WHAT REALLY SETS THE SPRING HOME/GARDEN SHOW APART?
We feature real content and real knowledge direct from expert representatives
of various professional home-improvement and maintenance organizations…
AND via the expertise of the exhibitors themselves.
Why drive all over San Diego to search for home improvement products,
services, and advice? See you HERE! Come for a few hours, or come for the day.
There’s no better way to get a start on enhancing your home’s VALUE and functionality.
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to hear about upcoming seminars.
See Our List of Exhibitors
Click Here to view all of our exhibitors
for the Fall Home/Garden Show 2021.
11:00 AM
Christy Wilhelmi
Award-winning blogger, Gardenerd, author, Gardening for Geeks and Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden

Christy Wilhelmi is founder of Gardenerd,the ultimate resource for garden nerds, where she publishes newsletters, her award-winning blog (GardenComm Silver Award, 2014), top-ranked podcasts, and YouTube videos. She also specializes in small-space, organic vegetable garden design, consulting, and classes. Between 70-80 percent of her family’s produce comes from her garden of less than 300 square feet. Christy has been featured as a garden expert on the Hallmark Home & Family Show, ABC News: Nightline, andFood for Thought with Claire Thomas. She is author of Gardening for Geeks, 400+ Tips for Organic Gardening Success, Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden, and her debut novel, Garden Variety, was just released by William Morrow/Harper Collins. Find Christy at gardenerd.com.
Size Doesn’t Matter: Growing Fruit in Small Spaces
It seems everyone started edible gardening in 2020, for health, safety and the delicious rewards! Christy Wilhelmi shares techniques and strategies to grow fruit, even if you only have a balcony, patio, or small garden to work with. Explore Backyard Orchard Culture methods, container gardening tips, pruning guidelines, pest management and soil prep for an abundant, healthy garden. Find out what to look for when selecting tree and berry varieties for your mini fruit garden, and how to avoid common mistakes.
12:00 PM
Margie Grace
Award-winning founder/principal, Grace Design Associates and author, Private Gardens of Santa Barbara

With an impressive career in Santa Barbara spanning over three decades, Margie Grace’s landscape design portfolio is celebrated both locally and internationally. Now she gives an exclusive tour of the lush gardens of Santa Barbara in her first book: Private Gardens of Santa Barbara: The Art of Outdoor Living. Grace Design Associates sculpts the terrain to mimic nature and layers on essential elements—organic materials, stone and plantings—to create a dynamic, living ecosystem that supports the local biome and utilizes water in the most efficient and considered way. Margie has been honored with numerous design awards including the prestigious International Landscape Designer of the Year award from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, which she was awarded for the second time in 2018. Find Margie at gracedesignassociates.com.
Demand More from Your Garden: Multi-tasking Landscape Elements and Hard-Working Plants
Having a garden is very nurturing, but it can take a lot of work. Manual labor, late nights poring over the garden books or the internet, and pests and diseases. Why not max out the benefits of your blood, sweat, and resources with tips and techniques from Margie’s “work smarter, not harder” handbook? Margie shares her own tricks of the trade to make sure the elements are on your side as you create your own resilient garden of enduring beauty.
1:00 PM
Emily Murphy
Author, GROW NOW and Grow What You Love and blogger, passthepistil.com

Emily Murphy is a regenerative organic gardener, photographer, and designer and the author of GROW NOW: How We Can Save Our Health, Communities and Planet—One Garden at a Time and the best-selling book, Grow What You Love. She studied ethnobotany, environmental science, and garden design and pursues a plant-driven life fueled by inspiration from the simple act of growing. Emily is the creator of the celebrated blog Pass The Pistil. She’s dedicated to garden education and rewilding the spaces closest to home. Emily has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, The Marilyn Denis Show, and the Well+Good podcast, and her writings can be found nationally and internationally in publications such as Reader’s Digest Canada, Pacific Horticulture Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Mother Earth News, The North Coast Journal, and Better Homes & Gardens. Find Emily at passthepistil.com.
Support Biodiversity with No-dig, Regenerative Gardening
In this seminar author Emily Murphy provides a framework for supporting biodiversity from the ground up—beginning at home in your garden. According to a 2019 U.N. report, 1 million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction in the coming decades—it’s an unprecedented number! However, your home garden, community plots, or cityscape has the power to support biodiversity and at-risk species such as pollinators, birds, insects, and rare plant life—particularly when you grow with no-dig, regenerative techniques.
2:00 PM
Janet Sluis
Horticulturist and Director, Sunset Western Garden Collection

