San Gabriel Valley Cactus and Succulent Society

Ernesto Sandoval has been pondering and seeking answers to the question of why plants grow and look the way they do for nearly 40 years. He now explains and interprets the world of plants to audiences of all ages, from amateur gardeners to professionals. He regularly lectures to garden clubs throughout the western United States, particularly succulent clubs throughout California. Desert plants are his particular passion within his broader love of plants. He describes himself as a “Jose of All Plants, Master of None” and enjoys learning from both the experiences and passions of others and his own. Ernesto thoroughly enjoys helping others, particularly gardeners, understand why and how plants do what they do.

When he was about 13, he asked his dad why one tree was pruned a particular way and another tree a different way. His dad answered bluntly, “Because that’s how you do it.” Since then, he has been seeking and teaching the answers to those and many other questions.

He earned a degree in Botany from the University of California, Davis and worked his way from student weeder/waterer to Director over a 30-year career at the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory.

He is now a graduate student in Horticulture and Agronomy at University of California, Davis, having advanced directly into a Ph.D. program focused on the propagation and cultivation of drought-adapted plants.