Celebrating 40 Years of Growing Success!

Welcome

Please share our pleasure in celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the University of California Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County (UCMGSC).

In 1982, the Sonoma County Master Gardener Program was the third to debut in California. UCMGSC volunteers have been active across Sonoma County assisting home gardeners in support of our vision to “cultivate environmental stewardship one garden at a time.”

In the beginning, the UCMGSC program was a small group of volunteer members. Today, there are more than 250 dedicated members who are trained and certified University of California (UC) volunteers who provide unbiased, high-quality, science-based information to non-commercial home gardeners. Please revisit this page for updated information about activities planned for the rest of 2022 and join Sonoma County Master Gardeners as we celebrate our milestone anniversary.

Save the Date! Upcoming Anniversary Lecture

Matt Ritter, PhD

Sonoma County Master Gardeners are honored to host a public lecture that will be held October 19 at The Glaser Center in Santa Rosa to celebrate our 40 years of service in Sonoma County.

Dr Matt Ritter will speak on California’s Native Plants and Urban Forests.

California is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots with over 6,000 native plants, many of which are found nowhere else. Dr. Matt Ritter's engaging, and entertaining talk will be a botanical tour of California, with natural and cultural history stories of our most iconic plants. Join him for a photographic exposé of the state's interesting native flora, the trees we decide to plant in our cities, and how we can improve our planting choice.

Dr. Matt Ritter grew up in rural Mendocino County, California. After earning a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from U.C. Santa Barbara, he attended U.C. San Diego for a Ph.D. in plant biology. He’s a botany professor in the Biological Sciences Department at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California.

Matt is the author of several books, including a guide to California’s flora, California Plants: A guide to our Iconic Flora. He also wrote the best-selling guide to California’s urban forest, A Californian’s Guide to the Trees among Us (Heyday, 2011). His writing has appeared in several magazines, including Pacific Horticulture. He won the Cal Poly’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the International Society of Arboriculture Award for Excellence in Education, the National Outdoor Book Award for his children’s book Something Wonderful, and the Indie Book Award for his climate change novel Rainwalkers.

Matt is the California Coordinator of the American Forests Big Tree Registry, studies California’s native plants, and trees in the urban forest. He’s an avid woodworker, mason, and gardener.

Information about ticket sales and other event details will be published on this page and social media in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

A Colorful Way to Celebrate Nature

Seeking a fun, artistic activity for kids? Make their world more colorful with nature-themed coloring pages. Ten downloadable coloring pages feature familiar Sonoma County plants and animals including California poppies, quail, lady bugs, butterflies, and worms! Each coloring page includes a subject description and links to additional educational information. Happy coloring!

Master Gardener Sue Lovelace’s grandson, Waylon, with his coloring page.

“Spotlight on Natives”

The vision of the University of California Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County (UCMGSC) is to “cultivate environmental stewardship one garden at a time.” One way to accomplish this vision is by growing native plants in our gardens. To celebrate UCMGSC’s ongoing 40-year commitment to environmental stewardship, a new feature debuted June 19.

“Spotlight on Natives” highlights Master Gardeners who design with, cultivate, and grow natives. Spotlight on Natives features Sonoma County Master Gardeners’ photographs of native plants and their tips and experiences with growing them.

Throughout the remainder of 2022, Spotlight on Natives posts will continue being shared on Facebook in Master Gardener Sue Lovelace's weekly column "Sundays with Sue." This column is also published on our website. For additional information, including the benefits of native plants, those best suited to Sonoma County, and tips for growing natives, visit California Natives on our website.

Master Gardener Clio Tarazi’s yard includes native lupine and fleabane.

August 2022