California Native Plant Society

Redwood and kelp forests are magnificent environments that feature the tallest trees and biggest marine algae on the planet. Both photosynthesize, both support life from the understory to the canopy, and both call California home. Julie Packard at the Monterey Bay Aquarium has drawn these parallels for more than 40 years, showcasing the interconnections of California habitats and sharing our home's biodiversity. Dive into our exclusive interview with Julie for the spring issue of Flora magazine! http://bit.ly/turftosurf #CNPSflora #JuliePackard #MontereyBayAquarium Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

This week's native plant events from CNPS and friends! Learn more at cnps.org/events Feb. 16, 7 pm Geology of Santa Monica Mountains - California Native Plant Society - Los Angeles / Santa Monica Mountains Feb. 16, 7:30 pm Oak Project at Pepperwood Preserve with Wendy Herniman - California Native Plant Society-Milo Baker Chapter Feb. 16, 7 pm Botanical Tales of the Pacific Crest Trail with Matt Berger - Backcountry Press... Feb. 17, 7:30 pm The Natural History of San Bruno Mountain, a talk by David Nelson and Doug Allshouse- California Native Plant Society - Santa Clara Valley Chapter Feb.18, 7:30 pm Designing Gardens in Harmony with Nature with Carol Bornstein - California Native Plant Society, Orange County Chapter Feb. 18, 7 pm Diversity of Orchids in North America by Linnea Hanson - Friends of the Chico State Herbarium Western swallowtail feeding on a mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii) Photo: Dan Songster #CaliforniaNativePlants #HabitatGardening #Restoration #NativePlants #PacificCrestTrail #PCT

What's your native plant love story? "Proposed next to tiburon mariposa lilies because like this 1B.1 plant, she was a rare find and out of this world. There were also poppies which made it the perfect place to pop the big question! <3" - Coyote Brush Studios ... #mariposalily

There are California native plants for every garden style. The Calscape Garden Planner helps you discover plants unique to your zip code and design ideas to fit a range of landscaping styles: http://gardenplanner.calscape.org/ #NaturehoodGardening #HabitatGardening #NativePlantGardening

Supporting research, especially that of students, is crucial to the mission of CNPS. We just heard from 2013 CNPS student grant recipient Dr. Keng-Lou James Hung that his paper supported by CNPS was published. Biologists at UC San Diego, University of Toronto, and National University of Singapore found that the severe California drought had greater impacts than did habitat fragmentation on native bees: https://www.mdpi.com/987550 We received a record number of applicants this... year to the CNPS Student Research Grant program. Learn about this year's 16 recipients who are contributing to the understanding and conservation of our native flora! https://www.cnps.org//s/student-research-grants-2020-20211 Photo of Rachel Pausch who is researching the factors influencing vegetation cover at a recently restored salt marsh #CaliforniaNativePlants #StudentResearch

"All Cabbages Are Brassicas" are tonight's Boo-tany Plant Trivia champions! Congrats to Chloe Novak, David Greenberger, Raphaela Floreani-Buzbee, and Adder Schlosser. Our audience favorite team name was "Monstera Mash"

Boo-tany plant trivia is tonight at 5:30pm! Search your closet for that neon pink wig you wear once a year and brainstorm your trivia team name. All team members must register, http://bit.ly/boo-tanytrivia We have another spooky plant story to prep us for tonight. "I used to work for State Parks on the central coast south of Big Sur, the epicenter of poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum). One day, I woke up from camping and put my contacts in but my hands were too oily so i...t took me several attempts. It turns out that oil was poison oak that got on my hands from our wood pile. I woke up the next day with both my eyes swollen shut, then the following day after that got strep throat. This was when I was still in high school and didn't have as keen of an eye for poison oak. Not work related, but one of the worst cases I've ever had! Aaron E. Sims, Rare Plant Botanist Photo of poison oak #CaliforniaNativePlants #PoisonOak #PlantTrivia

We're so excited for tonight's journey with Scott Logan who has documented 400+ animal species in The Gottlieb Native Garden, Susan Gottlieb’s incredible home garden. Zoom at 6 pm, register: http://bit.ly/cnps1029

Who would win, a rattlesnake or kingsnake? Find out in our recorded webinar with conservationist and organizer, André Sanchez of California Wilderness Coalition, and get to know the reptiles and amphibians that call Walker Ridge home. Learn how you can help protect their natural neighborhood which is more pressing than ever. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/2_UVRVa1YIg... Then sign the petition to protect their home and learn more at cnps.org/ProtectWalkerRidge #ProtectWalkerRidge #WalkerRidge #ColusaCounty #LakeCounty

Kids' Corner: Pollinator Party Some native plants and pollinators depend on each other to survive. Learn about pollinators with activities like neighborhood walk bingo. Then tell their story through a mini-magazine, a "zine". Flutter over to the activity page: http://bit.ly/kidscorner-pollinator Image of bingo and "zines"

We've got something for everyone this week! Wednesday | 6:30 pm Reptiles and Amphibians of Lake & Colusa Counties Walker Ridge If you love herpetology almost as much as botany, join us for a night with conservationist and community organizer André Sanchez. Catch the recording: https://youtu.be/2_UVRVa1YIg... Thursday | 6 pm Through the Lens: Backyard Biodiversity If you want to take a wildlife journey of surreal beauty and epic encounters without in one back yard The Gottlieb Native Garden. Friday | 5:30 pm Boo-tany Plant Trivia If you dare to test your knowledge about California's spookiest plants and habitats! Or if you just really needed somewhere to wear your Halloween costume. Register in advance! cnps.org/events

