Floriculture: On Thursday, March 27th we will be meeting at 1:00 for a self-guided tour of the Hayward Japanese Garden. Attendance is free. Contact Eugenia if interested in attending. 

This Japanese Garden is the first garden of a Japanese design to be developed in California, and possibly in the entire Western United States, using the principles of traditional Japanese Garden art, combined with native stone and rock and California trees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Gardens_(Hayward,_California)

The next meeting of the Native Plant Group will be on Zoom at 7 pm on Tuesday, March 25. Contact Martha Jackson.

Propagation: Tuesday, March 25th 1:30-3:30pm at the home of Allison Kidder, Berkeley. Allison will show us her California native garden and talk about propagating natives. She will share how to use a soil blocking tool to make soil blocks for planting seeds versus planting in six-packs. Try your hand with the soil blocker to plant some veggie or flower seeds. Bring a container or box in which to take your soil blocks home. Allison also has a collection of carnivorous plants! If you are growing for the plant sale, bring any rooted cuttings or divisions to pot up. Bring trowel, gloves, clippers and hat. We’ll supply soil and some seeds to plant in the soil blocks. If it’s raining we will reschedule. Limit of 15 people. Please RSVP to Mollie Boero.

Join us on for a work party from 10am-10:30 (or maybe 11am) at the Berkeley Arts Magnet School (Lincoln Street side) . In January 2024, the BGC Civic Beautification Committee, in coordination with the BUSD planting coordinator, planted 4+ raised beds with plants for making dyes, plants for a ‘sensory’ garden and pollinator plants. We are now helping to maintain the beds with monthly work parties. No need to RSVP, it's informal. Just feel free to join us if you'd like.

Succulents: At 10 am on Thursday, March 20th the Succulent Group will meet at the home of David Boniske in Albany. David will demonstrate how to propagate succulents and we will practice propagating some for you to bring home. Spring is the best time for propagating succulent plants. Our group is growing so David will require RSVPs so he will know how many chairs are needed. Because of the size of his backyard, we will limit our group to 12 people. Please RSVP to David if you’d like to attend. 

Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Avenue, Albany.

12:00 noon: Doors open SET UP ONLY

12:30-1:00pm Socializing, Exchange Table and Display Table

1:00-1:30pm: Regular Business Meeting, Plant Notes and Drawing

2:00-3:00pm: The Essential Herb Garden - Rose Lovall-Sale, Morningsun Herb Farm

Display Table: Please bring in any beautiful flowers in your garden you'd like to show off. Non-flowering garden achievements are also welcome.

Garden Exchange Table: Please be sure to take any unsold items back home with you at the end of the meeting.

Masks at meetings are optional. However, now that cold and flu season is here, you may want to bring and wear a mask at our meetings.

Herbs & Spices: We are meeting on March 11th from 11:30 to 2 pm at the home of Tanya Edgar in El Cerrito. Please RSVP to Mary Shisler if you’d like to join the group. Space is limited to 16 attendees. 

BGC Board Meeting via Zoom

Floriculture: Thursday February 27th. Tour of the Claremont Court neighborhood.

We’ll meet on the corner of Avalon and Claremont Blvd. at 10am—in front of St. Clement’s Episcopal church. We will walk through the neighborhood, check out the plantings and historic homes. We’ll also see the effect of Frederick Law Olmsted’s influence on this area from his visit to Berkeley in 1861. Contact Eugenia if you’re interested in going

Propagation: Tuesday, February 25th at the home of Dee Plunkett, Berkeley, from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. Who doesn’t have one of those grocery store orchids (Phalaenopis) languishing without blooms somewhere in their homes? We plan to repot and rehab our Phalaenopis orchids and share tips for making them bloom and thrive. Bring your Phalaenopis orchids in need of repotting plus gloves and trowel. We’ll supply bark and potting mix. I have a few Phalaenopis I can give to folks who want to learn about repotting but don’t have an orchid to replant. I have a few orchid-sized pots as well. If it’s raining we will reschedule. All are welcome. Please RSVP to Mollie Boero.  

Succulents: On Thursday February 20th the Succulent Group will meet at David Boniske's house, Albany, at 10:00am. We will prepare our succulent plants for the Plant sale in May. Bring your plants, pots and tools. David will provide soil and some succulents too. Please email Barbara O'Hay to let us know that you are coming. 

Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Avenue, Albany.

12:00 noon: Doors open for socializing, refreshments, Exchange Table and Display Table

1:00-1:30 pm: Regular Business Meeting, Plant Notes and Drawing

2:00 to 3:00 pm: “Propagating from Seed & Special Plants” – Renee Shephard, Renee’s Garden Seeds

3:00 to 3:30 pm: Cleanup

Display Table: Please bring in any beautiful flowers in your garden you'd like to show off. Non-flowering garden achievements are also welcome.

Garden Exchange Table: Please be sure to take any unsold items back home with you at the end of the meeting.

Masks at meetings are optional. However, now that cold and flu season is here, you may want to bring and wear a mask at our meetings.

