If getting outdoors to garden is your thing, this week offers opportunity to learn more about local planting and native flowers. Starting this morning, Big Bear’s ‘A’ Garden Club meets at 10am at the Big Bear Discovery Center. The free, two-hour meeting will feature guest speaker Michele Mroszek, Water Conservation Specialist for the Department of Water and Power, who will speak on xeriscape gardening and the history of water conservation. The A Garden Club meets each second Monday of the month through October and, again, at the Discovery Center at 10am. For more information, contact Vicky Roney at 866-9817. This weekend will feature a bounty of buds in two special events, the 7th annual Xeriscape Garden Tour and the 68th annual Flower Show. The xeriscape tour, hosted by the Sierra Club Big Bear Group on Saturday, July 18, features eight homes with gardens that highlight drought-tolerant and native plants; the free, self-guided tour launches from Eminger’s Mountain Nursery (at 41223 Big Bear Boulevard), between 9am and noon (though you can tour until 4pm), and will include gardening experts, including specifics on native plants offered at Hunter’s Nursery (on Fox Farm Road). “Bears, Bees and Buds” is the theme of the Flower Show hosted by the Women’s Club of Big Bear Valley. The Flower Show, which dates back to 1941, will take place at the Big Bear Lake Performing Arts Center. Admission is free to this event, which is open to the public on Friday, July 17, from noon to 5pm, and again on Saturday from 9am to 2pm. For more information on the 68th annual Flower Show, which will be judged by members of the A Garden Club, contact Karen LoPresti at 866-6777.
