Commemorative Tree Program          

The 2026 Commemorative Tree Dedication Ceremony was held in the lovely garden of Elaine Butz.  We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect April day.

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the members and friends whose generous contributions to the Committee have quite literally changed our landscape. Because of you, we have successfully planted trees across the region, leaving a green legacy from Chula Vista to Oceanside.

As we look toward to the coming year, our mission is growing. Ana Canto and I are shifting our focus to identifying new, impactful locations for our next round of planting. We want these trees to be a source of beauty and pride for years to come, but we need your vision to make that happen.

We are looking for passionate individuals to join the Commemorative Tree Committee. Whether you recommend a favorite local park or simply want to help our community breathe a little easier, your participation is what makes this work possible. Please consider volunteering your time to help us determine where our next beautiful trees will take root!

Susan Alleshouse and Ana Canto; Co-Chairs   
                  

Wreaths Across America

Thanks to you, together with sponsorship groups across the U.S., more than 3.1 million wreaths were sponsored in 2025.  Here’s an email that was sent to us by an executive director of the organization. You can read it here.

Kate Engler

The Village Grapevine 

Favorite Books

We asked some members what books they have particularly enjoyed. Maybe there's something here that will inspire or interest you.

My favorite book on gardening is Pat Welsh'sSouthern California Organic Gardening. It's organized month-by-month so I can look at the month and see what I need to be doing.  Pat's writing is entertaining and informative and she has a wonderful sense of humor.  I've heard Pat speak many times and each time I learned something new.  I also loveScott Schrader Exterior Designfor inspiration.--Devonna Hall

My favorite book is very dear to my heart and I refer to it often.  Sargent by Carter Ratcliff is a wonderfully illustrated account of the life and art of John Singer Sargent. Primarily a portrait painter, he is my favorite artist and I study his methods assiduously.—Jean Collins

I enjoyed The Wild Trees by Richard Preston. It’s a great story about the giant sequoias, their ecosystem at the top of the tree and how the old growth sequoia groves are being protected. Preston and Childs have written several thriller mysteries known as the Pendergast series. They are a quick read for a plane trip!—Susan Alleshouse

I choose The Wild Trees by Richard Preston. It’s a real life, non-fiction recount of how a group of passionate naturalists and freestyle climbers went about locating and documenting the largest coastal redwoods in California. Beautifully written and fascinating.—Moya Gollaher

The Handmaid’s Tale is a futuristic dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, written in 1985. It’s set in a patriarchal, totalitarian country known as the Republic of Gilead, which has overthrown the United Sates. Women are forcibly required to produce children for the Commanders, who are the ruling class in Gilead. The Church is aligned with the government. There was a worldwide drop in fertility due to a polluted environment. Men’s sperm counts crashed. I have always been stunned that Atwood was so prescient in reading the tea leaves.—Olga Fabrick

One of my favorites is The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan. He makes history come alive especially as he relates this true story of a Ukrainian family’s incredible escape from their homeland as war breaks out between Russia and Germany. Their faith, love, courage and will to live are truly inspiring!--Lynne Engh

I love One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle. The book explores themes of mother-daughter relationships and self-discovery set against the beautiful backdrop of the Amalfi Coast.  Wonderful!--Amy Hober

This book made me appreciate historical fiction. It's The Passion of Artemisia by local author, Susan Vreeland. I read it 20+ years ago.  It's the story of the Italian painter, Artemisia Gentileschi, as she lives quite a life in 17th century Italy. You’ll recognize other famous artists and personalities from Rome to Florence including Galileo and Michelangelo.  I need to read it again!--Kate Engler

What's Cookin'?   

We asked our members what they're preparing from their summer garden bounty--fruits, vegetables or herbs.  Here's what they told us--and they sound wonderful!
 
