2024 / 2025  CURRENT PROGRAM

• Leon W. Watts III - Learning and Development Coordinator:
  Aging in Place and Independent Living for Persons of all Ages and Abilities

• Rebekah Geiselman - Environmental Educator - FoLAR: History of the LA River (cancellation)
  Backup speakers: Mark Casanova and Maggie Rodriguez of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles

• Erin Riley - Cabbage Hill Fertilizer Co.: What’s the Future of Fertilizers

• Douglas Kent - Author, Activist, Educator: Regenerating Essential Goods and Services (cancellation)
  Backup speaker: Rob Crisell, Author - California Avocados: A Delicious History (meeting canceled due to fires)

• Patricia Tsai - ChocoVivo: Chocolate: Beans to Bliss

• Katherine Pakradouni - Native Plant Horticulturist: Micro Forests in LA: Modifying the
  Global Miyawaki Method of Afforestation for Drought-Prone Southern California (Mar 10)

• Sofia Laçin + Hennessy Christophel - Studio Tutto: The Art of Nature (Apr 14)

• Casey Schwartz + Kit Wertz - Flower Duet: Floral Design for Everyone (May 12)

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2023 / 2024

• Tom Kurthy: Mixing it up: Water-wise Potting with Native Garden Design

• Suzanne Horn: The Rapture of Miniature & Miniflora Roses

• Steve Gerischer: California Native Plants and the Importance of Biodiversity

• City of Los Angeles Public Works Sanitation Ambassador of Recycling Program Supervisor
  Rodney Beverly Sr., Ambassador Bruce Jones, and Ambassador Miguel Montano:
  The Los Angeles Organic Waste Program

• Dr. Leif Richardson - Xerces Society: The Ecology and Conservation of California 's Wild Bumble Bees

• Genevieve Arnold - Theodore Payne Fnd: Life Linked to Land: lmpactful Gardening with Locally-Sourced Plants

• Patricia Clayes - Board Member CGCI: Fairy Gardens in Containers

• Andi Rivarola - President SFVIS, AIS, Spuria Iris Society: The Beautiful World of Irises

 

2022 / 2023

• Debby Dunn (Figoni): We Are In A Drought - Please Help Out

• Scott Logan + Susan Gottlieb: The Gottlieb Native Garden - An Intimate Wildlife Journey

• Danae Horst - Folia Collective: How To Fill Your Home With Happy Plants

• David Bassani: Rose Pruning - Putting Your Roses To Bed

• Gabe Verduzco: Beetle Hunter

• Terry Huang: The Language of Flowers

• Frank McDonough: It's All In The Soil

• Sandy Masuo: For The Birds - An Introduction To Birdwatching

 

2021 / 2022

• Martha Hunt, Julie Pittet, Merle Galindo, Benita Ngan:
  Floral Designs - Behind the Scenes: Containers, Mechanics, and Tools

• Yvonne Savio: The Dirt on Geophytes for Spring Color

• Florence Nishida: Growing Asian Vegetables

• Nicole Calhoun and Carl Harders: Why Grow Native Plants in Your Garden?

• Laurie Kranz + Dean Kuipers: A Garden can be Anywhere

• Shawn Maestretti + Leigh Adams: Regenerative Landscape and the Climate Crisis

• Linda + Ron Lang: Your Fairytale Escape with a Petite Design Workshop

• Sandy Masuo: Succulent Superstars

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2020 / 2021 (Virtual Meetings due to coronavirus pandemic)

• Jeffrey Warner: How To Handle/Protect Citrus Trees in connection with a
  serious pest and disease that has caused a countywide quarantine

• LA Urban Farms' Wendy Coleman, Jennifer Crane, Melanie Dorsey:
  Grow Your Own Food With LA Urban Farms Vertical Gardens

• Hetty Shurtleff: Floral Designs for the Holiday Season

• Stephen Covolo: African Violet Basics

• John Schoustra: Daylilies: The Hardest Working Flowers in Your Garden

• Charles Southward: How to Create a Bountiful Vegetable Garden

• Kreigh Hampel: Gardeners - The Greatest Recyclers on Earth!

