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The following tours are available to ASHS Conference attendees and their guests. (subject to change)
Pre-conference
Sightseeing
Student
Professional
Note: All tours depart from Marriott Hotel Tour Lobby. Please arrive 15 minutes before departing time.
Dress comfortably and wear closed-toe and closed-heal shoes (tennis shoes or hiking boots are ideal, sandal and shoes with high heels are not recommended). A hat, sunscreen, and sunglasses are recommended and also a sweater for the Palm Spring Aerial Tram.
Pre-conference Tour:
Sunday, July 21
University Garden Tour
Time: 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Price: $ 85.00
The tour will depart from the DoubleTree by Hilton Lax-El Segundo
Arrival (6:00 pm) at the JW Marriot Desert Springs Palm Desert.
*Please Note: A minimum of 20 people need to register for this tour by June 3, 2013, or the tour will be canceled.
Register for this tour when you register to attend the ASHS Annual Conference.
Through research and scholarly activities, collection development, and educational programs, university gardens are a significant educational resource for four different audience levels, faculty, students, staff, and the general public. This tour will explore how different university gardens and arboretums target and serve these audiences by visiting three university gardens:
- UCLA Mildred E. Mathais Botanical Garden
Established in 1929, the Mathais Botanical Garden, calls itself a “living museum,” this garden strives to promote biodiversity with many collections of unusual plants.
- Fullerton Arboretum (California State University)
The 26-acre Fullerton Arboretum, which began in 1979, also encourages ecological diversity, in addition to horticultural and historical education, through its expansive collection 4,000 unique of plants from around the world.
- Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
The final stop on our tour. The Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden started in 1927 and focuses on California native plants and is the largest botanic garden of its kind.
Itinerary:
| 7:00 AM |
Arrive at DoubleTree by Hilton LAX-El Segundo (check in with tour leader) |
| 7:30 AM |
Depart from DoubleTree by Hilton Lax-El Segundo |
| 8:30 AM |
UCLA Mildred E. Mathais Botanical Garden |
| 11:00 AM |
Arrival Fullerton Arboretum (box lunch will be provided) |
| 2:00 PM |
Arrive at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden |
| 6:00 PM |
Arrival at JW Marriot Desert Springs Palm Desert |
Please read the following important information: Tour departs from the DoubleTree by Hilton LAX–El Segundo and ends at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Palm Desert.
ASHS needs to reach a minimum of 20 people registered for this tour by June 3, 2013, in order for this tour to run. If we do not reach 20 participants by June 3, 2013, the tour will be canceled. We will then reimburse the tour fee to the participants—please keep this in mind when making flight arrangements. You may want to hold off on making any reservations until after confirming that the tour will run.
Reservations: For your convenience, if you would like to stay in this hotel, please find below the contact information:
DoubleTree by Hilton Lax-El Segundo
1985 East Grand Avenue, El Segundo, CA 90045
Phone Number: 1-310-322-0999
Hotel reservations
Sightseeing Tours
Monday, July 22
Palm Springs Aerial Tram
2:00 – 6:00 pm
Price: $ 87.00
Soar from the warm desert floor to the alpine Mountain station at 8,516 feet in approximately fourteen breathtaking minutes. State-of-the art tramcars offer a large viewing area. An optional (guided) one-mile nature walk through picturesque Long Valley is included.
Tuesday, July 23
 Whitewater Preserve & Wind Farms
8:00 am – 12:00 pm
Price: $ 60.00
Enjoy a guided nature walk along the Whitewater River. Throughout this adventure, you will learn about how the Coachella Valley is harnessing wind, solar, and geothermal energy for electricity.
 Palm Springs Art Museum
2:00 – 6:00 pm
Price: $ 72.00
The works of artists such as Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Robert Rauschenberg, and Ansel Adams are part of the collection at this 150,000 sq. ft. museum in the heart of downtown Palm Springs.
Wednesday, July 24
 Joshua Tree National Park
7:30 am – 1:30 pm
Price: $ 77.00
Travel through two deserts and the transition zone between two ecosystems as you journey from the low to high desert. The eastern part of park features natural gardens of creosote bush, ocotillo, and cholla cactus. The higher, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Joshua tree.
Thursday, July 25
The Living Desert (guided tour)
7:30 – 11:30 am
Price: $ 80.00
A unique 1,200-acre wildlife sanctuary and botanical park featuring rare and endangered desert animals from the World’s deserts. The Botanical Gardens replicate ten major North American desert regions where a variety of plants like smoke trees, cacti, Palo Verde, yuccas and saguaros can be seen.
Student Tour
Wednesday, July 24
Student Desert Jeep Tour
4:00 – 7:00 pm
Price: $55.00
Jeeps will pick up participants at the JW Marriott. From there we will go to the Coachella Valley Preserve and get out and do a short walk around and the guides will give a narration on the area. We will take you far from where you can go on your own—on a goldmine trail that follows the Big Horn to where you will encounter some of the oldest canyons on the planet (over 2 billion years old). Here you will see historic gold mining areas and enter a place time has forgotten.
