Pimlea spectabilis Photo, Melinda Kralj
The Ruth Bancroft Garden
Walnut Creek, California
Eucalyputus caesia
Photos: Brian Kemble
The Australians Part II
A Seminar & Study Tour
presented by The Garden Conservancy
& The Ruth Bancroft Garden
Seminar - Friday, July 10, 2009 at Civic Arts Education Center, Shadelands Campus, Walnut Creek
Study Tour to Santa Cruz, Monterey: Saturday, July 11, 2009
Cosponsored by Pacific Horticulture magazine
"Refreshing Your Australian Repertoire"
An impressive gathering of experts will advise and enlighten seminar participants, with Richard Turner, editor of Pacific Horticulture magazine, serving as Moderator.
As Dick told with me, some of the most knowledgeable speakers on Australian plants in California gardens are among the presenters.
Botanist Glenn Keator has spent time studying the flora in the wild. Glenn will give an overview of its diversity, some 25 to 35,000 taxa.
Curator of the Australian Collections at the Arboretum at UC Santa Cruz, Melinda Kralj has worked and traveled in Australia. She helped with the initial plantings of the Australian Garden at Cranbourne, with the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.
The UCSC collection, Melinda's domain, is a magical setting where the scientific aspect of cultivating and presenting these fascinating plants takes place in a garden realm.
On a winter day when I was new to California, Melinda walked me through the Arboretum's gardens, introducing me to banksias and grevilleas, adenanthos and telopeas, boronias, correas, xanthorrhoea (grass trees) and epacris, among plants boasting architectural forms, volumetric blooms, and textures that takes center stage.
The memory has stayed with me through the years, and I'm anxious to hear Melinda's observations on how to fit Australians into our Bay Area gardens. She'll also offer ideas for mixing them with plants from other parts of the world.
Kathy Echols, an instructor at Diablo Valley College, will share her valuable experience, having gardened with Australian native plants for 20 years ago in her East Bay garden.
Kathy imported a collection of 152 new species of Australian plants to the United States in 1992, including 20 new varieties of Emu Bush, Eremophila cultivars . She is known for her expertise in propagating rare and unusual plants, both drought tolerant and tough.
Visit the links listed below for Seminar & Study Tour details,
and for additional background on speakers
Laurence Nicklin, garden designer based in Ojai,
and
Jo O'Connell of Australian Native Plants Nursery, Ventura.
The 2-day event promises to be engaging, informative, and
an excellent opportunity for professional designers, newbie gardeners, and hortiholics who wish to learn more about drought-tolerant choices for Bay Area landscapes.
Eucalyptus preissiana
