden along with a panel of experts featuring Todd Davidson of Sage Eco Gardens and Landscapes in Los Osos, will be presenting a half-day workshop on sustainable kitchen gardens. This helpful workshop will be held Sunday, March 22, 2009, 1 p.m. through 4 p.m. The cost for members is: $20 per person or $30 for couples; non-members cost will be $25 per person or $40 for couples. For reservations phone
Teresa Lees, Education Coordinator
805/541-1400, ext. 304.
 



Sunday, November 9th - 4pm.
GARDENS, FARMERS, FOOD and YOU
How does the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden grow?
     

 

 

 

 

This 154 acre garden is growing! The Master Plan showcases mediterranean plant life from five geographical areas: California, Chile, South Africa, the Mediterranean and Australia. It highlights the plants of economic importance and sustainability for our county and for mankind. The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden will attract over one million guests each year and provide economic prosperity in San Luis Obispo County for farmers, restaurants, hotels and small businesses, and their employees.

 

Please join the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden in the first annual Bountiful Harvest Supper in celebration of seven local farmers whose delicious seasonal  produce will be prepared by well-known regional chef, Maegen Loring and served family-style. Master of Ceremonies, Amelia Saltsman, is author of the four-time award-winning book, The Santa Monica Farmers’ Cookbook: Seasonal Foods, Simple Recipes, and Stories from the Market and Farm. Amelia features these well-known farmers in her book and will discuss each farm with us during the evening as we dine with the farmers and their families.

Date: Sunday, November 9th at 4pm.

Place: Oak Glen Pavilion, our beautiful new “green” building in the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden

is located in the El Chorro Regional Park just off Highway 1 between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay.

Price: $75 per person includes an autographed copy of Amelia's book, and a luscious supper prepared by Chef Maegen Loring using recipes from The Santa Monica Farmers’ Cookbook.

RSVP Please: This unique event is limited to 70 guests. Send your check, payable to San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, 3450 Dairy Creek Road, SLO 93405, to reserve your seat at the Harvest Table before 10/31.

For additional information, please call: 805-541-1400 x 302.

 

Saturday, September 13 • 10 am – 2 pm

Sustainability and pesticide-free gardening will be the theme at the
FREE TOMATO EXTRAVAGANZA EDIBLE FESTIVAL
And Fall Plant Sale with water thrifty plants that don’t need chemicals or pesticide
   

Heirloom Tomatoes

 

 

 

 


Tomato Bowl

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomatoes

An “edible festival” featuring sustainable mediterranean foods and organic gardening workshops will held Saturday, September 13 from 10 AM to 2 PM at the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, located in the El Chorro Regional Park just off Highway 1 between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay. The public is invited to this free event where they can meander through the exhibits, attend garden workshops, enjoy special tastings, and peruse the plethora of fall plants for sale. The plants are water thrifty, grown on site and don’t need chemicals or pesticides. These plants can be used to create the proverbial English cottage garden look or an exotic sculptural garden.

For the second year, the University California Cooperative Education (UCCE) Master Gardeners are presenting their popular Tomato Extravaganza, a UCCE Master Gardener signature event. Visitors can taste several varieties of tomatoes and basil and then vote for your favorite in the “people’s choice” category.

Master Gardeners will be holding workshops in the Oak Glen Pavilion. This naturally elegant, straw bale building is the height of sustainability. The mini seminars by the UCEE staff and Master Gardeners are scheduled on Food Safety and the Garden at 11 AM, Ethnobotany of basil at noon, and over-wintering Tomato Plants at 1 PM. Docents will be available to talk about all the sustainable elements of the building in between workshops.

The topic of tomatoes is especially timely. Consumers are hard-pressed to find an heirloom tomato on supermarket shelves because virtually all tomatoes sold today are hybrids that have been bred to possess traits that favor growers rather than consumers. For example, tomatoes that ripen all at once so they can be harvested at one time or tomatoes with thick skins that are less likely to bruise. Scientists are even working on a square-shaped tomato, a shape that would allow growers to fit a few more in each box. In developing all these traits, flavor is often overlooked.

