CONTACT US AT: vistagardenclub@gmail.com or carolynvgc@gmail.com
click here for: VGC Scholarship Application
The Vista Garden Club has been in existence since 1930. We are a group of 100+ men and women who love gardening. We are members of the National Garden Clubs, Inc., Pacific Region Garden Clubs, Inc., the California Garden Clubs, Inc., and the Palomar District. We have membership in the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens (Brengle Terrace Park) and the San Diego Floral Association.
We meet the first Friday of each month at the Gloria McClellan Senior Center- back building (Brengle Terrace Park, Vista) with a morning tour or workshop followed by a fingertip luncheon and the meeting starts at noon. An educational presenter follows a short business meeting. Visitors are always welcomed.
Our Meetings for the Year July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026
September 5: The 1:45 program will be Ken Abernathy – “EVERYTHING YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE WESTERN MONARCH BUTTERFLY” Ken is the founder of Caterpillar Chow, a milkweed and pollinator nursery in Lakeside. He is certified as a California Naturalist and studies native habitat around San Diego County and helps create pollinator gardens for schools and public parks. His goal is to improve the urban/wild interface and help bring biodiversity back into our local ecosystem to enrich our lives.
October 3: The 1:45 program will be Jim Mumford – “LIVING WALLS” Jim Mumford is the founder and CEO of Good Earth Plant Company and has spent over four decades transforming spaces with plants. A pioneer in biophilic design, Jim is renowned for his expertise in creating stunning living walls, green roofs and moss wall installations that seamlessly blend nature with architecture. He was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and was a featured speaker at the TED Youth Conference in San Diego, among many other recognitions and awards.
November 1: In the past 57 years, the VGC has given more than $50,000 in scholarships to local high school and community college students in horticulture, agriculture, conservation and environmental majors. This year’s Fall Fundraiser will be held Saturday, November 1 at 11 am at the Park Terrace Cafe in Brengle Terrace Park in Vista. A delicious luncheon will be served at noon. The usual entertaining auctions and raffles will follow. Tickets ($45) available at the September meeting or by calling Cheryl Cannou at 760-519-8760. To give donations to the auctions and raffles, please email dcsunset@cox.net
December 5: The 1:45 program will be Dennis Mudd – “NATIVE PLANTS” Dennis Mudd is a self-taught native plant enthusiast who founded Calscape in 2010 with the goal of enabling small scale nature restoration in California. He donated Calscape to the California Native Plant Society in 2014. He was named Horticulturist of the Year for 2025 by the San Diego Horticultural Society. He is currently working on a website called Easyscape which allows people anywhere in the world to find out which plants are native to their location. His native garden in Poway won the San Diego Home and Garden’s Garden of the Year Award in 2012.
January 9: The 1:45 program will beJo Ellen Guthrie – “RANUNCULUS and the FLOWER FIELDS” The Flower Fields in Carlsbad are a direct result of the hybridizing done by bulb growing horticulturist Luther Gage in the 1920’s. He developed the Giant Tecolote Ranunculus from a single petaled buttercup into the colorful beauties we see today. Jo Ellen Guthrie has written a charming book, “In a Garden by the Sea”, which details how Gage created these beautiful flowers and helped build Carlsbad.
February 6: The 1:45 program will be Dawn Standke – “PESTICIDE FREE GARDENING” Dawn has been a UC Master Gardener since 2005 and is the founder and past chair of their Earth-Friendly Gardens committee. Dawn will discuss natural, do-it-yourself, and lab-made pesticides and the things you can do for your plants’ health before ever getting out a spray bottle.
March 6: The 1:45 program will be Debra Lee Baldwin – “DESIGNING WITH SUCCULENTS” Debra Baldwin is a renowned expert and succulent garden designer. She has written several books on the topic and oversees a hugely popular website that answers every question one might have on growing and designing with succulents. She will tell us how to plan and design a lovely carefree succulent garden in both containers and in the ground.
April 5: The 1:45 program will be Vista Garden Club members highlighting our May Flower Show.
May 2-3: Our 90th Annual Flower Show at Jim Porter Recreation Center, Brengle Terrace Park. This is our gift to the community. We will also sell plants members have grown all year as well as garden art created by our members. This free Flower Show event is open Saturday, May 2 at noon for our plant and garden art boutique sale. The Flower Show will open to the public after judging at 2 pm. The show closes at 5 pm. On Sunday, the Flower Show, plant and garden art boutique sale opens from 10 am – 5 pm.
June 6: The 1:45 program will be an overview of our Flower Show and presentation of awards.