The UC Master Gardeners of San Mateo and San Francisco Counties present the “Houseplant Basics” course to help you plan  what plants to purchase and how to best take care of them.

Topics in the presentation include:

• Benefits of houseplants
• Planning ahead - Before-you-purchase considerations
• Shopping for houseplants - What do you look for?
• Bringing your houseplants home
• Fertilizing and providing nutrients
• Pests, diseases, and other houseplant challenges

Jamie Chan is a UC Master Gardener of San Mateo and San Francisco Counties and the current Director of Programs and Partnerships at The Gardens of Golden Gate Park. She is a native San Franciscan who loves to garden, while tending chickens and honeybees in her foggy urban backyard.

Cindi Morris As a child, Cindi visited Ferry Morse Seed Company where her father worked. She loved peeking into the labs and seeing all the experiments. The best part was picking out some seed packets to take home to grow. She was amazed that you could plant a small seed and it would grow into a wonderful flower. She graduated from San Francisco State and has taken many horticulture classes from different schools. She has worked as an interior plantscaper at a large florist company. As a UC Master Gardener volunteer, she was the tomato growing lead and participates in the annual Spring Garden Market every year. She currently maintains an herb garden in the San Carlos Library garden and leads the San Mateo Arboretum plant clinic each month.

Cynthia Chew Nations graduated in 2015 and has volunteered as UC Master Gardener secretary, the lead for Spring Garden Market for 3 years, education committee chair, lead for monthly On the Coastside Magazine gardening articles since 2017, coordinator for the 2020 MG education class and president from 2020-2022. In her long education career, she taught 2nd grade through doctoral level students, was a school and district level administrator and was a national education consultant in educational technology and leadership. She is now “Mimi” to 4 beautiful grandchildren! Her gardening interests include growing edibles, houseplants and drought-tolerant natives and succulents.