Herbs & Spices: We will meet on February 11th at the home of Carol Buckles, Berkeley, from 11:30 to 2 PM. The theme for February is Old World family dishes. Basically, a dish your family made that came from country of origin (we are all immigrants) or a dish from one of the countries from which your family emigrated. Please let Mary Shisler know if you’d like to join the group.

CONSERVATION COMMITTEE MEETING

The Conservation Committee meeting will be held via Zoom at 1pm on Friday February 7th.

All are welcome. Please email Jane Freeman or Eileen Nottoli for the Zoom link. At the meeting we will determine the donations that the Club will make to local organizations.

BGC Board Meeting via Zoom

Tuesday, January 28th from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at Brenna Stein’s home in Berkeley. We plan to plant some winter/spring crops and spring flower seeds (greens, sweet peas, leeks, etc.) and check out Brenna’s new grow setup for seedlings. Bring gloves, trowel, any spring-growing seeds you have to share and six-packs or 4-inch pots if you have them. We will provide soil and seeds and some containers. If it’s raining we will reschedule. All are welcome. Please RSVP to Mollie Boero.

Tentative tour of the UCB Herbarium on Thursday, January 23rd at 10:30am. Check with Eugenia in January if you’re interested in going. 

12:00: Doors open for meeting setup and socializing

12:30: Refreshments

1:00 to 2:00: Regular Business Meeting Plant Notes and Drawing

2:00 to 3:00: “Roses” – Royal Krieger, Rosarian at the Morcom Rose Garden

3:00 to 3:30: Cleanup

Display Table: Bring something to share or show off! January blooms in your garden, an interesting or unusual plant, garden success (or something to be avoided!), helpful tool, favorite catalog, enjoyable book, etc.

White Elephant Sale and Silent Auction Table

We will be having our Garden Exchange Table and annual White Elephant Sale:

We will have our annual White Elephant Sale before the meeting, during the break, and after the speaker. Donations of gently-used items of any kind are welcome. Please bring your pre-priced items to the table by 12:15pm so everyone can check them out both before the meeting and at the break. Please be sure to take any unsold items back home with you at the end of the meeting.

Mary Shisler Tuesday January 14, 2025. 11:30am-2:30pm. We will be visiting a restaurant: Café Colucci, 5849 San Pablo Ave. Please let Mary Shisler know if you’d like to join the group.

We will be making floral succulent arrangements at David Boniske‘s house in Albany. David will supply all of the materials including tape and wire and ribbons to make the floral arrangements. He is requesting five dollars per person for all of the supplies. He is also providing Succulents. Feel free to bring your own if you would like. We will meet at 10 o’clock in David’s backyard.

BGC Board Meeting via Zoom

Herbs and Spices: We will have a holiday cocktail party on Thursday, December 19th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at Arlene Baxter’s home in Berkeley.

Holiday Luncheon

BGC Board Meeting via Zoom

Tuesday, November 26th from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at Theresa Malki’s home in Berkeley. Come learn about cover crops for improving soil health from Theresa Malki. Cover crops are plants grown between seasons to improve soil quality but are not usually harvested. Cover crops can help with erosion control, improve water quality, and reduce weed pressure. They can also help with biocontrol of pests and diseases, and increase organic matter in the soil. All are welcome. Please RSVP to Mollie Boero. 

There will be no Propagation meeting in December.

Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Avenue, Albany.

12:00 to 12:30: Doors open for meeting setup and socializing.

12:30 to 1:30: Regular Business Meeting, Plant Notes, Drawing

1:30 to 2:00: Refreshments and socializing

2:00 to 3:00: Decorating for the Holidays- Using what’s in our gardens, plus additional foliage/flowers and ideas- Kay Wolff

3:00 to 3:30: Cleanup

Display Table: Please bring in any beautiful flowers in your garden you'd like to show off. Non-flowering garden achievements are also welcome.

Garden Exchange Table: Please be sure to take any unsold items back home with you at the end of the meeting.

Masks at meetings are optional. However, now that cold and flu season is here, you may want to bring and wear a mask at our meetings.

Date Change - On Thursday, November 14th we will decorate wreaths at David Boniske's house in  Albany at 10 am. Please let David know immediately if you want him to order a $16 wreath for you. Also, he asked for RSVP’s  if you plan to come so he can set up supplies and chairs for everyone.

Tuesday, November 12th from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm at Mollie Boero’s home, Berkeley. The topic is New World herbs, spices and foodstuffs; specifically, sumac, potatoes, tomatoes, blueberries and fish.

BGC Board Meeting via Zoom

On Thursday, October 24th at 1:30 pm we will meet for two great tours at the Cameron-Stanford House Museum. The first tour will include a brief history of the 1876 house as we tour the main floor. Our own member, Linda Nack, will be our docent for this part. Then, we will follow the landscaper through the elegant Victorian garden that she created there just a few years ago. The museum is asking for a $10.00 donation from each of us. Those of us who are interested will share a no host lunch at the beautiful Lake Chalet next door at 11:45. Check out the website, www.cshouse.org, and contact Eugenia Hirsch if you would like to join us.