Presidents' Message

September 2022


Hello Garden Friends,


We hope you had as wonderful a summer as we did, filled with fun, family, friends and activities to enjoy, maybe even some travel. Part of the summer fun for us was planning, along with the TVGC board, the activities for this program year. And, guess what! The fun, friends and enjoyable activities are definitely continuing at TVGC. We really have an exciting year planned and encourage you to participate in as many of the activities as possible.


TVGC will be continuing with a couple of our community service projects, namely, helping at the Cultivating Inclusion Farm in Murrieta and planning and implementing phase II of Sam Hicks Monument Park updated landscape design. There will be more information about these projects and how you can become involved at the September meeting held at our “new and greatly improved” location, Ronald H. Roberts Temecula Public Library’s Community Room.


The September meeting will be an exciting one, a mini club reunion, a time to see our garden friends again and share stories of the summer. There is the luncheon to enjoy, as well as an outstanding program on planting to attract pollinators to your garden, presented by Donna Payton. She is bringing plants to sell too, so put plastic down on the floor of your truck!


We purposely have not planned all activities for the year because we would like to hear from YOU.

Here are the areas where we would like your input: Workshops (Susan Puma), Monthly Program Speakers (Lesley Gjedde, Betty Castaneda ), Trips & Tours (Karolyn Marr). Please contact the (chairs) to make your suggestions or speak to them at the September meeting. Also, many of our members would like to have a Members’ Garden Tour next spring. If you would consider opening your garden for members to visit, please let Karolyn Marr know. Even if your garden is not quite ready to show now, you have quite a few months to work on it. We look forward to hearing from you.


--Susan Corey and Susan Puma, Co-Presidents for 2022-23




“Enjoy your garden and have hope for a brighter future.”

Dear Members,

This has been an interesting year for all of us. I hope you have been keeping cool this summer and working in your gardens as much as possible.

Our theme this year is: “Enjoy your garden and have hope for a brighter future.”


With the virus, it has impacted us from having meetings together. Debbie and I have been working on the list of officers and meeting dates with all the problems of the Covid19-virus. The Community Recreation Center (CRC) is closed indefinitely. We hope the City of Temecula will be able to maybe open it up in the Spring. So the only way to have both the board and general meetings will have to be by Zoom either on your computer or phones. We will be sending the zoom information before the meetings.


The board has voted for a second program monthly, if possible, to keep us in touch. You will also receive the monthly E-News informing you of all our meetings and extra programs on Zoom.


We have had some interesting ideas for income from our Ways and Means committee. More information on that will come in the E-News.


Instead of a Yearbook, we will be sending you a smaller version to save money. All those members who have paid will receive it either by email or mail.


If the CRC reopens in the Spring, we hope to have a flower show on Saturday, April 24, 2021. Sheri Whitton would be a co-chairperson, but we need someone to co-chair that committee because Sheri works and cannot do the whole thing herself. If you would be interested in helping in the endeavor, please call Sally or Debbie soon.


We hope we have answered your questions as to what is happening this year with our club. We want to keep going and do what we can to stay together. Being at home all the time without being with our garden friends is no fun. We really miss each and every one of you, and wish we could be together. Hopefully, they will get a vaccine soon so we can return to being together again. Stay well, calm, relaxed, and have hope that we can overcome this virus soon.

Happy Gardening,

--Sally Kirby and Debbie Stoddard, Co-Presidents for 2020-21



"A Clear Vision: For Our Gardens, Our Club and Our Community"

The Temecula Valley Garden Club’s theme for this year (2019-20) is “A Clear Vision: for Our Gardens, Our Club, and Our Community”. This vision is what we hope members and the Club as a whole will accomplish this year. As such, it will enable us to focus on and direct our activities throughout the program year.

Our vision for our Gardens is to see them as an integral part of the total environment and to care for them and the wildlife that inhabits those gardens using best horticultural practices.


Our vision for our Club is to have it be an organization that fosters a desire among members to be good stewards of their gardens and the world, while providing them with the information and tools necessary to do so.


Finally, it is our vision for our Community that those in it benefit directly from local service projects organized by the Club.

Please read through the TVGC Projects pages in our Yearbook and on our website. There you will see the many activities and opportunities available to members this year that will make our vision a reality. We will continue our successful projects from last year, and we will add a few new ones as well. I believe we have a very exciting year planned. I hope you will participate in as many activities as possible. In so doing, you will have the resources available to create a beautiful garden, the opportunity to help in the betterment of our community, and the place in which to make new friends with whom you share a common interest – all while having a really great time!

