GREETINGS FROM THE GARDEN

Happy 2026! January has arrived with greener hillsides and full water tanks — a welcome sight after the dry months.

I want to thank the volunteers, visitors, performers, sponsors, chefs, interns, and staff who made Nature Lights 2025 a success. It took a great deal of coordination and care to ensure the season ran smoothly, and we are grateful to everyone who helped make it happen. If you’d like to join us in taking everything down and packing it away for 2026, please let us know — we always appreciate the extra hands.

In addition to our new lighted parking, made possible with the generous support from the Miossi Charitable Trust, we completed a few other projects at the end of 2025. We planted a “Garden of Instruments” in the Children’s Garden thanks to Joan G. Sargen. Cal Poly student and fall Artist-in-Residence Alexis Tepe repainted the reading cave with dozens of colorful local birds, flowers, and insects! We also installed a new glass sculpture created by our friends at Viscosity Studio in Boulder Creek.

We are excited to kick off the year with a brand new program — Astronomy Nights, in partnership with the Central Coast Astronomical Society! Later in the month, we’ll kick off a new year of Nature Sundays and host our very popular Mushroom Discovery Weekend, including the Friday lecture and 2-day workshop.

From classes and programs to planting and building projects, we have a lot of great things planned for 2026 and hope to see you at the Garden soon!

Janine Stillman
Executive Director

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