We’ve been thinking a lot lately about the word sanctuary. Specifically how Western Hills Garden can provide a refuge for our visitors to explore themselves, their connection to nature, and their capacity to make a difference in big and small ways.

Our recent (and first!) forest bathing class invited participants to mindfully move through the property, listen deeply to its sounds, and investigate its tiniest treasures through magnifying glasses. Jen Borrow, Sonoma County local and certified forest therapy guide, began her class by sharing words from the Buddhist monk, Thích Nhất Hạnh, “Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.”

Sending love letters to the earth with each step feels like a perfect thing to do in February. The Snow Moon this month felt like a love letter too. The garden literally glowed, casting evocative shadows and reflections.

Our new partnership with Tida Beattie and Soyean Davis of MESO will provide a sanctuary to acknowledge, process, and rest with the grief we carry in our bodies about the existential threat of climate change. They will bring their expertise as multicultural grief practitioners to Western Hills in April. Scroll down for more information.

We are happy to see a theme of wellness and personal growth emerge as we build out our 2024 programming. During this chaotic and divisive time, we hope you can find the opportunity to come visit to reset, recalibrate, and set off your “mind’s tripwires.”

A walk through the garden sets off the mind’s tripwires.

This year the wisteria murmur. Then ring, out of season.

The light: raucous.

or the light: slow and scummed.

Which is it?

One hour loosens
from the socket of another.

The rain’s not yet done, but the light comes feeling

its way back, as it does.
The interior smells fecund.

But this greening’s abbreviated by the carbon-blade of shears.

One self prunes violently at all the others
thinking she’s the gardener.

Even so, the blossoms drip.
Spill over.
A few inches above, the sticky murmur of flies.

Disorder begins to flare.

There are roots long in the earth, and they hasten.

And pink worms, out of sight,
with their dim impulse to let the dirt churn through them.

Jenny Xie, from Tending. in Leaning Toward Light, Poems for gardens & the hands that tend them. Edited by Tess Taylor, Storey Publishing, 2023.

We spent quite a bit of time with Garden Clubs this month. Just this week Hadley spoke to a packed room of 70 Healdsburg Garden Club members and guests at the Villa Chanticleer. It’s always fun to see the members in action talking about the work they do giving scholarships, tending to community gardens, representing the garden community to local officials. The Healdsburg Club celebrated its 93rd year in 2023! Hadley’s talk title was: “When the Universe Offers You a Landmark Garden, Say Yes.”

We also had 20 members from the Petaluma Garden Club visit the garden for a tour and discussion. They come every year and bring different members each time.

We love sharing the story of the property, showing off the collection, and talking to garden lovers. Let us know if you’d like to schedule a talk or tour of your own!

While we don’t have as many magnolias at Western Hills Garden as we do camellias (which are still in bloom by the way), our magnolias are pretty extraordinary. They range in color from bright white and cream to light pink and magenta. And of course Maggie’s magnolia, which she hybridized and named after her grandmother Dora, is one of the most special.

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.

If you’re receiving this newsletter, you either opted into emails or were on a list shared with us by the previous owners. We hope you appreciate occasional News from the Garden.