Jul 1

THANK YOU: To Everyone Who Came To Hear Your President Speak At The Fair And, While There, Did You See Our Garden Show Award Winners?

By Karen England, for Let's Talk Plants! July 2024.

SD Hort president, Karen England, spoke on herbs at the 2024 SD County Fair, wearing a yarrow wreath on her head! Photo credit: C. Ivany.

I spoke twice at the fair this year representing you, the San Diego Horticultural Society, of which I am president as well as representing the International Herb Association of which I am a board member and an Herb of the Year™ project contributor.

I wore a wreath on my head of yarrow, this year's Herb of the Year™, along with my vintage overalls and granny square shoes to represent the fair's retro theme. My talk on herbs included retro herbal trees also included in our SD Hort Mediterranean Trees of San Diego book. I was able to sign up several new members to SD Hort during my talks and gave each a copy of our book as a new membership gift and I am looking forward to introducing them to you at future meetings. I also sold lots of Herb of the Year™ books and autographed my chapter in each.

Hard to see in pictures, I know, but I wore fresh rosebud earrings that I grew and made using sterling silver wire and also served tastings of my very retro (with an herbal twist) AmbROSEia salad. (The recipe is in the Herb of the Year™ Rose 2012 book.)

But before the fair opened, I was a Garden Show judge and awarded the following -

Adult Excellence in Horticulture award to the Bonita Organic Club - $400
Youth Excellence in Horticulture award is San Diego Imperial Council - Boy Scouts $100

In our two awards, one youth and one adult fair themed garden design, I made sure all the plants were labeled correctly with botanical names and used appropriately. Not all the displays had the correct botanical names, and I eliminated all those from the running. Of the remainder I considered the appropriateness of the plantings, by that I mean, would a retro garden grow and thrive elsewhere, not just for three weeks in Del Mar during June and July?

Did you get to see them? I hope so!