The sun is awakening the garden

With the series of storms behind us, the garden team is keeping busy, working to keep one step ahead of the season—spring will be here before you know it!

We’ve been savoring the earthy aroma of the gardens after all this rain; we’ve moved on from that first whiff of petrichor—the unmistakable smell of rain on dry earth—and can soon look forward to the sweet fragrance of new blossoms.

Snowflakes, Leocojum aestivum, have opened up in masses along the path flanking the parking lot.

Keep an eye on the large quince tree near the Edible Garden, it is beginning to flower on bare branches. While you’re up that way, be sure to check out the our updates on the whiteboard posted in the Edible Garden itself: it’s back in action after a rain-imposed hiatus. We log the weather, rain totals, what’s in bloom, phases of the moon and more.

We had to do some restorative work on our magnificent Magnolia Circle this week, for its long-term health. The story of this grove has many chapters already, and we want to be sure it has many more.

A peek in our freezer might bring a surprise: we are scarifying milkweed seeds in preparation for propagation. There’s plenty more to say on this topic, so stay tuned! 

And, naturally, rain bring weeds galore. Everything is thriving in this winter sunshine, come take a look!

More to explore

IRS Guidelines for Gifts from Donor Advised Funds to Support MAGC Events

Thank you for your interest in giving to the Marin Art & Garden Center events from your Donor Advised Fund (DAF) or Family Foundation.

We sincerely appreciate your generosity and support!

To ensure your gift follows the current IRS guidelines for DAF/Family Foundation support of an event, we would like to share the below guidelines with you.

  • Raffle tickets, tickets to galas and other special events, auction items, and benefits conferred in connection with a DAF/foundation grant are not permitted.
    • IRS has specifically ruled that fair market value associated with fundraising events cannot be separated, a practice known as “bifurcation.”
      • For example, with Edible Garden, if the price of the ticket is $200 and the FMV fair market value (non-tax-deductible amount) is designated to be $50, the donor must pay from sources other than her DAF/foundation for the full value of the ticket ($200) and not just for the non-tax-deductible amount ($50).
    • We recommend you confer with your financial advisor to confirm if any of these examples of how donors may still use their DAF to support an event would work for you:
      • A donor could sponsor the event, and not attend, and pay fully out of the DAF/foundation.
      • A donor could sponsor the event using DAF/foundation funds and attend by purchasing an individual ticket through non-DAF/foundation funds.
      • A donor could sponsor the event, join the event as a guest of another donor/table guest, and pay fully out of the DAF/foundation.
      • A donor could sponsor the event and host the afforded number of people at their chosen level as long as they pay for the seats at the lowest ticket price ($200 for Edible Garden) outside of their DAF.
        • As an example, a $1,500 sponsor that covers 2 guests, could pay for their sponsorship with $400 from a different source of funds, and then give an additional gift of $1,100 out of their DAF.

 

Please email Tod Thorpe, Director of Development at tod.thorpe@maringarden.org to discuss your gift to Marin Art and Garden Center