--Susan Puma, President for 2019-20




“Nurturing Nature, One Garden at a Time”

This year the Temecula Valley Garden Club’s (TVGC) theme “Nurturing Nature, One Garden at a Time” will be the inspiration for our many activities. To nurture nature means to nourish and care for the physical world, especially living things like plants and animals. For each TVGC member, that nurture begins with their own garden, later it may extend to the community and ultimately to the world’s plant and wildlife ecosystems. It is our aim this year to help you, our members, learn to better nurture the plants and animal life in your own gardens and to provide opportunities for you to do the same in the community and world.


To accomplish this, a wide variety of interesting programs will be presented at our monthly meetings. From raptor rehabilitation and tree care to fire resistant landscaping and monarch butterflies, all will focus in one way or another on our theme, as will our Trips & Tours and Garden Workshops.


The TVGC has a long tradition of caring for our community. So, as you look beyond your own gardens, the Club will provide opportunities for you to participate in civic beautification, community service, environmental conservation, and

Our spring Flower Show will be the highlight of the year. This will be the opportunity for you to show through horticultural entries how successfully you have nurtured your garden or to display your creativity in floral design and nature photography. The Flower Show is our gift to the community and ourselves.


We have a very exciting year ahead. We hope you will participate in as many activities as possible. In so doing, you will find that as you learn to nurture nature, you in turn will be nurtured by the gardens you create, the service you give to others, and the friendships you make within the Club.


~Sheri Whitton and Susan Puma, Co-Presidents for 2018-19




“Back to Our Roots – Embracing Our Native Habitats”

Back to Our Roots will be the continuing theme for Temecula Valley Garden Club (TVGC) for our 2017-18 year. With the emphasis on California’s drought and water conservation, lawns and lush landscaping have been replaced by rock gardens with little vegetation and few flowers. The drought has also taken its toll, killing thousands of trees. With the trees, landscaping and flowers disappearing, the natural habitats for our pollinators are also disappearing resulting in the noticeable reduction of these beneficial populations.


There is now a national movement emphasizing the restoration of these natural habitats, embracing a return to native plants and natural organic gardening. California native plants provide the natural environment essential to a balanced ecosystem and can be introduced into any style landscape. Our focus this year will continue to be how to restore these habitats through our educational programs, garden workshops, trips and tours, and community projects.

Jeanne Roberts, our 1st Vice President/Programs has planned programs including “The U.S. Forest Service’s Penny Pines Program”, “The Pacific Crest Trail”, “Creating a Backyard Wildlife Habitat”, speakers on Coffee and Berry Farming in Temecula Valley, “Keys Creek Lavender Farm”, and “Mountain Meadow Mushroom Farm”.


Mona Modica has planned some special workshops to create beautiful items for our gardens. Karolyn Marr has scheduled tours to The Great Oak Tree at Pechanga, Dos Gringos Flower Farm in Vista, City of Perris Green City Farm, Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens and Nursery, to name a few.


Another important goal of TVGC is to provide Community Service related to education and charitable donations focusing on gardens. We will continue to support some projects from previous years such as the Grow It and Give It program, Penny Pines, and our Scholarship program. In addition to these on-going projects, under the leadership of Judy Sundermann, we will focus our Community project on Youth Gardening. We will continue our work with Rancho Damacitas to help them maintain their gardens

and teach them the basics of gardening. We will also assist in educational classes for 2nd graders at E. Hale Curran School in Murrieta and help them with their school garden.


The culmination of the year is our Flower Show which is scheduled for April 14, 2018, at the Temecula Community Recreation Center (CRC). The theme this year will be “Songs of the Garden”. All of the members of the club participate in this event, both in preparation for the main event and in submitting horticulture exhibits and floral designs. The Flower Show is presented using National Garden Club standards and guidelines and is a judged show. NGC judges will award ribbons to entries based on

standardized criteria.


We are looking forward to an exciting and informative year. We want everyone to come together and work with us to meet the goals of the Temecula Valley Garden Club.

~Debra Jones & Janice Rosner, Co-Presidents for 2017-18



“Back to our Roots – Restoring One Garden at a Time”


This will be the theme for Temecula Valley Garden Club (TVGC) for our 2016-17 year. Our pol­linators, the Birds, Bees and Butterflies…where have they all gone? With the emphasis on California’s drought and water conservation, people have rushed to remove their lawns and lush landscaping for a rock garden with few flowers. And the drought has taken its toll also, killing thousands of trees. With the trees, landscaping, and flowers disappearing, the natural habitats for our pollinators are also disappearing resulting in the noticeable re­duction of these beneficial populations. There is now a national movement emphasizing the restoration of these natural habitats, “One garden at a time”.

