Desert gardening is much more than planting cacti. 

The 13th Annual Desert Garden Community Day on Oct. 27 at UCR Palm Desert will highlight all types of desert plants and promote efficient gardening by providing a day of free classes and programming.

Organized by Desert Horticulture Society of the Coachella Valley, the event is a great place to learn about desert landscaping including “spooky and spiny” plants, container plant design, vegetable gardening and much more.

There will also be food if you get hungry, programs for kids, a plant sale, author talks, book signings, and educational presentations.

CV Water Counts will have a booth at the event and hand out lots of freebies and information to those who visit.

Our group will also lead a session titled “Innovations in Irrigation” This presentation will include experts talking about the latest technology from new generation nozzles to smart controllers that use real-time data from weather stations to know when to use more water or less. The presentation will also touch on emerging technology such as applications that allows users to control watering from a hand-held device.

The goal of the presentation is to share options on what’s available to improve irrigation efficiency and pull back the curtain on this technology so people will understand how it functions, feel more comfortable using it and trust that it’s doing its job. A special giveaway will also be handed out to a lucky attendee.

Other programming including a presentation by Caren Yglesias, author of “Desert Gardens of Steve Martino.”

Yglesias will be joined by Martino – an expert on landscape architecture in the Southwest – for a conversation about desert landscape that is sure to guide and inspire.

Desert Garden Community Day

  • 13th Annual Desert Garden Community Day is from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at UCR Palm Desert, 75080 Frank Sinatra Drive, Palm Desert.
  • For more information, go to DesertHorticulturalSociety.org.