"I have a lemon tree that provides fruit all year, and borage that flowers all year too. So anytime I want I can make lemon curd tarts--they're heart-shaped sugar cookies that are baked upside down on a muffin pan, then filled with lemon curd and topped with borage flowers!  It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe--she's a French chef and cookbook author."--Heather Hazen

"You don’t need a huge vegetable garden in order to make yummy fresh food to share with friends and family. I will be making many summertime spreads including this herby green harissa from my herb pots.  I made it from a recipe for a Spanish Tapas Board with Green Harissa. I took it to a party recently and everyone loved it."--Kristie May  

Right: "My favorite summer crop is my Kellogg Breakfast Tomatoes. They make a delicious yellow tomato gazpacho."--Libby Levine 

"Tom and I began a garden at our Bird Rock home 18 years ago and it has grown every year.  Beth Evanco moved in next door four years ago, and since then the garden has grown even more!  She's a pro with flowers so we share the space.

"Even after many years of gardening we find so much joy in our ever-growing and ever-changing garden.  We love to let "littles" who are just walking by pull a carrot, tomato, potato or beet for the first time. Or their parents, who have never tasted a vegetable pulled right out of the dirt!  Beth and I do this--neighbors together! For us, gardening isn't just about growing or cooking, it's about sharing."--Kitty Spence

"This spring I'm finding my culinary inspiration by growing herbs. I planted lots of Italian and curly parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (which I also dry for winter), basil, cilantro, sweet marjoram, dill, mint and oregano.  Herbs are inspiring!  Think salads and 'green magic' sauces (with different herbal combinations and chiles, garlic and olive oil), pesto and so much more! 

"Herbs are not only flavorful they also encourage pollinators. Swallowtail butterflies lay their babies on dill and parsley. Cilantro blooms look like Queen Anne's lace and sweet marjoram adds beauty to any bouquet."--Mary Ann Brown

"I love to serve (and drink!) my homemade eggnog on warm summer evenings, and enjoy my limoncello with dessert!  I always use the recipe by Molly Hannan in our VGCLJ  Favorite Things cookbook."--Ana Lyon

"I’m looking forward to steeping Shell Ginger tea, which is known for its many health benefits, including longevity!  I planted these Alpinia zerumbit a year ago, and the stalks are now 6' tall and producing fragrant clusters of white and pink shell-like racemes with yellow funnel-shaped flowers. I’ll dry them out and combine them with imported green tea leaves for a good tea brew."--Dorie Worthen

"I love to make butter lemon sage sauce, served atop butternut squash ravioli. Fresh sage makes a great difference."--Chris McGregor   

Schoolyard Gardening Grants 

Sue Kalish, Gail Feldman and Wendy Morris enjoyed a wonderful visit to Torrey Pines Elementary School where under the shade of a magnificent tree students can listen to teachers, sit and relax. There's a variety of fruit trees and many planting beds containing herbs, pollinator plants, vegetables and even some pumpkins they think came from the compost! 

Parent Dr. Carrie Aisen and her kids enthusiastically showed off their favorite plants but couldn’t resist picking and eating a few strawberries! Carrie frequently thanked us for our club’s ongoing support, which recently purchased a wheelbarrow and basic gardening necessities. A part time garden teacher strengthens their gardening program. 

Cindy Lautanen and Susan Vandendriesse visited Imperial Beach Charter School and Howard Pence Elementary. Imperial Beach had asked us to enrich their gardening program with a compost system and a wheelbarrow.

The school community at Pence stayed busy this year restoring a neglected gardening space by repairing several cement block beds and replenishing and replacing soil. Students are now enjoying the bounty of their first vegetable crops!

Nancy Jo Cappetta and Paula McGraime toured Fallbrook STEM Academy. Despite the considerable economic challenges faced by most of their students, the school community has transformed a patch of dirt into a beautiful garden. Your contributions allowed them to add raised containers and drip irrigation. It was inspiring to see the excitement and involvement of the children in their new garden! 

At Maie Ellis Elementary, we visited the new garden established to support their large special ed program. They have purchased raised containers, put up a fence and have containers dedicated for use by their special ed students to augment their classroom gardening instruction. Containers are available for those in the traditional school to provide opportunities for all students to co-mingle.

Nancy Cunningham and Jennifer Fries visited the revitalized garden at the St. John School in Encinitas. The school’s grant application asked for our help to repair irrigation components, renew and expand their raised beds, provide soil and soil enrichment with waste composters and a worm bin.

