Meeting:

May 11, 2006

Guest Presenter:

Gary Lyons

Topic:

The History of the Huntington Desert Garden

Gary Lyons, the esteemed curator of the Desert Garden at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, will be the guest speaker for our May meeting.

Gary will discuss the development of the Huntington Desert Garden from its beginnings as an estate garden in 1907 to the botanic garden and display that it is today.

The Desert Garden will be celebrating its centennial in 2007, and Gary will include comments about some of the ways the Huntington might celebrate it.

He was in charge of the Huntington Desert Garden from 1965 to 1981, leaving to design and install a botanic garden in Las Vegas for chocolate industry tycoon, Forest Mars. From there it was on to a fascinating series of projects until Gary was reappointed curator of the Desert Garden at the Huntington once again in 2001.

Gary’s life and career accomplishments make him one of the precious people resources we are so fortunate to feature at our meetings.Come hear him!

Location: Friendship Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Click here for a map to Friendship Auditorium.

The Plant Raffle will be provided by The Huntington.

Book of the Month

Desert Gardens, by Gary Lyons

The SCHS Book of the Month for May is Desert Gardens, written by our guest speaker Gary Lyons with color photographs by Melba Levick, published by Rizzoli in 2000. This gorgeous tome features 18 exquisite, succulent-rich public and private desert gardens, most in Southern California.

Your Book of the Month team has obtained 12 copies of this beautiful out-of-print book. Original price: $50.00. Special SCHS Member Price: $30.00 (tax included). To reserve your copy, e-mail Lili Singer. Limit: 1 book per member. Of course, Gary will be happy to sign your copy!