California native plants, for example, are drought tolerant while providing the natural environment essential to a balanced ecosystem and can be introduced into any style landscape. This year we will focus our attention on how to restore and rebuild these habitats through our education­al programs, garden workshops, trips and tours, and community projects. Jeanne Rob­erts, our 1st Vice President/Programs has planned programs including “Certified Earth Friendly Gardening”, “Butterflies”, “Owls”, “Growing Lavender”, “Integrated Pest Man­agement”, “Using Pumice in the Landscape”, and “Landscaping with Native Plants”. Carol Hudson and Susan Puma have planned workshops so we can create beauty for our gardens. Karolyn Marr has scheduled tours to the Butterfly Farms in Vista, several well-known nurseries and public gardens, and the Lavender Fields to name a few. Also, we will visit Jacob’s House to view the results of our community project from last year and we will have another Home Tour this year.


Another important goal of TVGC is to provide Community Service related to education and charitable donations focusing on gardens. We will continue to support some projects from previous years such as the Grow It and Give It program, Southwest Botanical Gar­dens, Penny Pines, and our Scholarship program. In addition to these on-going projects, under the leadership of Susan Puma and Judy Sundermann, we will focus our Community projects to Youth Gardening this year. We will be working with Paloma School and Rancho Damacitas to help them establish their gardens and teach them the basics of gardening.

The culmination of the year is our Flower Show which is scheduled for April 29, 2017, at the Temecula Community Recreation Center (CRC). The theme this year will be “The Beauty and The Bounty”. All of the members of the club participate in this event, both in preparation for the main event and in submitting horticulture exhibits and floral designs. The Flower Show is presented using National Garden Club standards and guidelines and is a judged show. NGC judges will award ribbons to entries based on standardized criteria.


We are looking forward to an exciting and informative year. We want everyone to come together and work with us to meet the goals of the Temecula Valley Garden Club.

--Debra Jones & Janice Rosner, Co-Presidents for 2016-2017



"The Beauty of a Water Wise Garden"

With California facing the on-going drought and the emphasis on water conservation and drought tolerant gardens, we thought that the Temecula Valley Garden Club’s (TVGC) theme this year should be “The Beauty of a Water Wise Garden.” Through our educational programs, garden workshops, and trips and tours, we will explore water wise gardening and the beauty it can bring to each of us. Our educational programs will also be dedicated to furthering the education of members and guests on floral design and horticulture to encourage their continued contributions to the TVGC’s Flower Show. Linda Powell, our 1st Vice President/Programs, has planned monthly programs featuring topics such as, “Under the Spell of Succulents,” “Soil-It’s a Living Organism,” “Table Settings and Floral Designs,” and “Cacti and Succulents-Staging for Success,” which cover key elements of Water Wise Gardening and provide ideas and knowledge needed to create exceptional Flower Show exhibits. Each of the programs will be provided by informative speakers covering all of these topics and more. Carol Guerard has planned garden workshops so that we can learn new skills and create beauty in our gardens and homes. Karolyn Marr has scheduled trips and tours to Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens; Water Wise Botanical Gardens in Escondido; Tree of Life Nursery; Abraham Feltus’ Topiary Sculptures; and Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena.

The culmination of the year is our Flower Show, which is scheduled for April 16, 2016 at the Temecula Community Recreation Center (CRC). Our Flower Show Chairperson has selected “PEARLS OF WISDOM”, A Celebration of our 30th Flower Show, for the theme. All of the members of the club participate in this event, both in preparation for the big day under the leadership of Debra Jones and in submitting horticulture exhibits and floral designs. The Flower Show is presented using National Garden Club standards and guidelines and is a judged show: judges will award ribbons to entries based on standardized criteria.


Another important goal of TVGC is to provide community service related to education and charitable donations with a focus on gardens. Under the leadership of Susan Puma, we will continue to support some of the projects from previous years, such as the Grow It and Give It program, which began in 2009, Southwest Botanical Garden, and the scholarship program. In addition to our on-going projects, we will have a new community service project. This project will be for Jacob’s House in Temecula, where the Club will improve the entrance garden to the home with a new water wise landscape plan and purchase of plant materials to implement it.


We are looking forward to an exciting, informative year and working with all of our members to meet the goals of the Temecula Valley Garden Club.


--Cheryl Torres and Chris Curtis, Co-Presidents for 2015-2016