The City of San Marino is giving residents free compost on Saturday, October 17. Six days later, The Huntington opens its 2026 Fall Plant Sale a mile or two up the road. Taken together, the two schedules give a gardener a full fall planting season in the right order: amend the beds, learn the organics rules, look at a mature native planting, and then buy.
The Huntington's own description of the sale calls autumn "peak planting season," because warm days and cool nights make it "the perfect time to refresh your garden." Here is the month in the order a planting goes in:
- October 9–11: 10th Annual International Orchid Show and Sale at The Huntington
- October 17: Fall Compost Giveaway and Document Shredding Event at Lacy Park and the Stoneman Building
- October 21: "Recycle Right" organic-waste talk at the San Marino Community Center
- Any open day before the 23rd: A walk through Oak Meadow at The Huntington
- October 23–25: The Huntington's 2026 Fall Plant Sale
October 17 is the date that sets up everything else
The City and Valley Vista Services, San Marino's waste hauler, are hosting the Fall Compost Giveaway and Document Shredding Event on Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Compost pickup is drive-through only, at the Lacy Park lot at 1196 St. Albans Road. It's first-come, first-served, and you'll need proof of San Marino residency, such as the city postcard, an ID, or a utility bill.
Leave your bins and plastic bags at home. The flyer says no plastic bags or personal containers are allowed, and it counts the household limit in bags.
The city's September 25 briefing gives two different numbers for how much compost each household can take. The flyer says up to six bags of about 38 pounds each. The text just below it says up to five bags of about 35 pounds each. Either way, a household can leave with roughly 175 to 230 pounds of compost. That's enough to top-dress a few planting beds, so plan your trunk space around the larger number. Valley Vista Services answers questions at (626) 325-6508, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Shredding runs the same morning at a different spot, the Stoneman Building at 1560 Pasqualito Drive. Each household can bring up to 10 banker boxes, and service ends once the shredder reaches capacity. Remove clips and fasteners, and take documents out of folders and plastic sleeves before you arrive. Because shredding ends at capacity and compost goes first-come, first-served, the shredder is probably the stop to make first.
This is the second round this year. The San Marino Tribune covered a compost and shredding event on March 28 and called the October date the next one. The spring date lands at the start of the warm season. The fall date lands right before the plant sale.
The Wednesday talk explains where the clippings go
Fall planting creates yard waste: spent annuals, pruned shrubs, the sod you pull up to make room for something else. On Wednesday, October 21, from 1 to 2 p.m., Ruben Martinez and Liz Casales of Valley Vista Services will lead "Recycle Right: Understanding Organic Waste Recycling" at the San Marino Community Center. It's part of the city's Nature Series, and you don't need to register.
The talk covers SB 1383, the California law behind today's organics separation rules. It also covers how to sort organic waste correctly, what happens to organics after Valley Vista collects them, and how diverting them keeps material out of landfills. Coming four days after the giveaway, the talk is the place to ask where your own clippings end up.
Walk Oak Meadow before you shop
The Huntington's newest garden space is the best reference in town for anyone thinking about a native or drought-adapted planting. Oak Meadow is a gathering space shaded by North American oaks and planted with California native and climate-adapted species, and you can tour it on your own. Interpretive signs identify the oaks, from Coast Live Oak to Engelmann Oak. Smaller signs on the way in point out California Black Walnut, Toyon, Milkweed, and Opuntia, and they give each plant's name in Indigenous, Spanish, English, and scientific forms.
The Huntington also offers printable California Native Plant Cards that you can use in the garden or in your own yard. Print a set, walk the meadow, and mark which plants hold up in shade and which do well in full sun. A week later, those notes become your shopping list.
Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture is coming to Oak Meadow as well, near the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries. The Huntington's May 8 announcement says the 12-by-12-foot piece will be unveiled before the end of 2026 and gives no specific date.
The plant sale, October 23–25
The 2026 Fall Plant Sale runs Friday through Sunday, October 23–25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, and it's free with general admission. The plants are chosen to be regionally hardy. The Huntington lists these categories:
| What's on the tables | Where it fits in a fall garden |
|---|---|
| Rose varieties propagated from The Huntington's Rose Garden | A plant with a known local track record |
| California natives | The Oak Meadow palette, sold for home gardens |
| Winter bulbs | Goes in now and blooms later |
| Herbs and some cooler-weather vegetables | For a kitchen bed you start in fall |
| Cactus and succulents | Lower-water corners |
| Shrubs and perennials | The structure of a bed |
| Houseplants and tropicals | Indoor and patio pieces |
The roses stand out because they're propagated from the Rose Garden right there on the grounds, so you can buy a plant that came from a collection you can walk through.
Bring a wagon or a box, since both are welcome for hauling plants and trees. You can also leave your purchases at the West Lot and pick them up whenever you're ready, so you can keep visiting the gardens without carrying flats around.
Friday the 23rd is the busiest evening of the month. The plant sale closes at 5 p.m., and the city's Trunk or Treat and Dance Party starts at Lacy Park at 6 p.m. It runs until 9, with trunk-or-treating, games, crafts, food trucks, dancing, and a costume contest. If you have children, it's easy to do both: pick up plants at the West Lot, drop them at home, and change into costume.
The orchid show comes first and doesn't need compost
One garden event comes earlier in the month. The 10th Annual International Orchid Show and Sale runs October 9–11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, at the Brody Botanical Center. It's free with general admission. Hundreds of blooms compete for honors, and local and regional orchid societies set up displays next to international growers.
The vendors come from close by and far away. Fang Hua Garden is from Temple City and Delicious Junior is from Monterey Park. Cal-Orchid, Inc. comes from Santa Barbara, Ecuagenera from Gualaceo, Ecuador, Mukoyama Orchids from Yamanashi, Japan, and CoCo Orchids Co. from Puli, Taiwan. Orchids from the show usually go into pots, not ground beds, so this purchase doesn't have to wait until your soil is ready.
Between the garden dates
The Old Mill at 1120 Old Mill Road keeps its gardens open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to sunset. On Sunday, October 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., it hosts a Paint Out and Children's Art Workshop. That's the last day of the orchid show, so a family can visit both in one day. The city's briefing says the paint-out is family-friendly, with art tables for children and adults, and needs no reservations.
At The Huntington, the fall menu at the Red Car coffee shop and the 1919 Cafe/Bar runs through November 30. It includes caramel apples, pumpkin-spice and maple lattes, and a Falling for Bourbon cocktail, which makes for a good break between the Oak Meadow walk and the sale tables. The Huntington's 2026 Fall Plant Sale continues Saturday and Sunday, October 24 and 25, for anyone who misses opening day.
If you're using this fall to get a San Marino garden into shape before a sale, or you just want to know what the work has done for your property's value, Tony Dowdy can help you look at it with a seller's eye. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll talk through which outdoor improvements buyers notice in San Marino.