All of their 300 students enjoy integrated gardening lessons and the 8th graders are responsible for every phase of the gardening process with help from their master gardener. The parish food pantry receives a bounty of organic vegetables, fruit and herbs from this well-maintained garden.

This is a sampling of schoolyard gardens that your donations support and our tours across San Diego County continue. Susan Graceman viewed the renewed schoolyard garden at La Jolla Elementary and Nancy Cunningham is soon heading north for a tour of South Oceanside Elementary School.

Wendy Morris, Paula McGraime, Jennifer Fries,

Susan Vandendriesse and Mary Lippman

BOUQUETS OF THANKS

Co-Chairs Deborah Greenspan and Shelby Strong were our ambassadors and couriers for the VA Medical Center.

In floriography—the language of flowers—white lilies symbolize honor, hope, and renewal. It’s why they’re the iconic symbol of Easter, and why they hold a special meaning for veterans and those in recovery.

This year our members donated more than 60 lilies to the Veterans Administration Medical Center. They expressed our wishes for healing and renewal, while brightening the days of both patients and their caregivers.

Thanks to you for not only the lilies, but for sending the powerful message of caring.

Deborah Greenspan and Shelby Strong, Co-Chairs

Master Gardeners

Websites, club lecturers, local nurseries – when it comes to pot designs the classic requirements seem to rule. Unnecessarily so. You can create beautiful pots using other guidelines. Consider these options before putting together a shopping list.

Your first step was choosing location. This gave you your parameters:  the types, number, size, and placement of the containers. These decisions are important because you are really designing for an area.   And that area will dictate whether you need height (via a hanging basket), mass (to fill a wide entry), uniformity (because your patio has multiple cushion colors) or variety (to bring a jolt of excitement to an otherwise simple scheme.)

Having chosen your pots, boxes, and baskets, you are ready to make the horticultural decisions. Generally, buy more than you think you’ll need. If you want your containers to look superb from day one, they will need to look full now so they can burst with beauty later. You may need to remove  a plant for its brethren to breathe, but that’s better than the container looking lost for a month.

It is obvious that the plants in any one container need to have the same requirements: hours of sunlight, moisture level, type of soil.  But beyond that, you are free to choose a design scheme.  Does Thriller, Filler, Spiller work?  Of course it does and you should not eliminate the look, but do consider these options as well.

All For One and One For All.  What about the simplicity of just a single choice? In a dark entrance way, just one enormous urn could hold its own with a white flowering begonia.  Or on a sunny balcony where room is at a premium, hang a basket of bi-colored purple and magenta fuchsia. Need a bit more oomph? Try a pot of purple pelargoniums nearby.  Keeping the plants simple is imperative if your containers are boldly mixed.

Quirkle It. Need more variety because the architectural backdrop is simple but your container has a colorful glaze? Pick up on its color and choose multiple plants but all in the same hue.  A bowl of mixed orange flowers in a blue glazed pot will sing. Or try a family of one such as osteospermum but choose white, yellow and purple.  They are the same but different  This can be accomplished with many plant choices and is often perfect for neutral colored containers.  An upside of using one type of plant is the simple shape that is created – usually a ball or cone.

All  In A Row. Choose colors that play well together. Imagine magenta and lime green coleus as a background, the next row a drop shorter – say magenta impatiens, and a low row of helichrysum.   Each row, simple by itself, becomes stunningly effective because of its partners.

Merry Go Round. Take a round pot, add a stunning star in the center such as a multi-petaled dahlia, and encircle it with a ring of zinnias.

Potty Galore. If you have a collection of similar pots add variety with your plants  Choose 1-3 colors for the whole ensemble, mixing texture, height, and weight.

The Leaves Have It.  Go flowerless – even if it means pinching, though cutting stems and vasing them work well too, Variegated plants, including grasses, can create interest without needing petals.  Consider choosing plants from the indoor selection. Most will stay healthy protected from the sun and wind. You might create a tropical jungle look on a concrete step.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the variety of articles this past year, but if you prefer a calendar or an instructive piece, please let me know for next year.

We always love your visits to the Ask-A-Master Gardener Table. Your questions keep us on our toes – and our noses in the books.

Wishing you a wonderful summer of scents and tastes and beauty. 

BJ Boland