San Mateo County Rose Society
Our Mission
The Society exists to promote the culture, preservation and appreciation of the Rose, and to improve its standard of excellence for all people, through education and research.
Click here for our President’s Message
Pruning Party & Board Meeting
Thursday, January 16, 2025 starting at 9:00 a.m. at the San Mateo Garden Center
Join us for a pruning session of the San Mateo Garden Center’s rose garden at 9:00 a.m. this Thursday! Get hands-on experience with trimming roses and take the opportunity to talk to our board members about any rose-related questions you may have! Our board meeting will be held afterwards in the Rose Room at 11:00 a.m.
TBA by Frank Niccoli
Thursday, February 27, 2025 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. at the San Mateo Garden Center
About the Speaker
Frank Niccoli has been a gardener for over 65 years. He was seven when his grandmother taught him the magic in seeds.
Frank has a degree in horticulture having studied at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and at the College of San Mateo. Frank also has a degree in Business Psychology from the University of San Francisco.
He is the past president of the founding chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association. He was voted Member of the Year by his peers in 2001 and in 2004, and 2019.
In 2002 he started the CLCA student club at Foothill College to connect industry and students. Through the student club he has established an internship program and a resource for students to find employment. He has placed 147 students with different companies in the Bay Area.
He served 8 years as Director of Resource Management for the California Landscape Contractors Association. Under his leadership, CLCA has developed a Water Management program that is currently being used by over 1200 landscape contractors in California. He was the state president in 2013 and is currently the chair for the rewrite of the Landscape Standards book. In August of 2018 he edited and published The Landscape Data Manual.
He is a member of and had served for 3 years on the Board for the Association of Professional Landscape Designers.
His company, The Village Gardener, had won 3 Sweepstakes Awards (best garden out of all entries) in addition to winning numerous First Place and Achievement Awards for Construction and Maintenance.
He has built 4 gardens at the prestigious San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, winning 3 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and a bronze.
He served as the Chairman for the Environmental Sustainability Task Force for the City of Foster City offering 59 recommendations to the City of Foster City to establish a sustainability policy.
In 2012 he was named Water Champion of the Year by Sustainable Silicon Valley for his work in water conservation.
He has written the curriculum and teaches numerous classes at Foothill College. He has taught at Foothill since 1999. He taught at Merritt College from 2014 to 2017.
The Oprah Winfrey Network selected him as one of the five across the United States whose small acts have a big impact on the sustainable health of the
environment. He appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and his appearance resulted in calls for work from Maine to California.
He is an environmental educator and gives seminars for the Pesticide Applicators Professional Association, Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, Common Ground, Gamble Garden, Los Altos Garden Club, Woodside-Atherton Garden Club, the Landscape Industry Show, the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show, San Jose Environmental Services, California Native Plant Society, and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. He is a ReScape certified instructor and teaches individuals and companies a regenerative, whole systems approach to landscaping.
He is the State Chairman of the California Landscape Contractors Association Education Committee and because of that he brought 12 new certificate programs in Horticulture to Foothill College. He also revised and published the Landscape Data Manual for the CLCA and he is currently completing the Landscape Standards Book.
He built a 25-module Certified Landscape Technician course to teach students skills that will transfer directly to industry. It was nationally recognized in Lawn and Landscape Magazine. He is currently consulting with Deputy Sector Navigators across California to teach this curriculum to them. He chaired a conference with 45 educators from 12 different colleges at Foothill College to demonstrate his Learning Center.
He teaches from the perspective of an environmentally sustainable contractor who had been in the business for 40+ years and with a passion for sustainability and environmental stewardship.
He was a researcher with Fairfield Osborn Preserve and Galbreath Preserve attached to Sonoma State University. He researched California Natives.
He was the program director for the Foothill College horticulture program from 2019 to 2024.
He is currently working with the California Native Plant Society as an educator and collaborator in building new curriculum for its members.
He is a published poet and a black hat chef.
San Mateo County Fair 2024 Results
This year, the SMCRS won 1st Place in the San Mateo County Fair’s “Balcony” Plant Display competition! See our pictures here:
As always, we are still looking for rose-loving volunteers to:
Represent the San Mateo Rose County Society on social media
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.
Help with online accounting and financial management
Staff open Sundays (2nd & 4th of each month) at the San Mateo Garden Center from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Duties include:
Holding rose propagation workshops
Managing plant sales
Oversee rose garden pruning
