Dedicated to the preservation of California's native plants
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 education, science, advocacy, horticulture and land stewardship.
The Sargent Cypress Botanical Reserve: A Hammock Forest
Author: WOODY FREY, Professor emeritus, OH Department, CalPoly, San Luis Obispo. This article was first published in Pacific Horticulture and is reprinted here with permission. Six miles north of San Luis Obispo, California, up a winding road off Highway 101 at an...
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Californians Restore Nature in Their Neighborhoods and Gardens with Calscape.org
The goal at Calscape is to help Californians restore nature in their neighborhoods and gardens, and to save water in the process. We can do this by providing in-depth
information about which plants are really native to any location in the state, helping to determine which ones to select, listing sources where the plants can be purchased, and then giving details about how to grow them.
San Luis Obispo County Sudden Oak Death Blitz 2017
The purpose of the SOD Blitz is to inform and educate the community about the disease and its effects, get locals involved in detecting the disease, and produce detailed local maps of disease distribution. The maps can then be used to identify those areas where the infestation may be mild enough to justify proactive management.
read moreOCTOBER SEED EXCHANGE – Marti Rutherford There WILL be a seed exchange at our October meeting, and so we will need seeds. Many of our natives are just beginning to flower. But seed set has already occurred on some plants, such as manzanita. So keep your observational skills tuned and your collecting bags ready. Don’t forget the flowers that bloom in the summer and early fall.
NEW VEGETATION COMMITTEE BEING FORMED Are you interested in vegetation sampling? Do you have a favorite plant community, alliance or association? Then please contact Melissa Mooney, chair of the newly-enlivened Vegetation/Plant Communities committee of our SLO Chapter (email: mjmoon@charter.net). We’ve been in touch with Julie Evens and Jennifer Buck of the State CNPS Vegetation Program, and will be coordinating with the folks in the East Bay Chapter who are doing similar work. First order of business will be to prioritize what communities need focus for possible assessment and mapping and lay out our goals. Serpentine communities? Morro manzanita maritime chaparral? Valley Oak Savanna? Get those ideas coming and lets do some sampling!
Wildflower Updates from our Community
April 1, 2017 Carrizo Plain Field Trip
OH MY GAWD! This is an exact quote from a CNPS member on seeing the super-bloom on the Carrizo Plain. Below is Marlin Harms’ picture of our field trip. While national press has focussed on the wonderful color in the Temblors, there are great flower displays on the west...
For those who want more in-depth wildflower updates, The Theodore Payne Foundation does a great job
Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline
818-768-1802 extension 7
- 0404.May.Thursday
A Photographic Journey of California Lupines with Stuart Wilson
http://cnpsslo.org/event/a-photographic-journey-of-california-lupines-with-stuart-wilson/SLO Vets Hall801 Grand Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, USACHAPTER MEETING MAY 4TH IS OUR NEXT MEETING
A Photographic Journey of California Lupines
Stuart Wilson has long held a love and fascination of the genus Lupinus. After many springs spent photographing our local species, he decided to embark on a project to photograph every species and variety (104) found in California. Traveling throughout the state in 2015 and 2016, he has reached his goal (with a few noteworthy exceptions). He will give an overview of the great variety of forms found in the genus with tips on identification.
Stuart Wilson has been interested in photography since high school. After college in Orlando, Florida, he moved to Santa Barbara to study at Brooks Institute. He has traveled extensively in pursuit of nature subjects such as insects, amphibians and reptiles, and other small animals. He markets his photography through Science Source, a stock agency based in New York. He produced most of the photographs for Joan Lentz’s book. A Naturalist’s Guide to the Santa Barbara Region. He is a past president of Channel City Camera Club in Santa Barbara. Visit Stuart’s website to get a taste of the beautiful photographs featured in his talk.
LUPINE WORKSHOP ADDED PRIOR TO MEETING – COME AT 6PM TO ATTEND THE WORKSHOP
The CNPS monthly meeting Thursday, May 4 at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Hall will kick off with a workshop from 6:10 to 7:00 pm on lupine identification led by Dr. Dave Keil.
Our county is home to a diversity of Lupinus species, two of which grow nowhere else. Dave will give a quick intro to lupine features, and participants will then have the opportunity to try out the draft treatment on Lupinus from the nearly completed second edition of The Vascular Plants of San Luis Obispo County, California. Bring your hand lenses!
