Welcome to the MiraCosta Horticulture Club. What began in 1989 as a small group of garden lovers has grown to 60 plus members, from passionate beginners to advanced gardeners.
Our activities include our friendly monthly meetings with interesting speakers on a variety of interesting subjects. (See the list of this year's speakers under INTERESTING INFORMATION.) We have a plant raffle at each meeting where we can exchange plants. Our monthly meetings take place on the campus of MiraCosta College in Oceanside,CA. And there are always goodies at our meetings!
We have a monthly newsletter which informs about our clubs activities and other local area gardening activities. the newsletter is posted each month under the NEWSLETTER section on this website.
We learn about propagating and nuturing a wide variety of plants. The college has given us access to a section in the greenhouse behind the Horticulture Bldg on the campus and we occasionally have "potting parties" to propagate or repot the plants we keep there. We are a very hands on group!
Our tour director sets up tours to local botanical gardens and nurseries so we can see the wide variety of resources available to us as home gardeners.
We occasionally have workhops, put on by own members where we share our knowledge on gardening and learn from each other.
We are a member club of the state and the national gardening clubs. These clubs provide us with support and guidance through educational programs. We support them by participating in their organiztional meetings and participation in state programs such as Pennies for Pines (forest restoration ) and Petals for Patriots (flowers for the Wounded Warriors at the Camp Pendleton Hospital).
Our main activity of the year is our Annual Plant Sale, held in April in lieu of a regular monthly meeting. Members work all year to get plants we grow ready for the annual sale. In addition, we get donations from local nurseries and plant dealers. The plant sale is our main fund-raising activity and supports the scholarships we provide to the Mira Costa College Horticulture Program.
The Chrysanthemum is our club flower.
"If you would be happy for a lifetime, grow Chrysanthemums." (a Chinese philosopher)
The chrysanthemum was first cultivated in China as a flowering herb and is described in writings as early as the 15th Century B.C. In fact, their pottery depicted the chrysanthemum much as we know it today. As an herb, it was believed to have the power of life. Legend has it that the boiled roots were used as a headache remedy; young sprouts and petals were eaten in salads;and leaves were brewed for a festive drink. The ancient Chinese name for chrysanthemum is "Chu." The Chinese city of Chu-Hsien (which means Chrysanthemum City) was so named to honor the flower.
Website Revisions:
Jan 13 Newsletter - Jan issue up Members - Dec 09 Budget report
