About Us

The Southern California Horticultural Society is a forum for the sharing of knowledge and experiences in the areas of gardening and botany.

Members of the Society are gardeners and professional botanists, nurserymen, landscape architects, designers, landscape contractors and consultants. They are just as often enthusiasts with no profession in horticulture. All have the desire to grow new plants and share the experiences of others. The Society does not have a specialty but is composed of people who grow an astounding array of plants and enjoy showing and talking about them with others.

Our Society came into being in 1937 and was composed of nursery professionals who with encouragement from the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce wanted a civic voice. The ranks of members soon swelled to include those with no trade connections. In 1947 the Society was instrumental in the creation of the Los Angeles County Arboretum. 1949 saw the start of the highly successful International Flower Show that ran for many years in spring.

Publications

A number of publications have been sponsored or published by the Society, including:

• Southern California Gardens, An Illustrated History, by former Society secretary and bromeliad collector Victoria Padilla in 1961, remains the most definitive work on our gardening heritage.
• Philip Chandler, the noted designer and teacher, was published by the society and his Reference Lists of Ornamental Plants for California Gardens is in its second printing.
• Recently, the Society published a pamphlet of orchids grown outdoors in Southern California based on the experience of members.
• Selected Plants for Southern California Gardens is a major reference based on the plants displayed at meetings over the last 50 years and skilfully edited by Joan Citron.

Scholarships/Internships

Scholarships and internships for students in botany and horticulture have long been a feature of our Society’s commitment to the community and the advancement of horticulture in Southern California. We support a wide range of educational endeavors from science fairs for elementary students to greenhouses at community colleges.

Download PDF of the institutions awards that SCHS has supported with internships.

Horticulturist of the Year

Each year we select an outstanding individual to honor as Horticulturist of the Year, and an Awards Banquet is held in their honor. Past banquets have been at Descanso Gardens in La Canada-Flintridge and, more recently, at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino.

Download PDF listing all the outstanding individuals honored by SCHS as Horticulturist of the Year.