Do you know your Waterleafs from your Forget-me-nots? Did you know Fiddleleafs are in their own family? The “Borages” (order: Boraginales) are a large and diverse plant group with a worldwide distribution. Different views have persisted regarding their classification, with some advocating recognition of a single, widely variable family, and others proposing several distinct families. However, advanced molecular approaches have dramatically changed our understanding of the classification of this group. This workshop starts with an overview of the plant families and Borage botanical terminology. We will work with herbarium specimens and fresh plant material in the classroom, looking both with the naked eye and through the microscope, and discuss key morphological characters relevant to family-level identification. We then cover some of the major families and representative genera in California. If time allows, we will finish with a review walk through the Garden. This workshop is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about Borages, but participants should have some knowledge of botany and terminology in order to get the most from it.

The thawing of permafrost under conditions of global warming has drawn attention to the fact that permafrost is not at all perma. Where did the idea of permafrost come from? Not many people are aware that the term is a translation of a Russian expression. Exploring the history of permafrost as an idea takes us into the history of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. In this intriguing talk environmental historian Pey-Yi Chu, PhD. will highlight episodes from this history, showing how ideas about a natural phenomenon were shaped by Russian colonization, Soviet industrialization, Marxist ideology, and the Cold War.

Learn how to attract native butterflies to your yard by planting and maintaining the plants they depend on! Add beauty to your yard and help foster local habitat for these amazing creatures.

Roses are one of the major clans in the Game of Thorns, and for good reason too - they have been used as powerful symbols among family crests, royal dynasties, and world religions for centuries. The history of roses is one that spans the breadth of world history, carried across continents and oceans, and used from humble home and monastery gardens to the spaces of powerful governing bodies. This talk with CGU history graduate student and RSABG Education Assistant, Diana Nightingale, will give you an insight into these global linkages and symbolism of the rose so powerful they touch all corners of our lives today.