Tom Karwin, On Gardening | Timely sale of California native plants – Santa Cruz Sentinel

We are entering the fall quarter of the year, which is a good time to develop the garden. Newly installed plants benefit from the fall’s rains as they develop their roots and prepare for the spring’s blooming period.

Your garden development could involve lawn replacement as a strategic preparation for seasonal droughts. Other possibilities include renovating part of the garden to pursue new ideas or even starting anew to landscape an undeveloped area.

For any such project, gardeners freely select plants that attract their eyes. Our Monterey Bay area supports a wide variety of “Mediterranean climate” plants, which we call summer-dry climate plants.

Within this category of garden options, we favor plants native to California because they provide botanical resources to support native wildlife, make gardening more manageable, and add natural beauty to the landscape.

Today’s photo gallery includes garden-worthy California native plants, with photo credits from members of the California Plant Society.

CNPS plant sale at Cabrillo College

Ready for the fall planting season — and not by chance — the Santa Cruz Chapter of the California Native Plant Society is preparing its annual sale of California native plants. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, in Cabrillo College’s Horticulture Center. The center is above the college campus, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos.

The Santa Cruz CNPS is grateful to the Cabrillo College Horticulture Department for providing the space and support for this sale and hosting its propagation group year-round.

This Santa Cruz CNPS plant sales are known to attract native plant lovers from all over. The quality and variety of the plants, all grown by the expert propagation team led by Kari Olsen, are excellent.

While this year’s sale includes many plants developed by the propagation team, the sale hours are limited, reflecting the visiting gardeners’ rapid purchases of the most popular plants during previous sales. Gardeners ready to develop a bed of California native plants will wisely arrive early for this sale.

Because the Santa Cruz CNPS sale’s schedule coincides with concurrent events at Cabrillo College, visitors could enjoy related opportunities. These include the Horticulture Department’s plant sale, pumpkin patch, and tours of their greenhouses.

Plant availability lists

Thoughtful garden development involves listing locations to install plants, the types of plants for each location, and the number needed for each plant type. Investing in such planning will target your purchases.

The Santa Cruz CNPS has prepared this sale’s five-page plant availability list for your reference. To download this important planning resource, browse to https://cruzcnps.org/.

Once you have identified one or more plants of interest, visit the CNPS Calscape website (calscape.org) for details about the plant, including its characteristics, range, cultivation info, wildlife appeal and more.

Focusing on locally native plants adds interest to plant collecting, contributes to preserving local species, and brings charming plants into the landscape.

Here’s a relevant excerpt from the Santa Cruz CNPS announcement: “Live in Santa Cruz County and want to buy native plants that grow here? We even have plants grown from locally collected seeds you won’t find elsewhere. These plants support our local web of life and add a unique sense of place to your garden. Look for the ‘We’re local’ signs on plants or ask a volunteer.”

The Cabrillo Horticulture Department also has prepared the Plant Inventory List for its sale. Its categories include Succulents and Cacti, Ornamentals, California Native Plants and more.

Browse to tinyurl.com/mud3b2p4 to download this list.

A garden planning example

A recent column summarized progress in the ongoing development of my butterfly garden. For background on this project, visit the archived column (tinyurl.com/35bvbzvc).

The Santa Cruz CNPS sale inspired the current progress of this project.

The first step was to revise the search of the Calscape database, using these filters: Shrub, Perennial, Full Sun, Low Water Use, Medium Drainage, Moderate Care, Attracts Butterflies, Height: 2-5 ft., Near 95060 (my ZIP code).

This search yielded 28 options that meet these criteria, including familiar plants and some new to my experience.

The next steps could be to review each of the options (a) on the Calscape website to select those most attractive for my garden and (b) on the Santa Cruz CNPS and Cabrillo Hort availability lists to list those that I could buy at the upcoming sale.

As noted above, early arrival at these sales increases the potential to buy the desired plants.

My butterfly garden, measuring 9 feet by 30 feet, could accommodate several plants, depending on their mature sizes. A future column will list the shrubs to be installed in this garden.

Advance your knowledge

The Santa Cruz CNPS has scheduled an in-person talk, “A Sense of Place: Ecologically minded Management Practices from Seed to Garden.”

Here’s an excerpt from the announcement: “Discover practical insights on native plant landscaping and thoughtful ecological management practices in this presentation by ecology intern Alicia Magliato from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). Alicia received her bachelor of science in Zoology and Spatial Studies from UC Santa Barbara. Her passion for plants was first ignited during a high school job at the San Lorenzo Garden Center.”

This talk will be preceded by a workshop on identifying members of the willow plant family conducted by Lucy Ferneyhough and Grace Brieger.

The workshop will be from 6- 6:45 p.m., and Ms. Magliato’s presentation will begin at 7 p.m. during the Santa Cruz CNPS meeting at 7 p.m., Oct. 7, held at the UCSC Arboretum and Botanic Garden. The public is welcome to attend the meeting.

Enjoy your garden.

Tom Karwin is a past president of Friends of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and the Monterey Bay Iris Society, a past president and Lifetime Member of the Monterey Bay Area Cactus & Succulent Society, and a Lifetime UC Master Gardener (Certified 1999-2009). He is now a board member of the Santa Cruz Hostel Society, and active with the Pacific Horticultural Society. To view photos from his garden, https://www.facebook.com/ongardeningcom-566511763375123/ . For garden coaching info and an archive of On Gardening columns, visit ongardening.com for earlier columns or visit www.santacruzsentinel.com/ and search for “Karwin” for more recent columns. Email comments or questions to gardening@karwin.com.