A Lovely Day At The Huntington
- Donnett Vanek
- Mar 29
- 2 min read
Saturday, March 14, 2026 was a perfect day at The Huntington for the BAGSC Quarterly meeting. There was a brief account of BAGSC business, open to questions from members who were present.
We started the day with a walk through the Ranch Garden where members were able to choose specimens to work from. The friendly staff of the kitchen garden were available to answer questions and cut the specimens for us. The garden is beautiful, an inspiration for anyone who tries their hand at growing their own kitchen garden at home.
Nasturtium- The Huntington Ranch Garden ©Donnett Vanek Purple Artichoke - Ranch Garden, The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek 2026 Ranch Garden, The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek 2026 Red Mustard plants;Ranch Garden-The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek 2026 BAGSC President Paula Spence ©Donnett Vanek 2026 The Ranch Garden Rooster! the Huntington ©Donnett Vanek
After members chose specimens from the garden we returned to the classroom to sketch and work on compositions. More specimens, such as magnolia flowers were also available for members to work from. This was also a time to visit with each other and welcome new members who joined us at the quarterly meeting.
BAGSC Quarterly meeting ©Donnett Vanek 2026 BAGSC Quarterly meeting ©Gayle Uyehara BAGSC Quarterly meeting ©Gayle Uyehara BAGSC Quarterly meeting ©Gayle Uyehara BAGSC Quarterly meeting ©Donnett Vanek BAGSC Quarterly meeting ©Donnett Vanek
Jack Daly gave a presentation on a project that Jack, Diane Daly and Deb Shaw worked on for The Huntington. The project was signage for the Desert Garden Conservatory. Deb and Diane created ink illustrations of plants held in the Desert Garden collection, while Jack was involved with technical aspects of the project. Throughout the project there was dialog with the staff of the Huntington to ensure that plant illustrations were correct and could be used in the format required for the signage. From start to finish, the team of Deb, Diane and Jack had only six weeks to complete the project. Congratulations on a fabulous job done in such a short amount of time!
Jack Daly presentation ©Donnett Vanek 2026 Jack Daly presentation ©Gayle Uyehara 2026
A lunch was provided to all participants at the March Quarterly meeting. After lunch we were treated to a special tour of the orchid growing houses. Brandon Tam, Associate Curator of the orchid collection at The Huntington was our delightful tour guide of the orchid growing houses and collection.
Orchid collection The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek 2026 Brandon Tam, Associate Curator of the Orchid Collection;The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek 2026 Orchid collection The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek Orchid Collection The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek 2026 The Huntington ©Donnett Vanek2026
After the tour members returned to the classroom to continue working on renderings and compositions. Some members are working on renderings that may eventually be used for signage in the Ranch Garden, others are working on artwork for the magnolia project that is also for The Huntington. More guidelines on both projects are being worked out and should be available soon.
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the March 2026 Quarterly Meeting at The Huntington.
If you are interested in volunteering for BAGSC we would love to hear from you. We are always interested in your ideas for BAGSC and skills that members have that may be useful to our chapter. You can find contact information for board members on the BAGSC website. https://www.bagsc.org/contact
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