San Clemente’s Casa Romantica is leaning into its green side with a new edible garden to function as a living learning space.
Since opening in fall 2025, the garden has held a fermentation class, where guests learned how to harvest and ferment certain plants for healthy snacks, and a seasonal gardening class teaching how to leverage seasonal crops to make the most of a garden, according to Kim Neal, garden manager.
And they have more events planned for this summer and beyond.
“We previously had an herb garden in that space that was lovingly cared for by our volunteers, and while we were so grateful for their care, there are only so many things a volunteer budget can achieve,” said Kylie Travis, executive director of programs and operations.
“One of our longtime donors was inspired by their own food garden and the health and wellness benefits of urban gardening and underwrote a complete overhaul and redesign of the space to create an actual teaching garden,” Travis said.
He continued that while currently the edible garden is open to guests during special events and tours, summer plans include a new Plant to Plate workshop, where guests learn the basics of cultivating their own ingredients, bringing it all together with simple, delicious recipes. Casa Romantica plans to fully open the space to the public later in the year.
Neal said there are more than two dozen different herbs, fruits, vegetables, legumes and edible flowers growing in the garden, with seasonal rotations of species.
Strawberries can be found in Casa Romantica’s Edible Garden.
(Courtesy of Casa Romantica)
“Guests can find a citrus tree, snap peas, strawberries, lettuce, cabbage, onions, a variety of herbs, lavender and even edible flowers, to name a few,” Neal said.
In addition to the new garden, Casa Romantica has been running a floral exhibit series throughout spring. Travis said “The Studio: The Greenhouse” launched in March as a new idea in the Artist Studio, one of two art spaces on site, with the second being the Exhibition Gallery.
“We like to have two different types of artists in each space to keep it exciting for guests,” she said, adding that in March in the gallery, they had the Orange County chapter of the California Art Club, featuring 40 different artists in all different mediums.
“We didn’t want traditional art in the studio space competing with it. We sparked the idea of showcasing florals as art and it went from there.”
There are more than two dozen different herbs, fruits, vegetables, legumes and edible flowers currently growing in Casa Romantica’s edible garden.
(Courtesy of Casa Romantica)
“The Greenhouse” series closes with Colette Floral Studio, which opened Tuesday and runs through Sunday. It was preceded by a show of the works of Dallas Blooms that concluded May 17.
“Casa Romantica has a wonderful list of preferred vendors for our private event clients, and we met with them to discuss our vision,” Travis said. “Usually, when you are hiring a florist for an event, they are being directed by the client, and our vision was for them to unleash their artistry. The florists who took part were excited to create without bounds, truly celebrating floral artistry.”
The work of floral designer Dallas Blooms was featured from May 5-17 in Casa Romantica’s “The Greenhouse” series.
(Courtesy of Casa Romantica)
For those wishing to experience another side of nature at the center, it’s been a butterfly waystation for more than 10 years, according to Travis.
“This designation means that we are part of the monarch butterfly’s migratory path and have a responsibility to maintain a habitat that supports butterflies and other pollinators,” she said. “While we are unable to have events in the space itself, it has been … an inspiration in our programming — we have had art installations featuring butterflies, pollinator garden workshops, and in our yearly field trips, we host lessons in the garden for third- and fourth-graders every spring.”
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