At our December membership meeting, Katharina Ullmann will talk about Encouraging Native Pollinators in Your Garden and Beyond. Also at this meeting, members are encouraged to bring their favorite dessert item to share, and chapter officers for 2024 will be elected. Pollinators are essential to life as we know it - they bring beauty and […]
This eighth manzanita hike with our chapter will look at two manzanita subspecies in detail in the maritime chaparral of Los Osos. If you have ever wondered how lines are drawn in plant taxonomy, especially between two subspecies, join us for this review of two subspecies of Arctostaphylos crustacea that occur within a one-mile radius […]
The mini-keying workshop before the January 4, 2024 general membership meeting will focus on keying manzanitas and will be led by Bill Waycott and Dena Grossenbacher from 6 to 7 pm. Learn the key characteristics to identify manzanita species and practice on manzanita samples collected from the local area. Bring Vascular Plants of San Luis […]
There's still a lot to learn about our local manzanitas. At our January 4, 2024 general membership meeting, our speaker will be Bill Waycott on Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos) – Gifts that Keep on Giving. In addition, before the meeting, we will have a mini-keying workshop on manzanitas from 6 to 7 pm. The California Floristic Province […]
WEATHER UPDATE: this hike is rain or shine. Hike leaders will meet at the Tipton Street trailhead and will only decide to cancel if heavy rains are occurring at that time. See organizer contact info below for more info. Rains coming so we've finally scheduled a mushroom walk at Fiscalini Ranch in Cambria on Saturday, […]
Native Plants in Winter - Family Sketch Hike at Three Bridges Oak Preserve - Winter is not just bare sticks in the woods, but fallen leaves (some are huge!), nuts and seeds, and textures of bark and lichen. Here’s an upcoming opportunity for us to slow down and look at nature closely. This easy wintertime […]
Join us to study the manzanitas that are adapted to the interior areas of San Luis Obispo County: big berry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) and Eastwood‘s manzanita (A. glandulosa). Meet at the River Road (Blinn Ranch) entrance to Santa Margarita Lake County Park (35.315849, -120.417921). Total hike distance is 4 miles with an elevation gain of […]
The speaker at our February 1 general membership meeting will be Michael Mulroy who will give a brief overview of common lichen species of San Luis Obispo County. Additionally, he will feature some area lichens that are locally and globally rare and worthy of conservation attention. He is most interested in rock-dwelling (saxicolous) lichens, but […]
Join us for a bicycle road ride along San Simeon Creek Road. This will be an out and back ride of about 2 hours, approximately 12 miles on a paved road. There are moderate hills along the way. Elevation gain is about 350 ft. Bring your bike, helmet, other appropriate gear, and water/snacks. If […]
UPDATE: Go here to sign the online waiver before the hike. Join us for a spring walk through Coon Creek Canyon, a lush riparian habitat, for a glimpse of spring fanfare. Total hike distance is 3 miles with an elevation gain of 200 feet and a duration of 2.5 hours. Meet at the Coon Creek […]
This presentation will describe California native plants well suited for gardening and landscapes in the Shandon area and other inland portions of the County where temperatures can be over 100℉ in the summer and below freezing in the winter. Bill Waycott and Zach Tanner with the San Luis Obispo chapter of the California Native Plant Society […]
David Chipping will be the speaker at our March 7, 2024 membership meeting which will be held at the Atascadero Library. His topic is Revealing the Botanic Riches of Santa Rita Creek. Santa Rita Creek runs next to Santa Rita Road at the western end of the town of Templeton in a deeply incised canyon […]
This presentation will introduce you to California native plants that do well in the soils and climate of Nipomo, and to pollinators you can attract to your native plant garden. Zach Tanner with CNPS-SLO will discuss how to select and grow these plants in your garden with photos of the recommended plants and a question […]
Join us for a tour of Clearwater Color Nursery, a family owned and operated wholesale plant nursery in the town of Los Osos and learn about their vast selection of plants suitable for the Central Coast including many California native plants. Enter the property from the back of the greenhouses and park in the open […]
Join us for a Hike to Coreopsis Hill in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Wildlife Refuge. This hike is sponsored by the San Luis Obispo Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and will be led by Jenny Langford, Dirk Walters, and other local botanists and volunteers. The hike will […]
Spring has sprung and everything is different at Three Bridges Oak Preserve in Atascadero. The plants are sprouting leaves, flowers are blooming, and birds are singing. There are plenty of textures, leaves, lichens and maybe mushrooms are still mushrooming. This is an opportunity to slow down and really look at what’s around us. This easy […]
The April 2024 general membership event will be our annual Dr. Malcom McLeod spring wildflower hike (instead of our usual evening membership meeting). Led by Dirk Walters, we will be visiting Shell Creek and environs, one of the outstanding spring wildflower destinations in California. This outing will last the entire day. Meet at the Santa […]
Website pre-orders start April 11 for our Spring Plant Sale and continue through April 18. Click our plant sale page (page goes live April 11), read descriptions, and view photos of many native plant species/pot sizes to decide which plants are best suited for your yard. With pre-orders, you get to pick up your plants […]
THIS TRIP HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO FORECAST OF RAIN. Possible rescheduling of this Carrizo Plain trip in late April. Check back here for details. In the meantime, we recommend you check our calendar here for the many other hikes, wildflower show, native plant sale, workshops, and meetings CNPS-SLO and others are sponsoring in April […]
Join us for a bike ride along Shell Creek Road to view the spring wildflowers. This will be an out and back ride of approximately 10 miles and 2 hours on a paved road which is mostly flat with little elevation gain. Please sign the liability waiver HERE to register for this event. Event starts […]