Soil Management with Jack McKinnon, the Garden Coach

   Successful gardens grow in good soils with the proper balance of organic and mineral materials, water, and air. Jack McKinnon will explain good management practices that improve soil structure, fertility, and water availability, creating better conditions for plants to thrive in. He will also cover soil acidity/alkalinity, amendments, fertilizers, mulches, and digging techniques.

Jack McKinnon, author of the monthly column “The Garden Coach” in the Palo Alto Weekly, the Mountain View Voice, and Coast Views Magazine, has been a professional gardener for 35 years. Jack was recently featured by the SF Chronicle in an article about garden coaches. He worked in the gardens at Sunset Magazine in Menlo Park for 12 years, and in 1999 he established his own consulting business – garden coaching. He says, “My mission is to teach my clients how to be better gardeners ….. I lighten the tasks entailed in good horticultural practices.” Learn more about Jack on his web site: www.jackthegardencoach.com.

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A Common Sense Approach to Healthy Plants
with Ann Northrup

   As spring approaches we watch our gardens coming lushly to life again, and think about ways to keep them thriving. Ann Northrup will address preventing problems through maintaining a healthy garden: biologically active soil, proper water, sun or shade, and proper cultivation. But if you already have an ailing plant, what then? Ann will cover diagnosis, early intervention, cultural controls, chemical vs. non-chemical treatments, and associated safety issues.

Ann Northrup teaches horticultural classes at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills and Merritt College in Oakland, and consults privately in plant pathology and arboriculture. Ann has a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from the University of Michigan, and a master’s degree in plant pathology from UC Berkeley. Her work has been primarily in disease diagnostics of ornamental plants, first with Soil and Plant Lab in Orange, CA, and then with Nurserymen’s Exchange in Half Moon Bay. She is a volunteer in the UCCE Master Gardener program of Santa Clara County.

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Growing Cymbidium Orchids with Weegie Caughlan / class 1

   Cymbidiums are one of the most popular and desirable orchids in the world because of their beautiful, long lasting flowers in an incredible range of colors – and they grow outdoors in the Bay Area.

Class 1: On March 31 Weegie Caughlan, will tell us all we need to know about growing these beauties – temperature, sun-light, growing medium, watering, nutrition, and pest control.

For those with an eye on the cymbidium world, Weegie Caughlan, current President and a founding member of the Gold Coast Cymbidium Growers, a branch of the Cymbidium Society of America, needs no introduction. She is known not only in California and the U.S. but worldwide as one of the best amateur growers and exhibitors of the Cymbidium genus of our time. She has won many local Best in Show awards as well as her fifth Grand Champion award last year and Reserve Champion this year at the prestigious Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. In 2000, she retired the Elm Estate Trophy given at POE in San Francisco after winning it for 10 consecutive years. In addition, winning almost 100 AOS and CSA awards over the years, eight this year alone and some of them on her own crosses, shows that Weegie not only exhibits a keen eye for quality but is truly a grower “par excellence." Her success in designing award winning orchid displays is also well documented.

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Dividing Cymbidium Orchids with Weegie Caughlan / class 2

Date:

Fee:

   Cymbidiums are one of the most popular and desirable orchids in the world because of their beautiful, long lasting flowers in an incredible range of colors – and they grow outdoors in the Bay Area. Class #1: On March 31 Weegie Caughlan, will tell us all we need to know about growing these beauties – temperature, sun-light, growing medium, watering, nutrition, and pest control.

Class 2: April 14 is a demonstration class on basic repotting procedures. There will be a drawing at the end of the class and one lucky attendee will win a prize cymbidium donated by Weegie.

For those with an eye on the cymbidium world, Weegie Caughlan, current President and a founding member of the Gold Coast Cymbidium Growers, a branch of the Cymbidium Society of America, needs no introduction. She is known not only in California and the U.S. but worldwide as one of the best amateur growers and exhibitors of the Cymbidium genus of our time. She has won many local Best in Show awards as well as her fifth Grand Champion award last year and Reserve Champion this year at the prestigious Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. In 2000, she retired the Elm Estate Trophy given at POE in San Francisco after winning it for 10 consecutive years. In addition, winning almost 100 AOS and CSA awards over the years, eight this year alone and some of them on her own crosses, shows that Weegie not only exhibits a keen eye for quality but is truly a grower “par excellence”. Her success in designing award winning orchid displays is also well documented.

Register online for this class