Janet Sluis is a Berkeley-based horticulturalist specializing in low water, regionally appropriate, easy care plants. Focused on replacing thirsty, labor-intensive varieties with colorful, resilient alternatives, she works with plant breeders all over the world. Her plant collection test garden is featured in The Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings and can be visited in person as part of the Sunset test gardens at Cornerstone Sonoma. As a sixth-generation member of a Dutch seed family, Janet suspects that plants are in her DNA. After studying marketing, horticulture, and agricultural business, she spent twenty years in production and product development for wholesale plant nurseries in California. When Janet is not traveling in search of new plants, you can find her pulling weeds and battling slugs in her organic Berkeley test garden. Find Janet at https://bit.ly/33bnWYH
Coming Attractions: Sunset’s Must-Have Plants for 2022
Janet Sluis has just about any garden lover’s dream job – as the horticulturist and director of the Sunset Western Garden Collection. Janet spends her time with test trials of all kinds of plants for low water gardens, so you don’t have to. Discover many plants that have had proven success in the Sunset Western Garden Collection test gardens. These are plants with many positive virtues; low water landscapes can still be lush and full of color, providing a haven for you, as well as local pollinators. Plant breeders worldwide have been working overtime to develop varieties for summer dry climates like ours. See which ones are at the top of the list in the Sunset trials and selected especially for your Southern California garden.
11:00 AM
Nicholas Staddon
Spokesperson/Plantsman for Everde Growers, former Director of New Plants, Monrovia Garden

Nicholas Staddon has been working with plant breeders, hybridizers, and professional plant explorers for 25 years, scouring the globe for new creations and discoveries in the plant world. Born in England, Nicholas received credentials in Agricultural Science from Otley Agricultural College. He worked for Monrovia Growers for 27 years, 15 of which as the leader of the New Plant program. Nicholas resides in Southern California and is working with Everde Growers as their Spokesperson and Plantsman, supporting their marketing and new plant introduction programs. He is a sought-after speaker and guest for gardening television and radio shows across the country. He works closely with professional garden writers, providing information on plants and sharing his views on garden trends and more. He has created a series of informative ‘Plant Savvy’ videos, available on YouTube, and recently partnered with Kellogg Garden Products for a video series on soil and soil amendments for the garden and landscape. Find Nicholas on YouTube at https://bit.ly/2IWtLSU
Invaluable Plants for Low Water Use Gardens
Join Nicholas Staddon, an unabashed plant fanatic, as he navigates us through a cornucopia of regional appropriate plants for our southern California gardens, both in-ground and container plantings. He always has a firm eye on the environment and will suggest plants and habitat that support the wildlife struggling to live with us, as homeowners have the critical opportunity to create gardens that support wildlife as well as plants. Rarely by the book, there will be lots to inspire you to try in your own personal space. And speaking of books. Nicholas is an avid reader and will suggest several regional appropriate plant books to add to your collection.
12:00 PM
Mary-Kate Mackey
Award-winning garden writer, speaker, co-author, The Healthy Garden: Simple Steps for a Greener World

Mary-Kate Mackey is a lively and engaging speaker, writer, and teacher. She has presented talks at major garden shows around the U.S. She’s received numerous writing awards from Garden Communicators International. Her latest book is The Healthy Garden—Simple Steps for a Greener World, co-authored with Sunset Western Garden Book editor Kathleen Norris Brenzel. Her byline has appeared in many national publications, such as Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and This Old House. She’s a contributor to the Sunset Western Garden Book and Sunset’s Gardening in the Northwest. In 2021 she won a Gold Medal for writing for the Hartley-Botanic blog, Rooting for You. Mary-Kate is also the author of Write Better Right Now.
Five Easy Elements for a Healthy Garden
A healthy garden is one where plants grow well without massive infusions of chemicals or major continual upkeep. Garden author Mary-Kate Mackey focuses on five steps you can take to boost your garden’s resilience and vigor, while supporting a wide diversity of wildlife. The bonus? Save money on harmful chemicals, do Less work and have more time for enjoyment of your outdoor space—whether you’re caring for a collection of containers or acres of beds and borders.
1:00 PM
Jason Dewees
Palm expert, horticulturist at Flora Grubb Gardens and author, Designing with Palms

