The season of darkness is upon us. While world events already feel very dark, this time of year is actually about settling in and finding time for rest, comfort, and introspection. It’s also about sharing and giving. It’s about listening and observing. It’s about finding peace. All these things can be found in the garden.

The trees and plants at Western Hills are changing with the shorter days. While our seasonal markers are more subtle than in other parts of the country, we see leaves falling, branches bared, runnels cleared, and garden beds weeded, mulched, and ready for rain. The natural architecture is becoming more visible—though you can still find blooms and pops of color if you look closely.

This is a powerful time to invoke the salve of nature to soothe nerves, settle fears, and inspire possibility. Come visit us soon to see for yourself.

As we look toward the shortest day, we’re excited to announce our plans to team up with Morihouse and other local artists for a special celebration honoring the solstice.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, December 16th from 12-4pm.

Experience the wonder of the garden paths.
Eat warming Chinese rice porridge with seasonal toppings (v/gf).
Partake in winter rituals like wreath making and intention setting.
Listen to live acoustic guitar.
Contribute to the Yule Alter.
Nourish your body, mind, and spirit. 

$35 for adults. Kids under 12 free. $10 kids meals.
Two ticketed times (12-2pm + 2-4pm).

Last month, in celebration of our two-year anniversary as stewards of Western Hills Garden, we launched a year-long preservation fundraising campaign. This campaign will expand our operating runway and enable us to hire a garden manager; increase irrigation efficiency; improve the propagation house, barn, and glass house; and build an ADA restroom to accommodate all our guests.

We are thrilled to share that one of our supporters has responded with a $10k matching grant challenge to our community. Through the end of 2023, all donations to the garden will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10k.

If you love the garden and want to see it continue to thrive, please join our campaign! If you’re as excited to hear this news as we are, please click the button below to contribute today. (And, if you’d like to offer your own matching challenge grant, please reach out!)

Due to popular demand, we have extended our buy one, get one free Western Hills Garden membership offer through the end of December.

Members help us sustain the garden and document community support to our funders. Come visit time and again, see the subtle and significant seasonal changes, and give the give of the garden to someone else on your list!

We have four levels that range from $50-$200. Purchase a membership, and we will email you a code to redeem a second one at that same level. We can also send a gift certificate to share if you’d rather that approach.

We’ve updated our open garden day schedule through the end of the year. Please check out our calendar and make an appointment to come visit. As always, if you would like to come on a day NOT on the calendar, just send a note to [email protected] and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.

Starting this weekend, we’ll have evergreen branches and wreath forms out for your making pleasure. We’ve also got loads of dried flowers for your harvest bouquets and tablescapes. Come see!

We attended a meeting of the Bay Area Garden Network at Ruth Bancroft Gardens on Friday, October 27th, and got to hang out with folks from Filoli, the Gardens of Golden Gate Park, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, UC Davis Botanical Garden, Mendocino Botanical Garden, Sonoma Botanical Garden, the Oakland Zoo, Pacific Horticulture, and on, and on.

It was a great networking opportunity and folks from UC Davis gave a formal presentation about climate adaption for botanical gardens. They shared a ton of technology tools and predictive modeling sources for planning.

One of the interesting–and sobering–things they are doing is testing trees from Arizona since the climate in Davis is expected to be more like Tucson by the middle/end of the century. It’s counter to the more recent push we’ve all been making for more native selections and thus a bit controversial, but if the natives aren’t going to survive as the planet warms maybe it’s worth understanding what will so we can maintain our shade tree canopy. Click below to see some of the tools that were shared with the group if you’re interested.

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