Max and mom Salli at the LA Arboretum

I am pleased to announce a new cat­e­gory on my Socal​nurs​ery​plants​.com data­base: Botan­i­cal gar­dens, foun­da­tions and non­prof­its. When I have been research­ing my posts, I have stum­bled upon some pretty amaz­ing and eso­teric orga­ni­za­tions. Who knew there was a Cal­i­for­nia Gar­den and Land­scape His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety? Or Cal­i­for­nia Inva­sive Plant Council?

And then there are the botan­i­cal gar­dens — we are so for­tu­nate to live among the most incred­i­ble gar­dens that are open year round. I and my friend Salli took her 1 year old son, Max, to a won­der­ful Easter party at the Arbore­tum last spring. It included an Easter egg hunt, crafts, pet­ting zoo and deli­cious brunch. I would say my favorite botan­i­cal gar­den is the Hunt­ing­ton with its vari­ety of gar­dens and mature trees, includ­ing the suc­cu­lent, Japan­ese, Chi­nese, chil­drens and rose gar­dens. With the art gal­leries and library you could eas­ily spend 2 days there. They also have won­der­ful plants sales all the time, with mem­bers get­ting first pick.

There are a cou­ple of hot­lines avail­able as well on the web­site: the Los Ange­les Arbore­tum has an expert, and the Mas­ter Gar­den­ers of Orange County can be phoned or emailed.

As usual, if I have missed any, please let me know.