Leaders in the Gardening Renaissance ~ Village Nurseries Dry-Lush Open House Part 1 of 3

CL Fornari "gets it". Landscapes nourish body, mind, heart and soul. 

Writing from the opposite corner of our country, one of my personal heroes is CL Fornari. She says

"Many of us see a gardening revival going on. Maybe it's a response to our oh-so-digital world where we are all connected and working all the time. Or maybe it's a reaction to the fact that there aren't many places where we can be in touch with the natural world on a frequent basis. It could be that we're all longing for simpler times...I don't know. But I do know that there's a new 'back to the land' thing going on. People want to create healthy, restorative environments. They long for safe, flavorful food. And they want to be creative inside and outside. All of this adds up to people of all ages putting hands in the dirt."

Strawberries with flowers displayed together at event. 

CL's spirit was with me when I opened the invitation to Village Nurseries Customer Appreciation Day. This amazing company's commitment to providing quality plant material is matched by their generous spirit. These events are always informative, joyous celebrations tailored to those fortunate enough to make a living spreading the gospel of gardening. In California, this means promoting plantings dry in thirst, yet lush in look.

For the event, a series of low-water lush plantings was assembled 

Village Nurseries Garden Centers  Customer Appreciation Day gathers the galaxy of horticultural business interests; branded labels,  garden designers, installers, big box retailers, public garden maintenance crews. And some very fortunate garden communicators.

When the invitation announced  the open house would feature two bright stars in the plant galaxy, men who believe in can-do attitude, Anthony Tesselaar and Nicholas Stadddon.... I could barely contain the anticipation...

Suzie Weist and Nicholas Staddon happily announced prize winners

It was secondary that the firm was offering good odds that attending meant guests would come home with plant and soil amendment samples... possibly even a 50" flat screen TV.

Libations flowed to a full  Italian lunch served by Carolina's Italian Restaurant . Before the program, seated at umbrella shaded tables, over 100 guests traded stories of an industry on the upswing.

Jim Peterson, editor of the swoon-inducing publication, Garden Design Magazine was on hand. With no advertising, printed on high quality paper, with images and stories which are both timely and evergreen, this truly is one of the best investments a person with interest in U.S. gardens can make.

The Reigning Queen of Succulents, surrounded by her subjects. Image by Josh Endres .

In the current issue is a feature on one  of the first people I met through GWA (Now the Association for Garden Communicators), Debra Lee Baldwin.

Village Nurseries success was earned the old fashioned way. Vision, hard work and building relationships.To learn more about the California Garden Centers, please link here.

Next up-  Notes for the talk by Anthony Tesselaar, the man responsible for low maintenance roses which will thrive in hellstrips.

Until we meet again, Thank You for all YOU do to make the world more beautiful 

Lydia 

* A special thanks to Garden Design Magazine for allowing us to share the last 2 images in this post.