Get to Know and Grow: Ceanothus

Details:

With approximately 60 species and varieties, Ceanothus is widespread throughout our state. Growing throughout California, members of the genus Ceanothus are found from wind-swept coastal bluffs to dry, exposed slopes of the chaparral. Ceanothus come in many different forms and sizes. From prostrate mats to small trees, lilacs offer beauty, functionality, and habitat for your garden. Join us as we get to “know” the habitats and unique botanic features of this iconic group of plants and learn to “grow” them in our gardens.

Although the Garden is dog-friendly, participants are asked to not bring their dog(s) to this class.

Pricing:

Garden Members and Students: $25

General Public: $40

About the Instructors:

Christina Varnava studied botany and received a Master’s of Science from Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate University. For her master’s research she worked on a floristic study of the Upper Sespe Creek watershed in the Los Padres National Forest (Ventura County, CA), This project gave her invaluable experience with plant identification and an abiding love for the chaparral habitats of Southern California. Christina is the Living Collections Curator at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. She supports the Living Collection by acquiring new plants and manages a database with nearly a century of records on thousands of plants in the Living Collection. These records are the key to unlocking the unique stories of the plants in the Garden and they also support the vital research and conservation of California native plants.

Alejandro Lemus was born and raised in Los Angeles. He has experience working in habitat restoration, horticulture and education. As the Garden’s Horticultural Educator, Alejandro develops and implements horticulture programming for professional landscapers and residential gardeners. Having spent many years working in propagation and retail nurseries, Alejandro is passionate about growing native plants for conservation and informing the public of the benefits and beauty of habitat gardening.