On Monday, July 10, 2017, the San Diego Horticultural Society welcomes Cynthia Pardoe, multimedia artist, expert on pelargoniums/geraniums, and co-founder of the International Regal Pelargonium Preservation Project.
Cynthia loves her garden, and her landscape serves as inspiration for her various professional artistic endeavors. She was initially drawn to learning about the geranium family for use in her own garden, satisfying her quest for color, texture, minimal maintenance, and a low watering requirement. During this quest, she became concerned when she realized that varieties of pelargoniums were becoming difficult and sometimes impossible to find and that many old garden favorites had disappeared. In 2001, she became co-founder of the International Regal Pelargonium Preservation Project, which was established to collect and preserve all available varieties of regal pelargoniums. Her presentation will cover what is currently going on with the family of geraniums in this new global mega-monster agricultural marketplace and how we each can help to preserve what is still here.
Cynthia has contributed articles to the International Geranium Society's periodical Geraniums Around The World and San Diego Floral Association's California Garden magazine. Her garden has been featured in The Reader and in The San Diego Union-Tribune. In the late 1990s, KUSI came to her garden to showcase her collection for the news. She is the past president of the San Diego Geranium Society and has lectured about geraniums to plant societies and clubs throughout the west coast. She has also lectured internationally to other geranium and pelargonium enthusiasts for the past fifteen years. Cynthia continues to do her best to preserve endangered pelargoniums within this amazing geranium family and encourages others to help preserve them as well.
The evening starts at 6:00 p.m. at the Congregation Beth Israel, 9001 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego. Parking is free and everyone is welcome. Admission is free for SDHS members and $15 for non-members. For more information, call (619) 296-9215 or visit sdhort.org.