Tour fee is partially sponsored thanks to the generosity of the following companies:
Acadian Seaplants
Brandt
Crop King
Duarte Nursery
Fall Creek Nursery
Farming Systems Research
Fides Ecke
Harris Moran Seed Company
Heinz
Shamrock Seed Company
Syngenta
Professional Tours
Three Tours of the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa
Main coordinator for all three tours: Milt McGiffen
The JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa grounds are a remarkable array of water features, landscaping, golf course, and plants that must be maintained for upscale clientele in a desert setting. Each morning tour will be led by an expert and allow participants to visit points of interest and discuss how the staff has overcome the challenges of running a very unique resort. Choose any or all of these Walking Tours:
____
Golf Course and Irrigation Walking Tour
Tuesday, July 23
7:00 – 8:00 am
Price: $10.00
____
Landscape and Ornamentals Walking Tour
Wednesday, July 24
7:00 – 8:00 am
Price: $10.00
____
Water Features Walking Tour
Thursday, July 25
7:00 – 8:00 am
Price: $10.00
The Huntington Botanical Gardens
Monday, July 22
7:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tour Price: $62
Coordinator: Milt McGiffen
Lunch on your own at the cafeteria or tea room
We offered this tour three years ago and so many people insisted that we brought it back. What many simply call “The Huntington” actually includes a library, art gallery, and extensive botanical gardens that have been extensively researched and designed for authenticity. A full day of guided tours of the Chinese and Japanese gardens and other features, behind the scenes visits with the staff on how they maintain and fund the gardens, and some time for individual exploration.
Coachella Valley and Water District
Wednesday, July 24
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Tour Price: $27
Coordinator: Milt McGiffen
Another tour brought back by popular demand. The Coachella Valley has probably grown every crop conceivable at one time or another, and is now home to mangoes, table grapes, dates, nurseries, vegetables, herbs, and much more. The tour will include bus stops at local fields, packing facilities, and a visit to the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD). The CVWD is famous for instituting innovations many innovations in modern irrigation. The tour includes a behind the scene look at the CVWD’s remarkable control room.
Altman Plants Nursery and Quail Gardens (Nursery and Botanical Garden)
SOLD OUT
Sunday, July 21
7:00 am – 6:30 pm
Price: $89
Coordinators: Milt McGiffen and Donald Merhaut
Itinerary:
7:00 AM Depart from JW Marriott
9:00 AM Mellano and Company (1hr. 30 Min)
10:30 AM Depart
11:00 AM Arrive at Altman’s Plant (1hr. 30 Min)
12:30 AM Depart
1:00 PM Arrive at San Diego Botanical Gardens (3 hrs including time to lunch)
4:00 PM Depart
6:30 PM Arrive at the Hotel
Mellano and Company (www.mellano.com)
This 300-acre nursery is dedicated to the production of cut flowers and foliage. Approximately 50 different species are grown at this location, with the strongest emphasis on perennial flowers and foliage. There is a wide range of University-developed tools that have been put in place over the years - flowering control, IPM practices, labor management methodologies, irrigation control, erosion management, etc. The tour will feature a part of the production area and possibly the packing facility.
Altman’s Plants (www.altmanplants.com)
Based in Vista, California, the facilities include North San Diego and Riverside Counties, for a total of 675 acres of production with three million square feet of greenhouse. We will visit the San Diego County location. As the largest wholesale grower of cactus in North America, Altman's "Cactus Collection" offers an extensive program of over 1000 species. This nursery overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is an absolute paradise for both people and plants. This facility also produces 4¼" annuals and perennials, quart perennials, grasses, ferns, and lilies, as well as 1-gallon annuals, perennials and ornamental grasses, hanging baskets, herbs, vegetables, and a complete line of bedding plants – so there is something for every plant fetish you may have. Altman’s is also very active in research and has set up a facility called the Center for Applied Horticultural Research (CfAHR), which is dedicated to research. Dr. Lucia Villavicencio, who is in charge of CfAHR, will be our wonderful hostess for this tour.
San Diego Botanical Garden (www.sdbgarden.org)
(Formerly called Quail Gardens)
Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, The 37-acre paradise has it all – cactus, palms, bamboo, orchids, cycads, and subtropical fruits. Featured are plant collections from around the world including: bamboo groves, desert gardens, a tropical rainforest, California native plants, Mediterranean climate landscapes, succulent gardens, an herb garden, and more. A large children's garden is also on the grounds.
Citrus Breeding and Germplasm at Riverside (Citrus and Tropical Fruits)
Sunday, July 21
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Price: $107
Coordinators: Milt McGiffen, Vance Whitaker, and Mary Lu Arpaia
Itinerary:
8:00 AM Depart from Marriott Hotel
10:00 AM Arrive Ag. Ops, UCR
1:00 PM Lunch at the Mission Inn
2:30 PM Depart Riverside
0000- Parent Washington Navel Orange Tree
5:00 PM Arrive at the hotel
This tour will visit the UC Riverside campus as well as the USDA-ARS repository for citrus and dates located in Riverside about 1.5 hours from the ASHS meeting site. The extensive citrus collection, breeding activities will be reviewed. There will be also a brief presentation regarding the avocado breeding program on campus and an exhibit of various date palm accessions. Following the 2.5 hour tour, the group will adjoin to the historic Mission Inn for lunch. En route back to Palm Desert the group will make a short visit to the original Navel orange tree in Riverside.
Sign up for tours when you register to attend.
Questions? Contact
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