Jason Dewees is the staff horticulturist at Flora Grubb Gardens (www.FloraGrubb.com) in San Francisco and Grubb & Nadler in Fallbrook. He also serves as a horticultural advisor to clients, ranging from landscape architects and home gardeners, to the San Francisco Botanical Garden and Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Find Jason on Instagram at @Designwithpalms.
Designing with Palms
This definitive seminar, with stunning photographs by Caitlin Atkinson shares lessons from some of the best designers working with palms in the United States. Useful information about the palm family and a portfolio of hardy and popular palm species equip home gardeners to embrace the power of palms in landscape design. Drawn from his award-winning book, Designing with Palms, featuring gardens in Southern California, Hawai`i, South Florida, the Bay Area, South Carolina, and the Desert Southwest, the seminar spotlights examples of home and public landscapes that make excellent use of palms.
2:00 PM
Saxon Holt
Palm expert, horticulturist at Flora Grubb Gardens and author, Designing with Palms

Sue Goetz is an award-winning garden designer, writer, and speaker. She is the author of three books: Complete Container Herb Gardening, A Taste for Herbs, and The Herb Lover’s Spa Book. Through her business, Creative Gardener, she works with clients to personalize outdoor space, from garden coaching to complete landscape design. Writing and speaking are other ways Sue shares her love of gardening. Her motto “inspiring gardeners to create” defines her talks, hands-on workshops and ways to inspire creativity in and out of the garden. Sue shares her love of the garden and herb growing with talks featured all over the U.S. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including APLD Designer, Pacific Horticulture and Fine Gardening magazines. Find Sue at thecreativegardener.com.
Growing Heat Loving Herbs in Containers
Potted herb gardens that thrive in the heat of the season. Container gardens are perfect for the space-challenged gardener or anyone who wants a bold expression in the garden. Grow heat loving herbs for a feast of flavorings to place near outdoor kitchens, medicinal herbs for mini healing gardens, tea herbs in a sanctuary space, or aromatherapy with fragrant plants near outdoor seating areas.
3:00 PM
John Beaudry
Designer, horticulturist and author, Garden Sanctuary: Designing for Comfort, Wholeness & Connection

A native of Chicago, Illinois, John Beaudry received his bachelor’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He is two-time international award-winning designer. In addition to managing his design firm, he has held positions with many organizations including Project Coordinator for Chicago Department of Environment and Senior Horticulturist for Chicago Botanic Garden. He is the author of Garden Sanctuary: Designing for Comfort, Wholeness and Connection. John’s expertise in garden design, installation and management has led him to from New York to California and abroad. John is a member of the International Association of Professional Landscape Designers and Garden Communicators International. He currently resides in La Mesa, California. Find John at beaudrydesign.com.
Create a More Sustainable Water-wise Garden You’ll Love
Coming Soon….
11:00 AM
Donald Olson
Author, The California Garden Tour and The Pacific Northwest Garden Tour

Donald Olson is a playwright, novelist and travel writer. He is the author of The California Garden Tour—The 50 Best Gardens to Visit in the Golden State. His bestselling guide, The Pacific Northwest Garden Tour—The 60 Best Gardens to Visit in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia was named by Library Journal as one of the best reference guides of 2014. Donald also took most of the photographs for both of these popular guides. His travel stories have appeared in the New York Times, Travel + Leisure, National Geographic Books, and many other national publications. Over the years, Donald has written more than thirty guidebooks to European and U.S. destinations. He is the author of seven published novels and his plays have been seen in Europe and the U.S. Find Donald at donaldstevenolson.com
Bay Area Beauties: Three Hidden Gems In and Around San Francisco
Donald Olson, author of The California Garden Tour, takes you on a fascinating journey to three remarkable Bay Area gardens. You’ll marvel at the gardens that grace the notorious prison island of Alcatraz; stroll through the tranquil landscapes of the second-oldest Japanese garden in the U.S.; and visit one of the first and most captivating succulent gardens in California, home to drought-resistant plants from around the world.
12:00 PM
Jan Johnsen
Principal, Johnsen Landscapes and author, The Spirit of Stone and Gardentopia

