July Meeting - Not Just for Show

Nicholas Staddon

Not Just for Show

The San Diego Horticultural Society welcomes Monrovia Director of New Plants, Nicholas Staddon. Nicholas will present “Not Just for Show,” an insider’s view of the business of plant exploration – who are these dedicated plant people, where in the world are they going and what are they looking for? Nicholas also will offer his picks for best new plants for our region that have become available in the last few years.

Nicholas is director of the new plants team for Monrovia, an 85-year-old innovative wholesale grower based in California. Nicholas works with the industry’s top plant breeders, hybridizers and professional plant explorers to bring new creations and discoveries to home gardens.

Nicholas grew up in his native England with a fascination for plants and attended Otley Agricultural College where he studied agricultural science. Before joining Monrovia 25 years ago, he worked in New Mexico, managing garden centers in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. He says of New Mexico, "It is one of the most beautiful places in the world undefined the vistas will move your heart and the gardening will break it." Nicholas, now a resident of Southern California, travels extensively for Monrovia in his quest for great plants for American gardeners.

Nicholas is proud to be affiliated professionally with the Royal Horticulture Society, the California Association of Nurserymen and The American Nursery and Landscape Association. He is an Advisor to Sunset magazine, on the Board of Advisors for Mount San Antonio College, Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences Department, and the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.