Rare plant treasure hunting often takes you to interesting places when you are looking for new populations within suitable habitat. This cemetery in Sonoma County had the perfect soil type for some of our rare ceanothus and manzanitas! We didn’t find any rare plants in this graveyard, but we did see some massive madrones, oaks and other native plants Story and photos by Amy Patten

Join conservationist and community organizer, André Sanchez to get to know the reptiles and amphibians that call Walker Ridge home. Learn about these wild residents and how you can help protect their natural neighborhood. This special locale is currently the target of a large-scale wind energy development project that would wreak havoc for the habitat and creatures that call Walker Ridge home. Please register today and join us for this Zoom presentation. Register for the webi...nar here: http://bit.ly/cnps1028 Learn more cnps.org/ProtectWalkerRidge

Fall is the best time to start planting a California native garden. a good neighbor and grow native plants that call your Naturehood home. Local wildlife depend on regionally appropriate plants, and these plants are naturally suited for your area’s conditions. Find nearby CNPS plant sales, nurseries and resources at http://bit.ly/naturehood1. These Calscape nurseries have copies of Flora, pick one up with your native plant purchase!... Annie's Annuals & Perennials Bay Natives Nursery Belmont Nursery CNL Native Plant Nursery East Bay Wilds Native Plant Nursery Floral Native Nursery Hedgerow Farms Plant Depot Nursery Growing Grounds Farm & Nursery, San Luis Obispo The Watershed Nursery Tree of Life Nursery

We're getting ready for Boo-tany Trivia Night next week (http://bit.ly/boo-tanytrivia) with spooky plant stories. First up, a story about ghost redwoods . "Years ago my sister and I were hiking through an old-growth redwood forest, trying not to meander too far, but we were a bit off-trail. Wandering around the forest, we saw a surprising tree - small, gray/white, and sort of gnarly looking. It looked like a small ghost of the large redwood trees around it. We all stopped t...o look, because it was obvious something was strange about the tree. It was still alive, but looked sort of dead. We walked up to it and touched the needles, looked around the tree, but the mystery remained about why there was a ghost of a tree deep in a redwood forest. Ghost redwood trees are found throughout the redwood forest, but they're rare and their location is kept a secret. As with most ghosts, these trees are pale versions of redwoods. They're nearly white and stunted. Imagine walking through an ancient redwood forest, surrounded by large, red-ish, towers giants, looking skyward to try to see their tops, only to stumble upon one of these ghostly specters. This small white-ish redwood staring at you from much closer to the forest floor would be one of only a few known ghost redwoods. Being ghostly, they can't live like normal trees; specifically, they don't have chlorophyll, so can't photosynthesize and create their own food. Instead, they take up heavy metals in soils, making the environment safer for the rest of the redwoods around them. In return, the other redwoods share nutrients with the ghost trees through their root system. " Ann-Marie Benz, Horticulture Outreach Coordinator Photo by C Ames Sign up for the Friday, Oct. 30 trivia night at 5:30 pm at http://bit.ly/boo-tanytrivia #BotanyTrivia #CaliforniaNativePlants #PlantTrivia #spookyplants

Roughly 4% of California has burned this year. Our worst fire season in modern history has affected millions of Californians. So here's what you should know: 1. There is no single cause of the wildfire crisis and no single way to solve it. 2. California is an incredibly diverse place, and different habitats require different solutions.... 3. The solutions do exist: > More prescribed fire and ecological thinning in our forests. > Better protection of sensitive chaparral / coastal scrub habitat. > Statewide home hardening, community hardening, and defensible space. > Reduce chance of ignitions during high-wind events. > Stop development in high-fire hazard severity zones. 4. If we are to change course, California and the federal government will need to act immediately to dramatically boost funding for wildfire prevention. Want to learn more? > Watch our recent testimony at the Assembly Sub-Committee Hearing on Wildfire Mitigation. Great questions from the committee members! http://bit.ly/jensen1020 > Download a copy of the CNPS Fire Recovery Guide if you live in a fire-prone area. http://cnps.org/fire-recovery >Read why California Tribal partners must be included. http://bit.ly/guardian916 #wildfire #californianativeplants #wildfirerecovery 2018 Chico Fire photo by Jennifer Jewell

Upcoming CNPS events, join in! 10 / 22, 7:30 pm Fire Recovery in San Gabriel Mountains - California Native Plant Society - California Native Plant Society-- San Gabriel Mountains Chapter 10/24, 1 pm Gardening for Biodiversity in San Francisco Bay Area Science Festival / Yerba Buena Chapter of the California Native Plant Society... 10/26, 7:30 pm Wildlife of the Bay Area a talk by Ameet Zaveri California Native Plant Society - Santa Clara Valley Chapter See more events and links to register here: https://www.cnps.org/event/virtual-native-plant-events

California's native plants and places are announcing fall in beautiful and vivid ways this October, from the golds of changing aspen leaves to the rusty reds of drying buckwheat flowers. Greet the season with these beautiful images taken by California photographers throughout the state. Huckleberry (Vaccinium caespitosum) - short red plants, with white-bark pine (Pinus albicaulis) Photo: Jeff Bisbee North Lake west of Bishop Photo: Shelley Redline-Whaley... Seacliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium) SLO Co. Photo: Jeff Bisbee Quaking aspens and jeffrey pine trees in Lee Vining Photo: Shelley Redline-Whaley Last three fall color in Nevada and Alpine Co. Photos: Jeff Bisbee #fallfoliage #fallcolors #californiafall #californianativeplants