• Loretta Allison: Holistic Garden Design

 

2019 / 2020

• Misty Odett and Matt Heidrich: Taking the Reins

• Evan Meyer: A Tale of Two Floras: Botanical Adventures at Home and Abroad

• George Spiliotis: Maximizing Enjoyment of Your Garden

• Joanna Glovinsky: Backyard Orcharding 101: Basic Fruit Tree Care

• Yvonne Savio: Wildflower Super Blooms of 2017 and 2019

• Manju Kumar: Living Sustainably in the Suburbs (speaker is no-show)

• April, May, June Meetings (listed below) canceled due to coronavirus pandemic

• Stephanie Fousek: Mushroom Mediums: Expression, Growth, and Gratitude

• Chef Mick Brown + Karen Gallock: Healthier Grilling and Growing Superfoods

• Ann Semaan-Beisch: Late Winter in a Chaparral Garden

 

2018 / 2019

• Leon Boroditsky: Current Challenges of Urban Forests in Southern California

• Yvonne Savio: Saving Seeds

• Eric Olsen: Raised Bed Gardening: Tips For Success

• Stephanie Fousek: Fungi Fundamentals: A Deep Dive into the Hidden Life of Mushrooms

• Rene Amy: Grow Your Own California-Native Wildflower Meadow

• Cris Sarabia: Greywater 101

• Loretta Allison: The Healing Garden

• Matt Dunaj: Welwitschia Mirabilis, the Ancient King of the Namibian Desert

 

2017 / 2018

• David Quint: New Landscaping: Preparation and Design

• Scott Logan: Inviting Wild Birds into Your Garden with Nesting Boxes

• Nicholas Staddon: Important Issues Southern California Gardeners are Facing Today

• Malcolm R. Shrimplin: How to Grow Clivia Miniata through Cultivation, Breeding and Disease Prevention

• Ilaria Mazzoleni: Bio-Inspired Construction, Sustainable Architecture and
  Building Tech for the Home Garden (speaker is no-show)

• Lisa Smith: Tree Care Maintenance Around Your Home

• Sandy Masuo: Extreme Plants, Carnivores, Parasites, and Mutants

• Matt Dunaj: Drought Tolerant Planting and How to Build a Greenhouse

 

2016 / 2017

• Lisa Novick: Using Nature's Technology in Response to Drought

• Robert Feldman: Introduction to Succulent Caudiciforms as Bonsai

• Mary Gray and Annette Gutierrez: The Fine Art of Potting

• Frank McDonough: Low Light Plants for L.A.’s Low Water Use Gardens

• Rosemary Ecker: Butterflies and Birds in Your Garden

• Layla Valenzuela: Southern California Native Plant Identification

• Bryan Chan: Bromeliads, to Grow or Not to Grow

• Delia Hitz: The Integrated Garden

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2015 / 2016

• Steven Gerischer: Fabulous Foliage

• Karen Gallock: Rooting Plants

• Ann Semaan-Beisch+Team LA DWP: A Waterwise Makeover (special photo gallery pending)

• Kathy Itomura: Designing a Wildlife Habitat Garden

• Yvonne Savio: Recycling/Repurposing Household Items into Garden Tools

• Dr. James P. Folsom: Gardening Sustainably and Beautifully

• Dr. Thomas Cairns: Growing Beautiful Roses

• Debbie James: The Inspiring Iris

• Bruce Blavin: Choosing Rare Fruit Trees for the Home Garden

 

2014 / 2015

• David Bassani: Waterwise Gardening

• Jerrold Turney: Pruning Techniques

• Ellen Mackey: You too can have a Backyard Orchard

• Paul Vander Werf: It All Starts with the Soil - Focus on Vermicomposting

• Gloria Aminian: Flower Designs by Gloria

• Carol Meyer + Julie Beals: All About Community Gardens

• Steve Downs: How to attract Bees to our Gardens

• David King: Sustainable Gardening Techniques

• Alice Loo: Kokedama

 

