‘June Bloom’

Pacific Palisades Garden Club to Host Virtual Tour

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

After a one-year hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, Pacific Palisades Garden Club will host its annual garden tour on Sunday, June 27, at 10 a.m., and this year, it’s virtual.

“The experience of putting together a virtual tour has been memorable,” PPGC President Mary Schulz explained to the Palisadian-Post. “It is one thing to invite visitors to do a live walking garden tour, but quite another to provide the view of the gardens for viewers and try to anticipate what things will appeal to the majority of viewers.”

This year’s virtual garden tour, titled “June Bloom,” will feature the Seven Arrows Elementary School Edible Garden, two gardens in the Riviera area, one garden in Brentwood and one in Santa Monica.

“Generally speaking, we have a lot of members who walk for exercise and see lovely gardens in their neighborhoods throughout the Westside areas of Santa Monica, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades,” Schulz explained of the selections. “We like to select a variety of sizes and styles of gardens for the tour to keep things interesting.”

Schulz shared that it was important for the club to produce a virtual tour this year after missing 2020’s iteration. When planning began this year, a virtual garden tour was thought of in order to meet a need created by social distancing requirements.

“Our 2020-21 PPGC programming has been through the Zoom platform, and we thought producing a virtual garden tour would dovetail nicely with our other programming,” she said. “We want to share gardens in the Palisades and in our local community which are thriving.”

The club is still active, offering programming via Zoom on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m., October through June.

The history of PPGC dates back to 1944, with the club nearing its 80th birthday.

“Its early members were encouraged to grow their own vegetables in ‘victory gardens,’” Schulz explained. “It was first called the Fuchsia Club because that flower was very popular at the time.”

Annual springtime tours hosted by PPGC have featured mostly private gardens. The tours were preceded by a springtime public plant sale, which allowed members to contribute plants they had raised and potted up.

The event served as a fundraiser, helping the club pay for its monthly evening lectures, which have been free to attend, and to provide support to “worthy garden-connected programs and projects in the Palisades and nearby communities.”

This year, tickets for the tour are $15. Proceeds will be used to continue the club’s mission to “promote knowledge and love of gardening by education and through meetings, tours and publications,” according to Schulz.

“This includes supporting community organizations whose programs and projects restore, improve and protect the quality of the environment and demonstrate stewardship of our shared habitat and responsible use of resources,” Schulz added.

To register and purchase a ticket, visit pacpalgardenclub.org/virtual-garden-tour. There is also a trailer, highlighting the gardens that will be featured on this year’s tour, available at the website.