All LAVGC meetings, events and activities except allowed activities shown in the Calendar Events section to the left are CANCELLED until further notice following Alameda County Health Care Services guidance on Mar 12, 2020.

Allowed Calendar Events will follow ACHCS and CDC Guidance. Click to see ACHCS Guidance.

Regular Monthly Meeting on Zoom
Thursday, Mar 11, 2021 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm on Zoom

Please note the earlier start time for our meeting.

Gardener Lovers Travel

Speaker: C. Colston Burrell is an acclaimed lecturer, garden designer and photographer.

Our speaker, C. Colston Burrell lives on the East Coast and will have to travel for an hour to be sure he has a reliable internet connection to facilitate our Zoom meeting.

C. Colston Burrell is an acclaimed lecturer, garden designer and photographer. The author of 12 gardening books, Cole has twice won the American Horticulture Society Book Award. A certified chlorophyll addict, Cole is an avid and lifelong plantsman, gardener and naturalist. He is a popular lecturer internationally on topics of design, plants and ecology, sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm with professional and amateur audiences for 40 years. He escorts garden and natural history tours throughout the United States and abroad through Garden and Nature Tours with C. Colston Burrell. He is principal of Native Landscape Design and Restoration, which specializes in blending nature and culture through artistic design. In 2008 Cole received the Award of Distinction from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers for his work promoting sustainable gardening practices. His work is part of the Smithsonian Archive of American Gardens. He gardens on 10 wild acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  Cole will talking to us about many wonderful gardens around the world – many of which, we will no doubt be tempted to visit in the future.

Any questions about the meeting, please contact Barbara Stott.

We look forward to you joining us for our next Zoom meeting. We will be sending a notice prior to the meeting, but you also have the information in our recent newsletter.

If you cannot join the Zoom meeting, recordings of the monthly programs, speaker permitting, are available on this site thanks to the efforts of our Zoommasters: Grahamn Stott, Nile Runge and Len Smith.

LAVGC is inviting Members to our Monthly Meeting on Zoom

Topic: LAVGC Monthly Meeting
Time: Mar 11, 2021, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Members only will receive an email close to the meeting with meeting join details.

Members can join the meeting starting at 5:45. When you join the meeting, you will be in the "waiting room" until the host lets you into the meeting. When you are let into the meeting, your microphone will be muted. Please use the "chat" feature if you want to ask a question.

See LAVGC Zoom Instructions for tips for those new to Zoom. See LAVGC Zoom Participation Tips for tips for participating in Zoom meetings.

Members having difficulty connecting to the meeting or have technical questions, please contact Zoommasters Nile Runge or Graham Stott. See the LAVGC Yearbook for their individual contact information.

If you have any trouble getting on the meeting as it starts, call Nile Runge, 925-443-2237 for help.

If you are not a member and would like to join Zoom meetings, please complete the New Member Application Form. Members receive the monthly newsletter, annual Yearbook, access to the Members Only section of this site and Zoom meeting details each month. If you are not a member and would like to attend a specific Zoom meeting, please contact Jeri Stark, President to request Zoom meeting details.

Business Meeting

Before the speaker begins at our meeting, we will have a short business meeting to hear committee reports and cover other matters as necessary.

Visitors Are Welcome!

Please join us at the monthly meeting or contact us at the Membership link below. Please take a moment to fill out the New Member Application Form for Membership Year July, 2020 through June, 2021. New members joining after Jan. 31 of the Membership Year will owe one-half of the regular dues. New members joining at or after the April Spring Plant Sale will pay dues for the following Membership Year and be complimented for the remainder of the existing Membership Year (May/June).

For more information about membership or dues, please email Wanda Finn.

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LAVGC Yearbook

We will not be creating a LAVGC 2020-2021 Yearbook. The LAVGC 2019-2020 Yearbook will continue to be used for 2020-2021. A PDF of the LAVGC 2019-2020 Yearbook and a PDF of the LAVGC Roster are available to view and print in the Members Only section.

LAVGC Roster

Beginning October, 2020, we are providing a complete list of all current LAVGC members and their contact information. The Roster includes information for all members and includes membership changes, such as, addition of new members and changes to current member contact information, since the Yearbook was published. The Roster is in Yearbook format so it can be printed and inserted in your physical Yearbook. The Yearbook Addendum has been replaced by the LAVGC Roster.

Member Alert: if you have changes to your contact information, please email Molly Fisher. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Molly's additional contact information.

Members Only section

Check out the Members Only section. Click on the 'Members Only' menu selection on any page, enter the Id and password. The Members Only section contains the club Yearbook, speaker video links, club forms, newsletter archives, meeting minutes and more. Members may email Jeri Stark, President to obtain the Id and password.

