FROM THE CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Francesca Corra, APLD

Happy Spring, Everyone!

This is a time of incredible transformation in the garden.  Even for us in California, where Aloes, Lavanadulas, Salvias and Helleborus have carried us through the winter, our gardens are beginning to explode with color.

Spring is also an incredibly busy time with most of the garden shows and tours packed into a few short weeks.  I look forward to seeing many of you on April 7 and 8 for the SoCal Regional event, “A River Runs Through It.”   Greater LA and San Diego Districts have been working so hard to make this a spectacular event and I am beyond excited by the number of designers coming in from all the Districts.  

So, I know . . . we are all busy, right?

I am still going to ask you to do more, in keeping with my year’s theme, ”Step Up Your Game.”  I would like to encourage everyone to get out there during this peak time of busy-ness and take pictures of your gardens.  Make a list of all the gardens you have designed over the past five years or so.   I’ll bet you will even think of some beautiful gardens that have fallen off your radar for one reason or another.  Consider hiring a professional photographer.  There are some APLD members who are accomplished garden photographers.  Lighting is usually best early or late in the day, so you can do this and not neglect your ongoing work.  While you are at it, make sure you get some good pictures of yourself, both close-ups and long shots in the gardens.  You can use these photographs for your website, on Instagram, Facebook posts and blogs, and for the APLD design contest and APLD certification.   

Cheers!

Francesca Corra, APLD
APLD California Chapter President