June is bringing a crammed-full sales table to the May meeting. Think of all those birthday gifts you have to buy, all your ugly T-shirts that need replacing, the thank-you gift to your maiden aunt, and the financial support you wish to give CNPS.
NEW ITEM JUST IN TIME FOR SUPERBLOOM. As well as the downloadable version, we have a CD with two versions of the program available at the sales table
- 1313.May.Saturday
Indian Knob on the Guidetti Ranch
http://cnpsslo.org/event/indian-knob-on-the-guidetti-ranch/Guidetti Ranch268-366 Indian Knob Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, USASaturday, May 13, 9:00 am, Indian Knob on the Guidetti Ranch with ECOSLO
Hike with a docent from the SLO Stewards Program to Indian Knob at Guidetti Ranch in the hills just south of the city of San Luis Obispo. This is a hike is one that can only be done with a docent since it is a private ranch under a conservation easement, and we only do it three or four times a year. Hopefully during the hike, we will see the two endemic flowers which the ranch has on it – the Indian Knob Mountain Balm and the Pismo Clarkia.
We will meet at 9:00 A.M. to carpool to the ranch, since there is not very much parking at the entrance to the ranch. This is a moderately strenuous hike, is approximately eight miles with an approximate 600 feet gain in elevation. The last half mile or so to Indian Knob the trail is very overgrown, so be prepared for some bushwacking. Since all of the hikers are required to stay with the docent, you will not be able to turn back whenever you want, so you must be prepared to hike the full eight miles.
Bring water, sunscreen, and a lunch with you; wear sturdy shoes; and be prepared to get back to our cars about 2:00. Also, since this is on private property, no dogs are allowed.
Only 20 people are allowed on this hike, so you must email Carolyn Huddleston, who is a volunteer with ECOSLO (the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo) to reserve a spot; her email is carolyn.j.huddleston@gmail.com. If you are unable to go with us this time, you can email Carolyn and get your name put on the notification list for the next hike at the Guidetti Ranch, and she will email you the next time one is planned.
- 1414.May.Sunday
Arroyo de la Cruz & North County Bluffs
http://cnpsslo.org/event/arroyo-de-la-cruz-north-county-bluffs/Spencer's Market, Morro Bay2650 Main St, Morro Bay, CA 93442, USASunday, May 14th, 9:00 am, Arroyo de la Cruz, North SLO County.
Join us for this Mother’s Day visit to one of the “hottest” spots for botanical diversity in San Luis Obispo county. Our leader D.R. “Doc” Miller will take us to see the unique species located on these coastal bluffs. The Arroyo de la Cruz area features a variety of plant communities and a number of endemic and rare plants found only in this relatively small area.
Meet at the Elephant Seal Overlook (first entrance on the left going north) at 9:00 am. The field trip will last roughly 3 hours. Be sure to bring water, snacks, sturdy shoes, sunscreen, a hat, and layered clothing, as needed.
For those wanting to carpool from the south, meet in the parking lot of Spencer’s Market in Morro Bay (2650 Main Street) at 8:30 am.
For more information, please contact: Bill Waycott, (805) 459-2103, bill.waycott@gmail.com.
- 1616.May.Tuesday
Growing Grounds Farm Plant Sale
http://cnpsslo.org/event/growing-grounds-farm-plant-sale-2/Growing Grounds Farm Wholesale Nursery3740 Orcutt Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, USAGrowing Grounds Farm is a non-profit wholesale nursery located in San Luis Obispo. Growing Grounds offers California natives, Mediterranean perennials, succulents, restoration and mitigation plants, a wide variety of grasses, and a selection of perennial herbs.
Growing Grounds Farm is a wholesale nursery and does not sell directly to the public except on the 3rd Tuesday of each month from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m
- 2020.May.Saturday
DANA Adobe Naturefest
http://cnpsslo.org/event/dana-adobe-naturefest/Dana Adobe671 S Oakglen Ave, Nipomo, CA 93444, USANo additional detail for this event.
![By Andy Murray (New Zealand honey bee on clover) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://cnpsslo.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Honeybee_on_clover_New_Zealand.jpg)
