Water Smart Gardening Festival
11/14/09
The Water Smart Gardening Festival helps San Diegans renew their landscapes in the fall--San Diego’s second planting season--with plants that thrive in an increasingly dry San Diego. Held at the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College from 9am-3pm on Saturday, November 14, 2009, the sale showcases growers and nurseries from throughout San Diego County who specialize in water-saving shrubs, trees, perennials, grasses, and more.
A lecture series at the event focuses on creating water smart landscapes and the care and characteristics of the plants that thrive in them. In addition, special guest Diana Lindsay, parabotanist for the San Diego Natural History Museum and author of Anza-Borrego A to Z: People, Places, and Things, among others, will speak at 1:00pm. Her presentation, entitled Indian Use of Local Desert Plants, includes a demonstration of how Native Americans prepared and used local plants to thrive in their desert communities, and a look at how Ghost Mountain homesteader Marshal South and his family survived for 17 years in what is now Anza-Borrego Desert State Park by adopting these plant practices.
Another highlight of the event is the “Ask the Experts” area where visitors can get information on landscape design, composting, fire-wise gardening, and saving water in and outside of the home. Reservations for 20-minute landscape design consultations at the event should be booked ahead by calling 619-660-0614, x10. Water agencies will also be on hand to provide information on how to cope with the ongoing water shortage and mandatory water restriction.
“This event is intended to be a one-stop marketplace for water smart plants and water smart education,” said Elizabeth Ramos, Events and Marketing Specialist at the Garden. “Our goal is to make a wide range of drought tolerant plants available, and to empower people with the knowledge they need to create water smart landscapes at home.”
The event is family-friendly, with a children’s booth by local water agencies, face painting, and the inspirational “Plantastic Show” with Ms. Smarty Plants, the Garden’s educational mascot. Admission to the festival, parking, and activities is free. A complete list of program activities will be available in the fall at www.thegarden.org.
The Water Conservation Garden was named a Top 10 Destination Garden in the April 2009 edition of Sunset Magazine.
