JARS v51n2 - Western Regional Conference, Oct. 10-12, San Jose, California

Western Regional Conference, Oct. 10-12, San Jose, California
Nan Ray
Menlo Park, California

De Anza and Monterey chapters are looking forward to hosting our friends and associates at the San Jose Western Regional Conference on Oct. 10,11 and 12 of this year. We have two outstanding keynote speakers joining us from Great Britain: Kenneth Cox will speak Friday night on his Tibet trips 1995-1997 and also has offered to lead a workshop.

Paul Martin, who is the Head Gardener at Exbury, will speak Saturday night on the "Glories of Exbury." Sir Edmund de Rothschild wrote to say he would send Mr. Martin with ample slides and amusing anecdotes of the gardens. We are also very excited about securing a commitment from Kristi O'Donnell, Meerkerk Gardens manger, to come back and show us how to use computers and the Internet, a subject that was such a hit at the Ocean Shores conference. We are also planning other demonstrations of how computers complement gardens.

On Friday, for Thursday arrivals, we have scheduled a full day San Francisco Bay Area tour including Filoli and the Hakone Japanese Garden. A half day Friday afternoon tour will be offered as an alternative for those arriving Friday morning. This will include San Jose's outstanding rose garden.

Saturday promises an exciting full day of seminars, and for those who just can't stay inside on a lovely day we will also provide an option of a half day Saturday afternoon local tour. There's a wealth of things to do in the San Jose area, and if you are in the mood for a drive, Monterey and Carmel are close by.

Conference attendees who plan to drive themselves will be provided with suggestions of other gardens and interesting places that they may wish to visit independently. So join us for sunshine, good talk about rhododendrons, and the latest hi-tech from Silicon Valley to help us with our gardens.