News & Events

Finding Southern California’s Hidden Gems - Part 1

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3 March 2023
Rancho Los Alamitos Rancho Los Alamitos (the "Ranch of the Little Cottonwoods") Historic Ranch and Gardens is one of Southern California's longest-inhabited hilltops. The Rancho is located on Tongva-Gabrielino's ancestral land and is a traditional gathering place of the Tonga…

Roses, Roses, Roses!

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3 February 2023
What’s the First Thing You Think of When Someone Mentions Valentine’s Day? Why ROSES of course! Your MLH board members were invited to join the Orange County Rose Society (OCRS) this past Saturday at the Richard Nixon Library and Museum…

The Plants of Halloween (Snap Snap)

Macro of two insectivorous venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula)
5 October 2022
They’re Creepy and They’re Kooky, Mysterious and Spooky, They’re All Together Ooky, The Plants of Halloween! (Snap-snap) Macro of two insectivorous venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula) one tightly closed and one open Let’s talk about oddly unusual plants: plants that…

Looking Foward to Fall in Southern California

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30 August 2021
There's always a lovely little stream running at Oak Canyon Nature Center “Nuclear summer,” I called the hot, dry fall of Southern California. I claimed, we only have two seasons: 7 months of spring and five months of summer that get worse…

Thank you all SO much...

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30 July 2021
Thank you all SO much for your support for our yearly garden tour honoring our late founder Mary Lou Heard. Even though we had to change the date, and in doing so lost several garden hosts, we saw so many…

The Countdown Begins...

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7 June 2021
It has surely been a wild rollercoaster that we've all unwillingly been traveling on since the "shut-down" began last year in March. We watched in horror as hospitals were overflowing with COVID-19 patients, many of them our loved ones, friends, and…

Mike Kirsch Rose Garden Sneak Peek!

10 May 2021
Mike Kirsch graciously allowed us to video his beautiful rose garden ahead of the tour. We hope this sneak peek will tide avid gardeners until the tour on June 26 & 27, 2021 10am to 5pm! Mike says about his…

Beautiful Botanical Gardens...

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1 May 2021
Admission Booth w/ a living roof! My husband and I always seek out botanical gardens to visit whenever we travel... here's the latest one that I'd like to share with you from the Lone Star State of Texas! We've been…

Tournament of Champions - PEEP Wars!

peepwars
1 April 2021
Growing up in the 1960's PEEPS were a part of  of my family's Easter Celebration. Most kids received them in their Easter Basket, but my mom used them for a table decoration. She usually started decorating our dining room table…

Gardening in the time of COVID

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1 March 2021
Like a Dickens novel - “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  2020 seemed to start out like any other new year. I do recall it was more fashionable to have a motivational word for…

Sweet Peas = Mary Lou Heard

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1 February 2021
The reason I found Heard's Gardens oh so many years ago is due to two years of unsuccessfully trying to grow sweet peas. I had friends who grew mass quantities of these butterfly winged beauties and I was quite often the…

Oh Tannenbaum! Christmas Trees In America

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6 December 2020
Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German…

Little Free Libraries

24 September 2020
As you know from a past newsletter, I have been walking in my neighborhood during my lunch break to try to keep the COVID-19 "15" from appearing on my hips, tummy, & derriere -  you get the picture! Well I've…

Tucker's Tomatoes

Tucker the Tomato Loving Dog
26 July 2020
Tucker the Tomato Eating Dog! Tucker, a black and tan smooth-coated " miniature" dachshund was my son Shaun's gift from his grandparents for Christmas 1998. Little did we know that Tucker would forever change the way we grew tomatoes. It all started when a…

Heard's Garden Tour Postponed to 2021

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29 May 2020
It is with sadness that we have decided not to move forward with the Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour this year.  To say we appreciate you (our hosts and tour-goers) is an understatement.  Our hosts worked very heard for…

The Tour That Was ( A Good News Story)

18 May 2020
To say I live for the Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour could quite possibly be an understatement. The motto “real gardens by real people” is a mantra for me. Throw in Mary Lou’s inspirational personal story, raising money for…

Garden Tour Update in Light of Coronavirus

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18 March 2020
Dear garden lovers, The health and wellbeing of our tour attendees and hosts is and always has been a top priority for us. We are carefully monitoring the rapidly changing circumstances. As of now, the Mary Lou Heard Garden tour…

Butchart Gardens, BC

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25 January 2020
One woman’s vision forever transformed our notion of a garden. So begins the story of Jennie Butchart, who used horse and cart to transfer topsoil to the famous sunken garden at The Butchart Gardens in Vancouver Island, Canada. With 55…

The Poinsettia - A Christmas Tradition from Mexico

History of poinsettias
6 December 2019
History of the PoinsettiaEuphorbia pulcherrima is a shrub or small tree, typically reaching a height of 2–13 ft. The plant bears dark green dentate leaves that measure 2.8–6.3 inches in length. The colored bracts—which are most often flaming red but can be orange, pale green,…

Creepy Things

Creepy things newsletter October 2019
13 October 2019
The Mary Lou Heard Foundation’s meetings have begun again after a couple of months of Summertime rest to enjoy our families, our own gardens and essentially, just take a break from the busyness of that “last May push.”   Can you…

How Does Your Garden Grow

How does your garden grow news letter
1 August 2019
Hello to all.  While greeting guests in my vegetable garden I was asked at the garden tour "just how do you propagate your seedlings?"  So I thought I would share the way that's successful for me.  Most of the items…

What are YOU doing this Summer?

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18 June 2019
Cleaning out my apron pockets, readying my "work attire" for the wash, I came across a handful of water balloons.  In our house, they are "arsenal"!  I am SO READY for summer activities to begin!  The outdoor sink will be…

INSPIRATION!

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9 March 2019
March 2019 Newsletter That's what I was looking for. I wanted to do something fun in the garden. A fresh idea. A new spin on something old. Or something completely new and original. Perhaps repurposing an object to give it…

February Thoughts

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22 February 2019
The recent "rainy days" provided an opportunity to "cocoon" inside.  Watching the storm clouds arrive through my kitchen window and trying to predict when the sun would shine again was wonderful.   February is the wettest month for So Cal Coastal…

Mary Lou Heard Foundation Board

MLHF President Kathy Ferree and Member at large, Ron Ferree
5 January 2019
The seven nicest people you could ever meet.  That's how I think of the all-volunteer Mary Lou Heard Foundation Board.  They donate hours and hours of time all year round to make the garden tour, on the first weekend in…

Newsletter Archive

2019-ferree-FEATURED
9 December 2018
Looking for the one special newsletter, here's a back archive of them all! 08/13/2018 - Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour Newsletter - July/August 201806/01/2018 - Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour Newsletter - June 201805/06/2018 - Need Help TODAY…

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Discover & Plan

Garden Tour May 6 & 7, 2023

THE MARY LOU HEARD FOUNDATION
a 501(c)(3) Public Charity

9681 Flounder Drive
Huntington Beach, CA
92646

No price will ever be put on viewing the gardens. Let your heart dictate and let those who can dig down deep. Each home will have a donation table. Cash or checks will be gratefully accepted.

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