WHG News - July 2025

News from the Garden

Issue 32 I July 2025

Working hard and looking ahead.

July flew by. It was a month of hard work and planning for what’s next. While it feels like fall is just around the corner, we keep reminding ourselves that we still have over six weeks of summer left. Let’s not rush things.

The garden looks stunning, largely due to the work of Justin and our horticultural interns. They’ve become part of the WHG family and are the third cohort of young people who have made a mark on the garden in our nearly four year tenure as owners/stewards. We are grateful for their strength and dedication.

We’ve published a whole roster of new programs to connect you more deeply to yourself and the natural environment. From a birdsong walkabout to an aesthetic pruning class and an incredible performance art installation there is much to look forward to.

We also just wrapped up two weeks of our inaugural summer camp in partnership with our friends at Clayfolk in Occidental. Over two week-long sessions, we had 20 five to ten year olds making fairy houses from garden materials, hand-building clay objects, and weaving with natural objects. It was magical watching the kids experience the garden. They are full of wonder, energy, and presence. A perfect reminder for us all to take time out to just be; to observe and discover with our full selves. A necessary antidote to the heaviness of our world.

Justin’s Hort Report.

It's summer, and that means... summer interns! Let me backup and explain: part of WHG's mission is to be an educational resource and training ground for young people interested in pursuing a career in plant care. To this end, our Emerging Horticultural Leaders program gives college students a unique opportunity to work in a small public garden and gain experience in all aspects of garden care and nursery management. We also take them on field trips to other gardens and nurseries and have them develop their own "capstone project" in an area of their interest. This year we have three interns working full-time. Each of them has impressed me with their strong work ethic, positive attitude, and love of plants and nature. It's been fun working with them and finding opportunities to grow their knowledge and skills in horticulture. Now, I'll let them introduce themselves.…

Hi, my name is Paula Gomez, a third-year Ornamental Horticulture student from the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture in Niagara Falls, Canada. I’m interning at WHG this summer to deepen my understanding of California native plants and explore a more naturalized approach to gardening. The biodiversity here is incredible, and I’ve been learning so much, not just about the garden's collection of rare plants, but also about community, stewardship, and art. I’m especially inspired by the garden’s history, it’s environmentally conscious practices, and the passion of the team.

Hi my name is Alexa Gonzalez and I am one of the summer interns at WHG. This spring I graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Sustainable Agriculture and recently completed the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture Future Farmers Program working on a farm in Hawaii and went to Colombia for a cacao learning exchange. Being at Western Hills has given me the opportunity to learn about ornamental horticulture and plant botany which I hope to combine with my agriculture background to create more sustainable food systems that incorporate natural environments. I am so grateful to be part of this team and am learning and growing with the garden each day.

My name is Thomas Holdner, and I am studying Horticulture and Welding Technologies at Santa Rosa Junior College. I first heard about Western Hills through my plant propagation class after Justin was invited as a guest speaker. I was immediately interested in its rare plant collection and knew I had to try to work at the garden. So far I have learned a wide variety of things ranging from Plant ID to composting. Western Hills has a fantastic volunteer program and great community focus as well, making it a great work environment. P.S. Shoutout to Dick Miner the compost master!!

Upcoming programs.

Join famed pruner Michael Allinger of Merritt College and Osmosis for a hands-on workshop in aesthetic pruning at Western Hills Garden. $40-80, sliding scale. Snacks and a simple vegan lunch served. Please bring gloves and pruning shears. Limited to 25 people.

Miles and Teresa Tuffli, of I’m Birding Right Now, are back to lead another two hour meander at Western Hills Garden. Come listen closely and soak up fall’s morning birdsong. This time they’re doing back-to-back walkabouts at WHG and Sonoma Botanical Garden. Just come here, or participate in both and compare your findings. The $40 ticket includes binoculars, snacks, hot and cold drinks, and time to wander the garden. Sonoma Botanical pricing separate. Limited to 12 people.

Join us for two special, intimate performances of Our Lady of the Moon at Western Hills Garden.
• Guided meditation and multi-sensory immersion in the garden.
• Audience with the Goddess of the Moon at her outdoor temple.
•A simple meal of soup, salad, and locally baked bread.

$100-200 sliding scale. Limited to 30 people.

LEARN MORE AND SIGN UP

Insider Invites

Our apologies to those who tried to access the broken link to the WHG Insiders Invite list last month. While the first round of information about the Supper Series has gone out, we will be sending another in early August. Sign up to get more details and other occasional invite-only activities happening at WHG (or become a member which gets you additional members-only info too!).

INSIDERS INVITE LIST

Hydrangea superbloom.

The plants and trees love the misty, foggy mornings and evenings this year, with no prolonged heat wave as of yet. The hydrangeas in particular are exploding. Although some people consider these flowers dated and too water-intensive, we think they’re lovely. All of the colors and shapes and flower varieties are here: bigleaf, oakleaf, climbing, smooth, white, blue, purple, pink, magenta. And when they finish blooming they dry on the stems, ensuring a lovely fall presentation with antiqued flowers of rose, mauve, dusty blue, and ivory. Come see for yourself!

SCHEDULE A DAY VISIT

Performance art in the garden.

We Players is the San Francisco Bay Area’s premiere site-specific theatre company. Founded in 2000, this unique nonprofit creates stunning productions that are intimate and interactive - stimulating all of the senses through dynamic in situ staging. Projects take place in national, state, and regional parks as well as botanical gardens. The company recently completed a run of MacBeth at San Francisco’s historic Fort Point and have done a version of Alice in Wonderland at Golden Gate Park and Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

We are thrilled to partner with founding creative director, Ava Roy and producer Britt Lauer to present Our Lady of the Moon this October. This is a very special We Players installation and performance inspired by the Mayan Goddess Ix Chel, performed by actress Regina León. A fifteen foot ladder and gazing pool form the structure of the installation, and on October 4th and November 2nd, Regina will lead an opening and closing ceremonial performance. This work invites us to consider what we are ready to let go of and serves as a reminder that we have what we need and shall be well in spite of the challenges of our time.

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Western Hills Garden is a fiscally sponsored nonprofit organization with a mission to link people, plants, and place to possibility. Thanks for reading our monthly News from the Garden.

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