Welcome!

We're the Livermore Amador Valley Garden Club (LAVGC) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of our members live in Dublin, Pleasanton, or Livermore. Our club's mission is to encourage interest in all phases of home gardening; promote better horticultural practices; promote civic beauty; and promote conservation of natural resources.

On this site you'll find information about LAVGC activities, events, and community service projects. You'll also find helpful information about gardening, program videos, suggestions about gardening-related places to go, and more. You don't need to know anything about gardening to join our Club. We're an enthusiastic group, always eager to share our knowledge.

Members meetings

Our Members meetings are the second Thursday of the month, September through June. In January 2023, the club is returning to in-person meetings after Zoom-only meetings during the pandemic. Visitors are welcome to attend a club meeting once before joining. Special interest groups and community service work parties meet regularly throughout the year.

Thursday April 11 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM General Meeting

Plant Nomenclature

Location: Crosswinds Church, 1660 Freisman Rd, Livermore. We will be in the Farm Theater in the red buildings next to the parking lot.

Jennifer de Graaf is returning in April to talk about the naming of plants. (You might remember Jennifer from June 2023 when she gave us a great program about planting under the canopy of trees.) What we call various plants can be as unfounded as a nickname, but the binomial naming system goes all the way back to Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) when the Swedish botanist tried to name the entire natural world. Today’s names for plants come from many sources. But only one—the scientific name and the system Linnaeus started—is recognized around the world. Jennifer will talk about the origins and parts of scientific names and when they are important. She will share how she puts these names to use and when there was no substitute for using the scientific name to design a garden far, far away.

You can find out more about Jennifer’s many interests on her website, De Graaf Design Associates, https://www.degraafassoc.com/.

 

Saturday April 13 and Sunday April 14 Plant/Garage sale

Plant Sale Flyer: Print and distribute

Our plant sale/garage sale will be held on April 13 & 14, rain or shine. See the Calendar or Newsletter (Members) for details.

Where: Dana Boyd’s house, 795 Newberry Street in Livermore

Time: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM both days

May 2024

Saturday May 4 from 1:00PM to 5:00PM

Garden Symphony Tour Tickets: $40 each

Garden Symphony Flyer
Planning for the Garden Symphony Tour fundraiser is progressing. This fundraiser will be taking place on one day only. We are partnering with the Livermore-Amador Symphony Guild to provide a multi-sensory experience of five beautiful gardens, with lovely music and perhaps even some sweet fragrances! The Livermore-Amador Symphony Guild will be providing some wonderful musicians, and will handle publicity and ticket sales. Mark your calendars and consider helping out by making some small baked good items. Or sign-up for a Garden volunteer shift, helping at the check-in table or assisting in the garden. Garden volunteers will be able to tour the other gardens outside of their shift time without a ticket. Information about purchasing tickets will be forthcoming. The tour will take place rain or shine; but in the event of inclement weather musicians will be unable to perform. Thank you in advance for your help in making this fundraiser a success!

 

April 2024 Poppy Award Beth Clark

Probably many of you do not know Beth Clark well because she is one of many of the quiet, wonderful individuals in our Club who do amazing jobs that make our Club function spectacularly and would rather not have attention drawn to them. First, I would like to tell you all what Beth does for our Club. Beth prepares the beautiful newsletter we all enjoy each month and makes sure we are on task and informed. Beth is also the Recording Secretary, and part of the Executive Board. She is also our Techno guru with Graham Stott. She is also involved in the LAVGC website with Lynn Mac Farland, another unsung hero in our Club! Beth also is the lead on the Sensory Garden with Nancy Harrington. Beth and Nancy led the year-long Sensory Garden refresh project last year. Beth is also the designer for the Club cookbook, found on the website, and the designer and lead on the Pollinator Garden at Eden Garden. Wow, please thank her when you see her at the next club event.

For more information, please see the Newsletter (Members section).

Want to become a member?

Membership Application Form
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