Get to know your local wildflowers at the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden this Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Garden. Professor Emeritus of Biology at California Polytechnic State University, Dr. Dave Keil’s stunning presentation will not only identify our wonderful wildflowers, but give you the inside scoop on where to find them in the county.

Keil will also explain wildflower grouping in vernal pools, chaparral burns, coastal situations and more. The talk will conclude with a tour of the flowers found in the Garden.   

Keil has a lifelong interest and enthusiasm for botany. He received his B.S. and M.S. in botany from Arizona State University and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He has taught courses in general botany, plant taxonomy, field botany, evolution, and biogeography. He is Curator of the Robert F. Hoover Herbarium at Cal Poly.

Keil has authored scientific papers, textbooks, and study guides, and has been a major contributor to the Jepson Manual and the Flora of North America. He edited the Wildflowers of San Luis Obispo and is preparing the second edition of the Vascular Plants of San Luis Obispo County. The lecture is $5 for Garden members and $10 for non-members. Memberships are available for purchase on site.

At the same time on March 12, join the Children's Garden will host Cal Poly health and nutrition advocates STRIDE in a family-style cooking class, Family Fun Garden Cooking. 

The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden is located on 150 acres in El Chorro Regional Park off Highway One between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. When the master plan is complete, the Garden will be the only garden of its kind in the United States exclusively devoted to the ecosystems and plants of the five mediterranean climate regions of the world. Through its programs and facilities, the Garden fosters an appreciation and understanding of the relationship between people and nature and encourages a sense of stewardship toward the natural environment.

More information can be found at http://www.slobg.org/.