The North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society will hold its “Fall Native Plant Sale” Sept. 27 and 28 at the CNPS nursery, located at Freshwater Farms Reserve, 5851 Myrtle Ave., Eureka.
“Growing native plants in the garden is important for our native insects and the birds that depend on them. In turn, the birds, bees and butterflies animate our gardens, adding color, motion and sound,” said Donna Wildearth, who frequently teaches landscape design programs through the local California Native Plant Society chapter.
Paul Wilson, who heads up the North Coast Chapter’s Evening Programs Committee and also handles the chapter’s publicity, said, “In our climate, fall is a great time to plant and to transplant. Perennial herbs and woody plants will have the rainy season to grow their roots deep into the soil and a gradual cessation of moisture to acclimate to next year’s summer.”
Wilson added, “California natives have an evolutionary history with our climate. Once they are established, they will need much less watering.
“Native plants,” he said, “will attract the native animals that are adapted to using them. A garden in Manila planted with coast buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium) will draw Acmon blue butterflies (Icaricia acmon), whose caterpillars feed almost exclusively on this buckwheat locally. In turn, the parasitoid wasp Pteromalus puparum will use the caterpillars of the Acmon blues. The wool carder bee (Anthidium palliventre) will also visit our coast buckwheat to collect its wooly hairs to build its nests with. Thus, the gardener who plants natives reinforces our local ecological web of the sandy land around Manila.”
On Sept. 27, plant sale shoppers will need to schedule an appointment to attend via northcoastcnpsnursery.org. On Sept. 28, shopping is on a drop-in basis. That day’s hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Those attending the sale are asked to bring a box to carry plants home. Cash or checks are preferred, but credit cards will be accepted.
While the plant sale is a fundraiser for the local California Native Plant Society chapter, the group’s big goal is to make it so local people can plant natives in their yards, Wilson said.
“For this reason, we keep prices low,” he said. “Funds from the plant sales allow us to offer free monthly lectures and to provide scholarships for students who are doing research on native plants.”
During the plant sale, volunteers will also be on hand to discuss the specific needs of each plant species.
“The plant sales are … when we get to show off native plants to a big sector of the community who we rarely see otherwise,” Wilson said. “It is very down-to-earth. We are able to talk with people one-on-one about this or that species’ biology.”
Fall plant sale inventory, along with information about each available species, is listed at northcoastcnpsnursery.org.
“We’re getting 700 plants from Samara Restoration to add to our collection of shrubs and trees on offer. We also have a variety of monkeyflowers, which everyone seems to appreciate. Right now, the checker bloom is blooming, but of course by spring, all of these plants will do great in your garden,” said Barbara Reisman, who is the chapter’s newsletter editor and is actively involved at the CNPS nursery.
Checker bloom — Sidalcia malviflora — and other perennial herbs are pictured at the CNPS nursery. (Photo by Paul Wilson)
The North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society holds fundraising native plant sales in the fall and spring each year.
“Fall and spring offerings are different, although with overlap,” Wilson said. “Most notably, the spring sale includes many annuals, whereas in the fall many of the plants are to be placed for much longer-term beautification.
“A garden is a potential conversation piece and if you plant a diversity of species you can have curiosities to point out each month of the year,” Wilson said. “For example, red flowering currant blooms quite early in spring, and it is interesting to note that the pink or red part are not the petals, and whether they are pink or red depends on where the plants came from within California and Oregon.”
The North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society is a group of enthusiastic people sharing their knowledge of California’s native plants, studying native plants and speaking up for native plants for conservation. The mission of the California Native Plant Society is to increase understanding and appreciation of California’s native plants and to conserve them and their natural habitats through science, education, advocacy, horticulture and land stewardship. For more information, go to https://northcoastcnps.org.
Plants are lined up for CNPS North Coast Chapter’s fall native plant sale in 2024. (CNPS photo)
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