2013 / 2014

• Bart O'Brien: Have a Plan to Manage your Garden Pests

• David Snow: Lend a Hand to Monarchs

• Steven Gerischer: Hypertufa Containers

• Lili Singer: Perfect Partners: Natives and Edibles

• Camille Van Ast: Sharing my Flower Designs

• Friends of the LA River FoLAR: LA River at a Watershed

• Angela Price: Ten Ways to make the most of your Small Garden Space

• Matt + Rebecca Tufenkian: New and Unusual Plants

• Tomas O'Grady, Enrich LA: A Garden for every School /
  Save the Historic Figueroa-Riverside Bridge and Preserve it for Future Park Use
  and Special Guest, CGCI President, Rita Desilets

 

2012 / 2013

• Barbara Eisenstein: Let Your Garden Go Wild

• John Lyons: Incredible Edibles - Winter Vegetable Garden

• Douglas Kent: The Restorative Garden

• Jorge Ochoa: Basic Plant Propagation Workshop

• Eleanor Osgood: The Bird-Friendly Garden

• Gudrun Kimmel: Favorite Floral Designs + Plant Materials

• Jill Morganelli: Growing Fruit Trees with Organic Methods

• Doug Overstreet: Practical Orchid Care

 

2011 / 2012

• Mick Brown + Karen Gallock: Healthy Grilling - Garden Fresh

• Matt Horns: A Deep Look at Soils

• Tomas O'Grady + Brian Miller: Farm King + Enrich LA

• Rob + Chelsea McFarland: Honey Love (speakers are no-shows)

• Friends of the LA River FoLAR: Past, Present & Future

• George Harrison: Camellias in Bloom

• Joyce Dean: Floral Design (Abstract, Creative, Line-Mass)

• Jim Ito: "California Dreaming" Design Contest, Art Show, Art Sale, Plant Sale at Historical Family Residence

• Michael Baer + Rodney Wilkinson: Sustainable Organic Garden Proper Watering Techniques

• Sharon + Bruce Asakawa: Vegetable Grafting, Book Signing

 

2010 / 2011

• Douglas Kent: Ocean Friendly Gardens

• Mike Wronkowski: Colors for Fall

• Nicholas Staddon: Behind the Curtain of Monrovia Nurseries

• Eileen Fiumara: Floral Design (Angular, Stretch, Illuminary)

• Chris Greenwood: Roses - Classification of Modern and New Roses in 2011

• Vincent Jacquard: Concept and Hardscape of Garden Design

• Kailay Yu: Miniature Gardens

• Jim Ito: Historical Family Residence Garden Tour

 

2009 / 2010

• Alicia Katano: LA River - Its History, Present & Future

• Yumiko Kikkawa: Ikebana Demonstration

• Steven Gerischer: Get rid of the Lawn

• Tom Carruth: New Roses to be Introduced in 2010

• Robert van de Hoek: Bluebirds and Nest Boxes in your Backyard

• Joyce Dean: Miniature Design Workshop

• Barry + Donna Woodbridge: Square Foot Gardening

• Allison Mia Starcher: Good Bugs, Bad Bugs

 

2008 / 2009

• Bart O'Brien: Greater Los Angeles Native Plants

• Francine Spears: Bats are our Garden's Best Friends

• Larry Grammer: Succulents

• Gisele Schoniger (Kellogg): Natural / Organic Gardening

• Steve Gerischer: The Second Bulb Season

• Maurice Levin: Cycad Horticultural Practices SoCal

• Jorge Ochoa: Native Trees and Wild Flowers of Griffith Park

• CA Invasive Plant Council: Plant Right Campaign

• Steve Morgan: Introduction to Orchids

 

2006

• Rosemary Lord - Hollywood Historian: "Hollywood - Then & Now" and "Los Angeles - Then & Now"