Food and the growing of it, has suddenly become mainstream news. Whether it's the creation of a seed repository right here in San Luis Obispo, the slow food movement, the genetic engineering of crops or rising prices, newspapers, blogs and radio talk shows have food front and center.

One of the main topics emerging is an increasing interest in where and how food is produced. People are flocking to farmers' markets, seeking out restaurants that prepare dishes from locally grown foods, and legions of first-time vegetable gardeners are growing it themselves.

People from around America have discovered the variety and flavors of heirloom tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are a return to protecting the genetic makeup of plants and seeds are passed down in families and among friends. These tomatoes, unlike store-bought varieties are open-pollinated and are not hybridized. Heirloom tomatoes have become increasingly popular and more readily available in recent years. They can be found in a wide variety of colors, shapes, flavors and sizes. As with most garden plants, cultivars can be acclimated over several gardening seasons to thrive in a geographical location through careful selection and seed saving.

For children, “Tomato Heads” will be the spotlight at the Children’s table. Along the same lines as the classic Mr. Potato, youngsters will be creating their own big-headed creatures.

A number of local sustainable farmers and vendors — those whose farming practices incorporate socially just, humane, economically viable, and environmentally sound practices — will be in attendance sharing their delectable edibles and knowledge.

Tibor Canyon, a self-certified “Beyond Organic” olive oil ranch will bring their special oil for tasting and purchase. Tibor Canyon has received numerous awards and recently won a Gold and Silver medals at the LA County Fair International Olive Oil competition. Their oil is certified by the California Olive Oil Council as Extra Virgin and is hand harvested by friends and family, and pressed on a stone mill.

Master baker Chirro Pasciuto will be selling his renowned Italian bread and serving Mediterranean tidbits. Rinconada Dairy will be serving tastes of their raw sheep and goat milk cheeses, which will also be available for sale. Local Pistachio grower, Cecilia Garcis of NPO will be selling their organic pistachios, and Jennifer of 7th Heaven Farm will be selling avocados and fruit. Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates will be bringing their fair-traded chocolate.

Eve’s Garden Shop will be open during the event and docents will be available to answer questions about the Botanical Garden’s “preview” displays.

For more information call:
Liz Scott-Graham, Executive Director of the SLO Botanical Garden, 541-1400 X 303
or Sioux Strebin at 541-1400 x 302.

Tomato Extravaganza PDF

 

   

Saturday, July 12

1pm to 2pm
Melinda Alvarado presents "Do you think bats are scary?  Learn the truth about bats with our Blind Bat Educational Show."
Held in the Education Center
Fee: $5 (Members $4)

Come find out that bats which get such a bad rap (as in “you have bats in your belfry” or “you are batty”) are really among our most effective pesticides. Melinda Alvarado our very own local bat expert will bring some of her bats for you to see. She will talk about the vital role they play in our environment as pollinators and for insect control.

Myths, superstitions and misconceptions about these highly beneficial mammals are discussed and replaced with factual learning about the ecological importance of bats and their roles in many ecosystems.

Let Melinda’s bats, Radar, Santa Cruz, TOIO, and Robert change your mind forever regarding these marvelous creatures of the evening sky.

You will learn why:

  • bats don't get headaches from hanging upside down and
  • you don't have to worry about bats getting stuck in your hair.
  • bats are much more closely related to humans than to rodents.

Come see for yourself first hand. This is our most popular children’s program every year, so get here early because it will be a sell out.

