Winter along the Peninsula is traditionally marked with plenty of class offerings to help home gardeners get the most out of their cool-season harvests.
Here's a list of online and in-person winter garden events:
Online classes
Monthly plant clinic
Saturdays, March 11, April 8, May 13, June 10, July 8; 10 a.m. to noon; Free. For more information, visit mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu.
UC Masters Gardeners hosts a monthly online plant clinic via Zoom for gardeners who want to chat with a Master Gardener to diagnose a plant problem or listen and learn while other people ask questions. Advance registration is required. Priority will be given to questions that are emailed in advance; instructions are in the Zoom registration confirmation.
'Preventing Pest Problems at Seeding'
March 16, noon to 1 p.m.; Free. Registration required. For more information, visit mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu.
Lauren Fordyce, urban and community Identify & Manage Pests educator with the Statewide UC IPM Program, will talk about how to prevent and manage pest problems, like damping off and fungus gnats, at the time of seeding new plants during this Zoom presentation.
In-person classes & events
'Gardening Notebooks with Books Arts Roadshow'
March 4, 10-11 a.m. Gamble Garden, 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto Members, $44 (adults)/ nonmembers $55 (adults). For more information, visit gamblegarden.org.
Join instructors from Book Arts Roadshow to welcome spring by making and decorating your own set of four pocket-sized Gardening Notebooks with pockets for holding dried blossoms, leaves and seed packets. Participants will leave this workshop with gardening notebooks to use for writing their garden observations or sketching their garden inspirations. All materials included, plus a handmade linen pouch to store garden journals and a starter packet of flower seeds.
Garden & nature tours
'A Walk in the Garden'
Feb. 9, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Windy Hill Preserve, Portola Valley; Free. Reservations required. For more information, visit openspace.org.
On this moderately-paced hike, participants will explore a chilly evergreen forest that alternates with dry open chaparral terrain and observe the native flora that grow in these different habitats. Docent naturalists Susan Bernhard, Maureen Draper and Noa Doitel will talk about the water cycle and how the trees and fog help 'water' the surrounding garden of native plants. Participants can observe how many native plants get a jump start on growing quite early in the year.
'Morning Meander: Up for the Flowers'
Feb. 22, 9 a.m. to noon Pulgas Ridge Preserve, Redwood City; Free. Reservations required. For more information, visit openspace.org.
Join Docent Naturalists Laura Levin, Emma Finter and Marie-Anne Neimat for a wildflower treasure hunt. This preserve is known for its rich display of wildflowers. Hiking at a leisurely pace along the Cordilleras, Polly Geraci, Dick Bishop and Blue Oak trails, participants can search for early spring blooms and other things of interest with frequent stops to share discoveries.
Filoli's 'Bring the Garden Indoors'
Now-Nov. 6, daily, hours vary by season Filoli, 86 Cañada Road, Woodside; $23-$33; For more information, visit filoli.org.
Admission to Filoli includes a free, 15-minute talk, about how the Bourn and Roth families, who once owned the property, blurred the lines between indoors and outdoors through the house's architecture, decorative mezzotint prints and floral arrangements. Visitors can walk with staff and learn how the garden's design relates to the interior spaces. As you explore the house accented with colorful plants and flowers, experience in their own words how Filoli's past residents brought the garden indoors through floral abundance and botanical decor. No reservations needed for talk. Topics vary by day and season.
