HPGC Vice President Michaela Burschinger shares a moment with the real Shirley Meneice.

The conference opened on Wednesday, September 11th  at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The first day began with meetings as a Zone XII group where we shared ideas and learned about GCA initiatives.

After lunch, we boarded buses to go to Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield Farms, a 700-acre native plant refuge and working farm in the flood p...

HPGC's Marnie Owens interviewed Michele at Larchmont Florist. Here are some photos of three arrangements Michelle did for a small event at our house this summer. I like that she can do many different styles. These arrangements show her more organic free flowing style.

How did you become interested in the flowers and creating flower arrangements?

Ever since I was little, I was always exposed to the beauty of...

Carolyn Bennett, Lisa Morrison and yours truly participated in this year's Virginia Robinson Garden Tour in Beverly HIlls. 

Carolyn assisted floral designer Louesa Roebuck with her foraged flora masterpiece in the front hall of Virginia Robinson's home. Roebuck spoke to the club in November. Last year Roebuck decorated the small butler's pantry off the kitchen, this year she was invited to welcome visitors in the entry hall. 

Li...

Last week over a dozen HPGC members visited Grown in LA (GiLA) nursery in Griffith Park. At the March meeting, the club awarded a GiLA a grant to further their efforts to literally grow plants for LA in LA. It turns out that most plant materials for local projects comes from outside LA often as far away as Oregon.

Grown in LA is working to create a network of nurseries on underutilized sites in the LA region. Given th...

About 15 HPGC members visited Nuccio's Nursery in Altadena and the Storrier-Stearns Japanese Garden in Pasadena on March 20th under stormy spring skies, but finding lots of bright color in the camellias for which Nuccio's is so well known for. The field trip, arranged by Horticulture chairs Judy Kirshner and Helen Hartung, was a big hit. 

Nuccio's Nursery is considered the prime producer of camellias and Azaleas...

HPGC members Julie Grist and Judy Kirshner have been volunteering with Grown in LA, (GiLA)  a non-profit native plant start-up founded by Kat Superfisky and located in the foothills of Griffith Park in the old Commonwealth Nursery location. 

In years to come, particularly with the redevelopment of the LA River and urban green space, millions of native plants will be needed for restoration and urban greening projects i...

Pre-Ordering Amaryllis Bulbs

The Horticulture Committee is offering Hancock Park Garden Club members the opportunity to pre-order premium quality Amaryllis bulbs, as we did last year. These bulbs need to be ordered very soon, in order to have them in time for holiday bloom. The bulbs need to be pre-paid, so that we can order the correct amount. (We will also continue to offer Paperwhite narcissus bulbs, but because these are le...

Television's gardening diva Nan Sterman had a superb September To Do List  for Los Angeles gardeners titled 22 things to do in your garden in September.

Her list includes suggestions on watering, mulching, pruning, fertilizing , succulents and so much more. Scan the entire list of 22 ideas to keep your trowels digging, your back bent, and  beautiful blooms this month.

California native Nan Sterman is host, co-producer, and...

PLANT: Last cool season for vegetables..... plant beets, carrots, kale, chard, cilantro, parsley spinach, and heat resistant lettuce.

Wait until the end of the month or the beginning of May to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, squash, melon eggplant, and peppers. These vegetables will struggle in cool soil and never get a good start. If you are planting in boxes, however, the soil will be warm before the ground. 

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Street trees are a significant and highly visible portion of the City's urban forest - essential to improving the quality of life in our urban environment. It is in our own best interests to protect, plant and care for the trees that line our streets.

This was the message Stephen Duprey of the Urban Forestry Division brought directly to the HPGC membership in the March monthly meeting.

With some 700,000 street trees in the City...