Inspiring and educating San Francisco South Bay and Peninsula plant enthusiasts since 1963
UPCOMING SPEAKERS & EVENTS
Join us for monthly Western Hort programs designed to inform, educate and inspire the dedicated plant lover.
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Meetings are held 9 times a year on the second Wednesday of the month and feature a lecture and slide presentation by a guest horticultural specialist. Each program also includes a member-led discussion and photos of unusual plants.
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In-person meetings, will be held at the Garden House in Shoup Park, 400 University Ave, Los Altos.
Located near Lincoln Ave.
In-person meetings often include a sale of diverse plant varieties donated by members and local nurseries as well as books, seeds, tools and other horticultural items on occasion. All are welcome!
Our Upcoming February Meeting will be In-Person in the Garden House at Shoup Park .
400 University Ave., Los Altos.
If you enjoy the talks given at our meetings and want to help the Western Horticultural Society sustain our program, you might like to sponsor one of our speakers! Your donation helps cover the costs of hosting a speaker and we will note your name as sponsor in our newsletter. You can choose the month or speaker of your choice or perhaps you have a speaker you would like to propose? Contact Leslie Dean lesliekdean@sonic.net about donations or questions.
February 12th, 2025, 7.30pm
​A Garden Lover’s Tour of English Gardens and the Many Lessons Learned
with Jim Salyards, Director of Horticulture at Filoli
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Jim is the director of horticulture at Filoli, the garden he has called home for the past 30 years. He has worked as a section gardener, greenhouse manager and served as the director
since 2014. Jim is also fortunate to live on site with his husband Joe, director of gardens
at the Gardens of Golden Gate Park.
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While on sabbatical from Filoli and touring gardens in England for a month during the summer
of 2024, Jim was able to enjoy the supreme horticulture found throughout England, while also taking home many ideas, inspirations and lessons from his 30+ garden visits.
Jim spent a week in four different locations, including a week at Sissinghurst Castle
and other nearby gardens. During each stop he toured with the Head Gardener
or Curator to take a deeper dive into the special aspects of the work done at each garden, gleaning ideas to take back to Filoli in order to improve the horticulture there.
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March 12th, 2025, 7.30pm
​Preventative Medicine for your Summer Veggie Garden
with Lisa Putnam and Kathleen Putnam
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The main goal for home vegetable gardeners is to produce abundant, tasty produce.
Besides choosing the best varieties to grow, what can we do before planting to achieve this goal? Lisa and Kathleen Putnam will tell us about the five main principles of regenerative agriculture and why they are important in a home garden. We will learn how the application of regenerative methods will reduce or eliminate the need for inputs (organic or inorganic), will sequester carbon and will help us determine soil health by looking at rhizosheaths.
We will learn about the importance of cover cropping with a minimum of four plant families and how following these regenerative principles can lead to a complete lack of disease and pest load.
Lisa Putnam has a BS in Agricultural Economics from UC Davis and also studied nutrition science at Davis. She currently manages a small sustainable regenerative farm and orchard in Woodside (Mission Farm) and a home vegetable garden and orchard in Portola Valley.
Lisa is a UC Master Gardener and Master Composter. Lisa’s passion is soil and compost.
Along with her sister Kathleen, has been teaching gardening at Lyngso’s, San Mateo County Fair, and Garden Clubs for the last 16 years.
Kathleen Putnam is a professional organic vegetable gardener serving the Mid-Peninsula
and is an ISA Certified Arborist. Kathleen has a certificate in Environmental Horticulture from City College of San Francisco and is a UC Master Gardener.
Kathleen’s passion is fruit trees and soil. Along with her sister Lisa, has been teaching vegetable gardening and pruning techniques at many venues for the last 16 years.
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April 9, 2025, 7.30pm
​In Search of Alpines in the Sierra Nevada
with Michael Uhler
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Summary: Join Michael in his search for alpine plants of California’s Sierra Nevada to grow in the crevice garden at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden.
Biography: Michael has been gardening professionally full time since 1987. The last 20 years he has spent collecting, growing and curating California’s Sierra Nevada flora at the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in the hills above Berkeley. You can find an article Michael wrote in the July 2021 NARGS Quarterly all about building and planting the crevice garden.
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