This month’s program will be an informal get together and potluck in the succulent garden at Cal State Bakesfield. There are no special rules about the potluck, bring whatever dish you want, it has always been great in the past! You’ll need to bring your own tableservice and a blanket if you want to sit on the grass (We should have enough chairs and tables). The club will provide drinks. Because we are eatting, the potluck will set up at 5:30. there will be no raffle, but bring a plant for the plant exchange!

The Succulent Garden at the Environmental Studies Area at Cal State Bakersfield was started by our club at least 5 years ago. Over the years, dedicated members dug out grass, moved tons of dirt and planted many different kinds of succulents. Why did we do this?

Probably the main reason is that we all love these kinds of plants! Another reason is to share our expertise and experiences with other club members and the community. Some of us don't have room at home to plant as many succulents as we would like; others just like to be involved in community projects. Whatever the reason, it has been a very successful venture!

Early on in the project, we had to decide on a guiding principle to help us in designing the garden. Education about succulents is one of the stated goals of our club, so we all felt that the garden should be educational. So we decided that we would arrange the garden plants based on large scale geographical divisions: the "Old World" and the "New World". Plants from the Eastern Hemisphere (Eurasia and Africa) would be grouped together, and North and South American plants would occupy the rest of the garden.

If you go out to the garden you will see that the New World is well occupied! We were much more successful at obtaining these plants than the Old World specimens. This is mainly due to climate: many of the Old World species cannot live outside in our "cold" winters. We are constantly on the lookout for new species to add to the Old World, so if you have any ideas, please share them!

As we started the actual construction of the garden we had to decide on walkways, raised areas and the actual boundaries of the garden. Dave Germano (the director of the ESA) very kindly gave us free rein to use the area. Cal State also provided many piles of dirt and even a tractor one time to help move dirt. We obtained some free railroad ties from the railroad people and they really make the garden look great! We look forward to putting in walkways in the fall, when the weather cools. Many members have

contributed hours and hours of time weeding, digging, moving dirt, planting, and fetching rocks. Without their hard work, this garden would not have been possible. I hope to see more people get involved with the garden in the future. There are jobs for everyone! (For example, the garden will need to be watered this summer, probably every 2-3 weeks, if anyone would like to sign up to do this....it can be done early in the morning before it gets hot!)

I hope you will come to our "picnic meeting" in June and enjoy the garden!