When last seen, the botanical garden docents were trooping around like seasoned botanists, all with hand lenses hanging around their necks, busy examining flower structures under the watchful eye of Dr. Arthur Gibson. This activity, along with regular refresher training and each docent's assignment to specialize on a particular plant family, form a major part of the continuing education for our docent corps.
Why all this dedicated effort...come rain or shine?
To have fun, of course, while learning more about nature. But most significantly, ongoing training helps docents better serve the individuals and groups who come to UCLA for garden tours.
A quick check of tour confirmation sheets shows that since last June (1997), our docents have given tours to more than 700 visitors. This figure includes the slow periods during the fall/winter holiday season and February's endless El NiŅo storms. All in all, it's quite an impressive number for a brand new docent program. We hope--and expect--that once the rainy season is over, tour requests will explode, much like the colorful springtime flowers. And our docents intend to be prepared.
Most tour participants have been children from local K-12 schools, coming from as close as several blocks to several hours' drive away. In addition, the garden has hosted classes from UCLA and other local university and college, active seniors groups, gardening clubs, families on vacation, church and temple groups, visitors from occupational centers, and others coming from Santa Barbara to Orange County and beyond.
Tours are scheduled on weekdays and on an occasional Saturday, by reservation only. Beginning between 10:00 a.m. and no later than 2:00 p.m., at The Nest, docents provide a general tour that lasts approximately one hour, including an explanation of the garden's history and an overview of pertinent botanical terms and useful information. A tour group can be as small as eight people; for fifteen or more, we arrange for additional docents and break into smaller groups. We have found from experience that six-year-olds (first graders) are the youngest age group to benefit from the tours. Tour participants are encouraged to bring drinking water, wear good walking shoes, and bring sun hat or sunscreen during warm weather.
Given all the rainy weather that we've had this year, the garden is extremely lush. NOW is the right time to visit. For information or to schedule a tour, please call (310) 206-6707 and leave a message (please give us a lead-time of two weeks for tours). Either Beverly Shaffer, the garden's administrative volunteer, or I will return your call as soon as possible.
Also, if you have one, bring a hand lens!
CAROL FELIXSON (Docent and Communications Coordinator)