2 pm to 3pm
A docent led tour of the garden - Nancy Hartwick will talk about "The Right Plant in the Right Place".  Plants, as do all living things, have requirements for success. The most obvious are correct amounts of light, water and nutrients. But among the more subtle elements affecting plant health are drainage, elevation, and exposure to cold, heat and wind. Nancy will take a look at how some of the plants in our garden respond to the various aspects of their environments and what happens when changes occur.
Held in the Preview Garden


Monday through Friday, August 4 - 8

9 am - noon
Oak Family Camp
Fee: $140 per family of four
($120 for Members)

This botanical themed day camp involves the whole family creating summer camp memories together. Parents, Grandparents and Children garden together, do daily crafts and build a garden project together. This year families will learn about the species of oak trees that grow in California and be involved in installing the Oak Woodland landscape plan for the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden Education Center. We will construct a straw bale bench underneath the canopy of Coast Live Oaks for a “kid’s circle” and

create original works of art on tiles just to name a couple of the fun-filled projects. Daily snacks are also provided. Registrations are open starting March 1, 2008 until June 30, 2008. Register by emailing Teresa Lees, Education Coordinator at tlees@slobg.org


Saturday, August 9

1pm to 2pm
Richard Halsey presents "Finding a Balance: Protecting your home from fire while still enjoying the chaparral."
Held in the Cuesta College Student Center, also known a the Cafeteria and Book Store Building - room 5402
Fee: $5 (Members $4)

Of all the distinct, natural communities in California, chaparral is the only one found throughout and is the only one that can be said to represent the state’s most characteristic wildland. Yet the chaparral ecosystem remains an unknown place to most. Few are aware that it was once the home of the California grizzly bear and provides a vital natural resource to our communities.

Chaparral is also inherently flammable. Since California has one of the most fire prone environments on earth, it is important to understand how to manage fire risk around your home if you live near a wildland area. A balance can be reached between fire risk reduction and the protection of natural resources if the entire fire safety equation is properly understood.

Come join renowned writer and biologist Richard W. Halsey as he shares with us the chaparral’s unique natural history, how to best protect your home from wildfire risk, and why the chaparral represents such a vital link to nature for all Californians.

Richard W. Halsey has taught natural science for more than 30 years, conducts research and educational programs through the California Chaparral Institute, and has been trained as a wildland firefighter. His most recent book is “Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California.”

Mr. Halsey can be reached by email at www.californiachaparral.org

2:15 pm to 3:15pm
A docent led tour of the garden - Ron Kindig will lead a tour of fire-resistant plants. A handout listing these plants will be provided.
Held in the Preview Garden


Saturday, January 12, 2008

Bill Bouton

1 pm - 2 pm
Bill Bouton Presents
"The Butterflies of SLO County"
Held in the Education Center
Fee: $5 (Members $4)

Click here to see the follow-up information about this event or click here to see many of the pictures he has taken of butterflies and beautiful locations in the county.


Saturday, February 9, 2008

1 pm - 2 pm
Brian Kemble Presents
"Touring South Africa for Succulents"
Held in the Education Center
Fee: $5 (Members $4)

Click here to see the follow-up information about this event and the succulent workshop.


Saturday, March 8, 2008

1 pm - 2 pm
Helene-Carol Brown Presents
"Ancient Mediterranean Gardens"
Held in the Education Center
Fee: $5 (Members $4)

In this lecture, Helene explored the gardens of the Ancient World, from Mesopotamia through Rome.  She explained the origins of pergolas, ponds, loggias and lagoons in the garden.  From Queen Hatshepsut's garden of frankincense trees to Hadrian's gala setting for lavish evening garden parties.


Saturday, April 12, 2008

10am to 2 pm
The SLO County Master Gardeners Plant Sale and Mini Seminars
No Fee

Come one - come all!!!  To the GREEN SCENE garden event at the Botanical Garden’s green education center on April 12th.  The theme for this event is

            It is easy being . . . GREEN !


 

 

Garden Maintenance - every Tuesday:  9 am to 11 am

  • Location: Preview Garden
  • Event Summary: Get your fingers dirty! Plant, weed, mulch, and water under the supervision of Preview Garden Manager, Eve Vigil and Assistant Manager, Ellen Dollar

Plant Sale - every Tuesday:  9 am to 11 am (weather permitting)

  • Location: Preview Garden Greenhouse
  • Event Summary:  We sell plants grown at the greenhouse to the public.  The greenhouse is located at the botanical garden. This is a great opportunity for members to enhance their own gardens and support our effort to enlarge our Garden. Exact change, checks and Master Card and Visa are welcome.

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