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PAST GUEST SPEAKERS

2022 / 2023  CURRENT PROGRAM

  • Debby Dunn (Figoni): We Are In A Drought - Please Help Out  (Sep 12)

  • Scott Logan & Susan Gottlieb:
    The Gottlieb Native Garden - An Intimate Wildlife Journey  (Oct 17)

  • Danae Horst - Folia Collective: How To Fill Your Home With Happy Plants (Nov 14)

  • David Bassani: Rose Pruning - Putting Your Roses To Bed  (Jan 9)

  • Gabe Verduzco: Beetle Hunter  (Feb 13)

  • Terry Huang: The Language of Flowers  (Mar 13)

  • Frank McDonough: It's All In The Soil  (Apr 10)

  • Sandy Masuo: For The Birds - An Introduction To Birdwatching  (May 8)

 

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 and Dean Kuipers: A Garden can be Anywhere

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

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

  • Sandy Masuo: Succulent Superstars

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

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

  • Chef Mick Brown and 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

  • 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

2015 / 2016

  • Steven Gerischer: Fabulous Foliage

  • Ann Semaan-Beisch+Team LA DWP: A Waterwise Makeover

  • 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

 

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

 

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

  • 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 and 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

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