Thanks, thanks and more thanks

Thanks to all who participate in the club workshops, work parties and providing meeting refreshments. > > More

Garden Club Want Ads

...garden related wants, needs, offers, for sale

This column is for any garden related items that you have that you want to get rid of - either selling or giving away, just to get them out of your place and it's too long to wait for the Plant Sale. You can also list needs or even if you need help in the garden and wish to hire someone for a few hours a week. Or if you'd like to hire out to help someone in their garden a few hours a week. Let's share with other gardeners in the club!! Click to see Garden Club Want Ads.

Talks on Video

If you missed our meeting speakers' informative talk, you can see the video of the talk on the club website Members Only section. Most of our recent club meeting talks are on view there. Select videos are also available to the public. See LAVGC Speakers: past and future.

HELP NEEDED

Because of health issues, Beth Clark has had to step back from club activities and so we need a recording secretary.  If you can help by taking minutes at our meetings for the rest of the current club year which ends June 30, 2021, please contact Jeri Stark, LAVGC President. See the LAVGC Yearbook for additional contact information.

We are also looking for members to fill positions that will be vacated by other VP’s or committee chairs on June 30.  Currently that list includes:

• Vice President Community Service - currently held by Gail Bachman
• Vice President Special Interests - currently held by Lois Barber
• Recording Secretary - currently held by Beth Clark but we are looking for a temporary and a permanent replacement.

If you are interested in taking on a leadership role in the club, please notify me, Jeri Stark, LAVGC President. See the LAVGC Yearbook for additional contact information. We will appoint a nominating committee in March to help fill these positions but would like to hear from anyone interested in taking on a new role.

Plant Sale

Although we will not be holding our spring plant sale this year because of the Covid constraints, we do have people who are interested in perhaps doing a garage type sale as we did in the fall of last year.  If we have enough interested people and enough items, I would be happy to host the event again.  We raised $1,400 dollars by selling plants and other home and garden items and so if you have items you would like to donate, let me know and we will decide if we have enough to have a sale. Contact Jeri Stark, LAVGC President. See the LAVGC Yearbook for additional contact information.

Workparty Rewards

Lois Barber wanted to share something nice that makes what one does seem worthwhile. One Saturday in her junk folder was a message sent to Hansen Park at LAVGC website. Here is that message. “Thank you for taking care of Hanson Park! I spent my first 40 years in Brentwood, SJSU, and Livermore. That park has always been a landmark for me. Whether going to Santa Cruz as a child, or coming home from college or living just down the road on Lakewood, it always made me smile. As an adult I wondered about that wagon and appreciated the roses. When raising my family in Livermore, I started getting the gardening bug, and my now grown daughters remember riding in the wagon and going over to Alden Lane - the old one! I am now in Charlotte NC, and a master gardener. If I was still in the area, I am sure I would be out there trimming those roses with you. Thanks for taking on that project.”

Lois then inquired how she had found that we were trimming roses. “Well it is another sheltered Saturday and I am going down rabbit holes on the computer. I follow Rebecca Sweet on her Harmony in the Garden and saw that she spoke to your group - so I googled you and saw the article about Hansen Garden. (I never knew it had a name, but the Hansens and Morgans are old family names, so it makes sense.) The wagon is gone? I think I saw the new design the last time I was out there. My how things have changed. Keep up the good work.”

Penny Pines for Gift Giving

With the National Forest offices closed, we are not able to get certificates for plantations until after the New Year. However, if you wish to give a gift of a Penny Pines plantation to a loved one, you can complete the form found here Penny Pines form.

Mail the form to Jeri Stark with a check for $68, made out to LAVGC. Jeri will prepare a certificate for you to give to your recipient. Our forests need our help more than ever and this is a wonderful gift.

Please contact Jeri Stark, Penny Pines for her address or see the LAVGC Yearbook for Jeri's contact information.

Click Penny Pines to learn more about the activity.

California Garden Clubs, Inc membership cards

Jeri received 2020-2021 membership cards to distribute to LAVGC members since we are also members of the California Garden Club’s Inc. The challenge is with distribution since we are not meeting in person except for work parties, it would cost $60 to $70 dollars to send out these cards individually. If you have found the card beneficial in previous years, Jeri Stark would be happy to send you one if you send her a request jeri Stark, LAVGC President. At the California Garden Clubs web site she found that Alden Lane gives a 10% discount, East Bay Nursery in Berkeley gives a 10% discount. Many other stores and public gardens may grant a discount if you show your card.