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.

Tuesday, October 22nd from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at Evelyn Borchert's home at in Albany. This meeting will be a tool sharpening and cleaning workshop. It's an opportunity to learn how to care for and upkeep your garden tools. Bring a tool or two to work on and Evelyn will provide cleaning materials. All are welcome. Please RSVP to Mollie Boero

Get Ready for Halloween! On Thursday, October 17th the Succulent Group will meet at David Boniske's house in Albany at 10 am. Bring several pumpkins to decorate with your succulents. Contact Barbara O’Hay about supplies you will need or any questions you may have.

Everyone is invited for a meet-up and tour of The Watershed Nursery, a native plant nursery at 601-A Canal Boulevard, Richmond. We’ll meet on Wednesday, October 16th at 10:00 am for a guided tour of the facility. The Watershed Nursery is an employee-owned cooperative that provides native plants and services to habitat restoration projects in Northern California. They also serve local gardeners. Their mission is to grow and support diverse, healthy, and functioning ecosystems. Carpooling is encouraged, since parking is limited. Please RSVP to Mollie Boero.

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: California Natives- Kathy Kramer, Founder of Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour

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.

Tuesday, October 8th from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at Beth Feingold’s home, Berkeley. We are exploring Old World foods.

Floriculture: On Thursday, September 26th at 1:00 pm we will enjoy a free guided tour of the Dahlia section of the Lakeside Gardens at Oakland's Lake Merritt. We will be meeting Chris Dix, our BGC September speaker and dahlia grower, at the north gate of the garden. You are free to visit the rest of the lovely garden, including the bonsai garden after our tour. If you are interested in coming, contact Eugenia to confirm your attendance and receive parking information.

Propagation: Tuesday, September 24th from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at Mollie Boero’s home in Berkeley. Come to a houseplant/container plant repotting workshop. Some good reasons to repot houseplants: Your plants are not thriving, plants seem root-bound, the soil is in need of a refresh, or the plant needs to be put in a bigger or more decorative pot. If you have plants that need dividing, you can share divisions with others.

Bring your plants that you wish to repot and containers (decorative or plastic to put inside a decorative pot) that you’d like to use. Bring clippers, trowel and gloves. We’ll supply soil and perlite, and I have some plastic pots that could be used as liners for decorative pots with no holes.

All are welcome. Please RSVP to Mollie Boero.

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: “All about Dahlias” – Chris Dix

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.

Succulents: This month only we will meet at 1:00 pm Thursday, September 12th at David's Boniske’s house  in Albany. (The date is because both Barbara and David are away on our regular time.) Come and see David's extraordinary succulent garden and help us plan this year's activities. Please RSVP to Barbara 

Herbs and Spices: Tuesday, September 10th from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm at Beth Feingold’s home in Berkeley. We are starting a new season studying the Columbian Exchange. For our first luncheon, we are working with the Three Sisters: corn, beans, and squash.