Gaining knowledge in the classroom and in the “field” (Part 2)…

Saturday, I attended an all-day event sponsored by the California Native Plant Society -- "Promoting Sustainability from Nature." It was a day packed with information and inspiration from an impressive group of professionals from the fields of horticulture, landscape, and ecology. It was very well attended and included wonderfully healthy vegan food, a native plant sale and book sale and signings. I was so happy to be there!

Below are a few of my recent book purchases (from event and elsewhere):


Brief conversation with Barbara Eisenstein, one of the event presenters, turned to the wisdom of productive home gardening – what I call seriously local food! This led her to tell me about the vast amount of land turned to tomato growing in Baja California for the U.S. market. She saw this first-hand, on a recent trip there, and wondered how or from where they get all the water needed to grow tomatoes! By the way, in Barbara’s presentation she provided lots of great tips and photos for how to remove resource-intensive lawn and how to plant a native garden. Truly a knowledgeable professional, she has such an engaging way of presenting her topic and making it accessible. Especially enjoyed that she included the challenges and conflicts inherent in lawn removal. Really had to chuckle when she shared that each time her husband goes out of town the lawn shrinks in size!

Some plants for sale at Nopalito Nursery, who also sponsored Saturday’s event…


Agave celsii 'Nova' (shown above -- origin -- Mexico)


Dudleya brittonii (Britton's Dudleya shown above -- Baja native)


Dudleya pulverulenta (Chalk Liveforever shown above -- Coastal native)


Ceanothus maritimus 'Valley Violet' (shown above -- cultivar of native)


Yucca whipplei (Our Lord's Candle shown above -- So Cal native)


Echeveria 'Silver Spoons' (shown above -- California-friendly succulent; non-native)


Echeveria 'Afterglow' (shown above -- California-friendly succulent; non-native)


Artemisia pycnocephala 'David's Choice' (Sandhill Sage or Coastal Sagewort -- cultivar and more cold hardy than native)

Check out the website for Nopalito Nursery, especially for upcoming events and classes.

Theodore Payne Foundation has been the venue for lots of great classes and inspiration for designing with California native plants, since I joined last summer. Check out their website for class/events schedule.



I’ll attend a TPF class, March 13, with Barbara Eisenstein on Gardening with Native Bunch Grasses. She promises we’ll get out in the garden for at least part of the class. (Yea!) Also, looking forward to the TPF native garden tour. Somehow, I have missed this tour in the past. Not going to miss it this time! Blocked out April 10-11, 2010 on calendar several months ago.