Jan Johnsen is a landscape designer who has spent over four decades creating inspiring residential landscapes. Her design/build firm, Johnsen Landscapes & Pools, has been in business for 32 years. Her landscapes have appeared in Garden Design, This Old House, Landscape Architecture, Wallpaper, Redbook, and more. Jan studied landscape architecture at the University of Hawaii. She has worked in Japan, New Orleans, New York and Kenya and thus brings a wide perspective to the art of garden making. Her books include Ortho’s All About Trees, Heaven is a Garden: Designing Serene Spaces for Inspiration and Reflection, The Spirit of Stone: 101 Practical & Creative Stonescaping Ideas for Your Garden, and Gardentopia: Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces and Floratopia – 110 Flower Garden Ideas for Your Yard, Patio or Balcony. Find Jan at johnsenlandscapes.com
Serenity by Design
A popular and lushly illustrated talk that highlights ancient site planning traditions and shows how they can be used in your garden. Jan makes you see garden design in a whole new light! Learn how to identify a “power spot” in your yard, which of the four cardinal directions is considered ‘auspicious’, and how forms and shapes affect our sense of wellbeing. It ends with a unique look at color in the garden and how you can use color for a serene setting. Accompanies her book, Heaven is a Garden.
1:00 PM
Loree Bohl
Author of Fearless Gardening and blogger, thedangergarden.com

Loree is the creative force behind the popular blog thedangergarden.com, where she shares her love for agaves, cactus, and all things spiky. Loree’s first book is Fearless Gardening: Be Bold, Break the Rules, Grow What You Love. Loree has written for magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, and Pacific Horticulture. Her home garden and design projects have appeared in several magazines including Sunset, Old House Journal and in the books Private Gardens of the Pacific Northwest and The Water-Saving Garden: How to Grow a Gorgeous Garden with a Lot Less Water. Garden travel is high on her list of leisure pursuits as she enjoys exploring other regional gardening styles, how climates influence gardeners’ plant choices, and how those plants are grown. She is also formally with plantlust.com, and a prior board member at Pacific Horticulture. Find Loree at thedangergarden.com.
Fearless Gardening: Create a Garden You Love
If your garden doesn’t bring you joy, what’s the point? It sounds so simple, but sometimes we forget that pleasing ourselves is reason enough to do something. In this photo-rich seminar Loree will guide you through multiple ways you can go about surrounding yourself with a garden you love. She’ll share examples from her own Portland garden, as well as others from her garden travels. Warning! You may leave inspired to make changes in your garden.
2:00 PM
Sue Goetz
Owner, Creative Gardener and author, Complete Container Herb Gardening and A Taste for Herbs

Sue Goetz is an award-winning garden designer, writer, and speaker. She is the author of three books: Complete Container Herb Gardening, A Taste for Herbs, and The Herb Lover’s Spa Book. Through her business, Creative Gardener, she works with clients to personalize outdoor space, from garden coaching to complete landscape design. Writing and speaking are other ways Sue shares her love of gardening. Her motto “inspiring gardeners to create” defines her talks, hands-on workshops and ways to inspire creativity in and out of the garden. Sue shares her love of the garden and herb growing with talks featured all over the U.S. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including APLD Designer, Pacific Horticulture and Fine Gardening magazines. Find Sue at thecreativegardener.com.
Growing Heat Loving Herbs in Containers
Potted herb gardens that thrive in the heat of the season. Container gardens are perfect for the space-challenged gardener or anyone who wants a bold expression in the garden. Grow heat loving herbs for a feast of flavorings to place near outdoor kitchens, medicinal herbs for mini healing gardens, tea herbs in a sanctuary space, or aromatherapy with fragrant plants near outdoor seating areas.
The Del Mar Fairgrounds is located 20 miles north of downtown San Diego, at 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. in the city of Del Mar, California. From Interstate 5, take the Via de la Valle exit and head west (a left turn from the freeway exit if you are northbound; a right turn if you are southbound). Take Via De La Valle to Jimmy Durante Boulevard and turn left. The Fairgrounds will be on your right.