WHG News-May 2024

News from the Garden

Issue 19 I May 2024

Watching things grow.

The plants and trees at Western Hills Garden are stop-in-your-tracks beautiful always, but sometimes, something in particular leaps out and takes your breath away. Maybe it’s a shade of green, a new bloom, or how a branch looks against the leaves. The power of observation yields great benefits here.

It’s been a particularly generative May. We brought on our first full-time leadership hire, Justin Berhtiaume. Scroll down to read some of his words about why the Horticultural Manager role appealed to him. We had a very competitive pool of applicants and are pleased to share that our esteemed hiring committee (Jim Salyards, RG Turner, Jr., and Betsy Flack) came to consensus. Justin is jumping in feet first, and we can’t wait for you to meet him. We’re hoping to plan some times for you to do just that as he gets settled. Stay tuned.

We also picked up Jaden Sicotte from the Sonoma County Airport last Saturday. She’s our summer garden fellow from the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture. She’s finishing up her three years of training with a field placement at WHG through September. We’re thrilled to have her skills and knowledge and to introduce her to the wonders of Sonoma County.

Joel (our long-time gardener who knows the garden better than anyone at this point) is back from his trip to El Salvador. And the volunteers continue to show up every week to tame the weeds, help with the constant pruning, and propagate plants for the nursery. The garden is showing its appreciation of the long, cool, wet spring with daily leaps of green so it’s all-hands-on-deck right now.

We’re feeling torn about the transition of our two team members who are headed to their next adventure mid-June. Nikko and Oliver have lived and worked at WHG for the last year. They’ve hauled and weeded, chipped and mulched, made bouquets and greeted visitors. We’re hopeful we can include a few parting words from them in the next issue. And we are beyond grateful that they were part of the garden’s journey.

We hope this month has been generative for you in some way as well and that you can come wander the paths at WHG soon. With our crazy news cycle and difficult domestic and world events, the garden offers something special — similar to how you feel when you notice the pause at the end of a breath – a place to rest and be. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Say hey to Justin Berthiaume.

What brought you to WHG?
I started my career as a landscape architect in Boston working for the National Park Service and switched to education when I moved to San Francisco. I taught environmental science at a public high school for 12 years. During that time I designed and built a 5,000 square-foot organic school garden and developed a horticulture and gardening class that became really popular with the kids, giving them a chance to be outside and learn skills that they couldn't get in a regular classroom. Last year I decided to "retire" from the public school system and work more closely with plants. I moved to Freestone and began volunteering at WHG around the same time Hadley and Kent posted the horticulture manager position, a job that was exactly what I was looking for. You could say the stars aligned!

What do you love most about the garden?
Right now I'm still getting lost along the paths, and I love that feeling of discovery... finding new blooms, smelling new scents, and tripping out on the sheer beauty of this place. I also love the legacy of the garden and meeting people who have been coming here for years. I admire Hadley and Kent's vision to uphold the legacy of this garden while expanding access to everyone through innovative programming relevant to our community.

What are you looking forward to?
I'm excited to learn the personalities of all the plants and work with the team to keep them thriving. I'm also eager to experiment with propagating some of our more unusual plants. And the teacher in me wants to help in planning more events and classes. This job plays into a lot of my interests and skills, and I love that every day at work in this beautiful space will be different!

THRIVE with us.

Mark your calendars for June 22nd, and come join us for another seasonal celebration produced with our friends, Adrian Chang and Chris Lewis of Morihouse.

THRIVE will be special. We will activate the garden with opportunities for you to open your senses and share your insights. Tours and and bouquet making will be happening too. Morihouse will serve lovingly prepared bento boxes (vegan option available). Two Teas Treehouse will provide cold brew. And best of all, Eki Shola will share her beautiful music with us all.

Tickets are $45. We always reserve a few spots in our programs for students, teachers, and others who are on limited-incomes. Reach out via email to inquire (hello@westernhillsgarden.com). And since we’re a nonprofit, if you can pay more and are so inclined, please add on a tip to your order!

Finally, if you are curious to read up on this particular time of year, we found this Scientific American article about Why We Celebrate the Summer Solstice a fun read.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THRIVE + REGISTER

Hiba Cedar as muse.

Our friend, the artist Emily Payne, came for a few days in residence at the Western Hills Garden guest house this past year. She found a muse in the Hiba Cedar. Her solo show, partly inspired by our Hiba, at Seager Gray Gallery in Mill Valley runs from 6/4-7/14. There’s a reception on 6/15 from 5-7pm and an artist talk on 6/11 at 10am.

From the Seager Gray website, “Emily spends a lot of time observing, processing and drawing from nature. Channeling her observations into works made from book boards, graphite, walnut ink and wire, she presents a startling abstract translation of fundamental patterns in nature and the centers of energy from which all life forces extend.”

We love her work and her inspiration. Stop by and see the show if you can!

blue background with walnut ink hand drawing

Shout outs.

We’ve been scheduling lots of meet and greets lately – working to build new partnerships; understand the Sonoma County garden, arts, and culture landscape; and getting to know some really great people. One of our favorites is the new(ish) Executive Director of Sebastopol Center of the Arts, Serafina Palendech, who is taking the organization to the next level. We’re brainstorming cool projects to work on together which is exciting! Their upcoming Reverberations show is not to be missed. It pairs 56 rarely-seen works from curated Sonoma County collections along with 56 original ekphrastic poems written by some of the Bay Area’s most notable poets (including the husband—Adrian Lürssen–of one of our beloved, regular WHG volunteers!!). The show promises “an immersive adventure into the realms of visual and literary art!” We’re excited to check it out!

Sounds of spring.

We just launched a YouTube Channel. The only thing on it is the video below, since we wanted to share this with you and our newsletter provider doesn’t enable embedded video. Click the image to watch/iisten. Maybe this will be a cool new thing for us, we shall see.

For now, enjoy – mosquitos and all!

COME VISIT SOON

Western Hills Garden is a fiscally-sponsored nonprofit organization with a mission to link people, plants, and place to possibility. Support our work by visiting the garden, becoming a member, spreading the word about us, or making a tax-deductible donation.

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