September/October 2014 As summer turns to fall, native plant lovers’ thoughts turn to planting. Anyone who has a native plant garden will find a space to tuck in just one more plant, maybe even two or three where something else didn’t survive. And there are the lucky ones just starting out who will be selecting the whole palette. A great opportunity to satisfy that urge is our Member Appreciation Day at Tree of Life Nursery on Saturday, October 25, 9 -‐ 4. As always, knowledgeable chapter members will be on hand to help with plant selection and a variety of speakers throughout the day will inspire. Hooray for Fall Planting Season! Native Gardener’s Corner-‐Member’s Tips, Tricks, and Techniques This column is a regular newsletter feature offering chapter members and local experts a chance to briefly share information on many things related to gardening with natives. Our question for this newsletter is “With fall here, what changes are you planning for your native garden this coming year?” Answers listed in order received. Brad Jenkins-‐“After years as a native plant test area, the whole yard is getting a structured redo. My plant desires and a landscape architect’s design are creating a garden to benefit nature, have low water use, AND be aesthetically pleasing to the neighborhood association. There will be a narrow strip of entry turf for my wife, some edibles for me, a little patio for entertaining, low garden walls for organization, and lots of Southern California natives at varying heights with flowers during every season.” Ron Vanderhoff-‐“I already have a few Manzanita’s in my garden and of course I love them. However, I have a rare African bi-‐colored version Coral Tree (Erythrina coralloides ‘Bicolor’) as well, and as much as I enjoy the odd two-‐colored flowers, it has to go. Fortunately, I’ve reserved a large Manzanita ‘Dr. Hurd’ from a grower up in Central California and it will be my next addition. Been looking for one for a couple of years—can’t wait.” Celia Kutcher-‐“I will be replacing a couple of my coastal sage scrub species that have died of old age, and IF there's reasonable rain I’ll sow annual wildflowers for spring color.” Susan Krzywicki-‐“I am promising myself to document the garden…finally…and then customize and update my maintenance schedule.” Chuck Wright-‐“At our mountain house we mulched heavily in hopes that the natives would survive the summer and fall dryness. But here in Irvine I plan to plant some more natives that fit the riparian theme required by my wife's roses.” Orchid Black-‐“All my new clients are taking advantage of cash-‐for-‐grass, which is now $2 per sq. ft. in most cities here in the San Gabriel Mts. Area. Those funds give them a big incentive to trade the old clunker of a lawn for a new low-‐on-‐gas native landscape (no mowing=no gas used!)” Dori Ito-‐“With the anticipation, the hope, the promise of Fall, and the possibility of some rainfall, I plan to finally take out the last two non-‐native plants in my back yard, the 2 very large privets and the heavenly bamboo and replace them with a Manzanita or two (still mulling species suggestions) and a copperleaf plant.” Thea Gavin-‐“Fall changes planned: removing (with sadness and fond memories of its fragrance) a purple sage (Salvia leucophylla) near my back door, as well as some woody Dudleya virens, which I plan to divide and replant (after raising their planting spot into a more of a mound) along with some to-‐be-‐determined companions . . . perhaps another conejo buckwheat (Eriogonum crocatum). I have three of these wonderful buckwheats around my garden already; they seem to like it In the Ragged Forest, August here in Orange, and I like their compact growth and colorful leaf and flower show . . . striking (Santiago Creek near Irvine Park) silver leaves along with yellow flowers that turn to long-‐lasting rusty orange (eventually darkening to brown).” No lightning strikes Jennifer Beatty-‐“ Am planning to make more defined pathways, add purchased mulch where I blasted these willow didn't have it before, and when getting new plants, pay even more attention to putting them branches down to the duff. where they will flourish. In keeping with my desire for providing habitat, I'm adding new planting areas and some plants I haven't tried yet.” The jagged torn stubs Dan Songster-‐“As usual at Golden West College Native Garden we are already planning for remind me our late fall plantings. Of course there will be the replacement of several favorite plants that there are strong forces have died (in part due to drought stress) and planting a couple of Hesperoyucca whipplei to replace those that died back after blooming. This year we will also plant a hillside in simple at work here: buckwheat (Eriogonum fasiculatum) and continue to improve our native bulb collection.” water, always shaping, Our Question for the Next Newsletter is: “What is the best piece of garden design advice even in its absence. you have ever heard or read?” Thea Gavin Email your responses to Dan Songster at [email protected]. CNPS Orange County Chapter 2 September/October 2014 CONSERVATION THE IRVINE CO. OFFERS 2,500 ACRES TO OC FOR PERMANENT, PRESERVED OPEN SPACE! The Irvine Co. wants to donate several key properties to the OC Parks system, rather than develop them. Two are in the East Anaheim Hills near the 91-‐241 junction, adjacent to Chino Hills State Park's Coal Canyon unit and to Gypsum Canyon. The other three are east of Orange; the largest of these is immediately east of Irvine Lake, the others are across from Limestone Canyon and west of the old Santiago Hills landfill. See the OC Register, 8/12/2014, for details and a map, and 8/22/2014 for follow-‐up on what the OC Board of Supervisors will consider before accepting this offer. The Irvine Company has no obligation to give this land, all of which has been approved to be developed to a total 5,500 houses. This decision is one of the most significant conservation actions to occur since the signing of the Central/Coastal NCCP and designation of adjacent Conservation Easements. ACTION NOW! Contact your OC Supervisor (districts’ info at ocgov.com/gov/bos/) and tell him or her that OC MUST accept this offer, that the lands being offered are of tremendous environmental value, that together they represent some of the best previously unprotected undeveloped land left in OC. LAWSUITS! CNPS is a federation of chapters, so, under CNPS’ Litigation Policy, only CNPS—not individual chapters—can take part in lawsuits. At present, CNPS is a co-‐participant in two lawsuits on proposed developments in OC. In both cases, CNPS entered on the basis of each issue's CEQA violations and the precedent-‐setting nature of the approving 05-‐18-‐14 jurisdictions’ decisions, as well as on the native plants and habitats that would be lost. OCCNPS had submitted comment letters and given testimony at several points out out damn spot during each of the long campaigns that preceded the contested approvals. lady macbeth cried 1. SADDLE CREST: The Appeals Court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September vibrant 23, 9 AM at 4th District Division 3, 601 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana. Background: iridescent CNPS and co-‐defendants Saddleback Canyons Conservancy, Rural Canyons vivid purple spots Conservation Fund, Friends of Harbors Beaches and Parks, and Audubon California rise up from dried non-‐native grasses were co-‐petitioners for a Writ of Mandate against the Orange County Board of little beacons Supervisors and developer Rutter Santiago LP, after the Board approved the Saddle beckon Crest development in October 2012. The Superior Court granted the Writ in July i am here 2013. The County declined to appeal the Writ, but the developer appealed it in come dine upon my nectar September 2013. take of my pollen ACTION NOW! Attend the hearing. No need to do more than sit and think good leave me fertilized thoughts. Donate to the litigation fund at saddlebackcanyons.org. and i will spread my purple spots 2. MADRONA: On August 22, CNPS became a co-‐appellant, with Hills for Everyone, throughout your wildlands Friends of Harbors Beaches and Parks, and Sierra Club, against the City of Brea for its but NO June 2014 approval of the Madrona development. i reply ACTION NOW! For background and to donate to the litigation fund, see out out damn purple spot hillsforeveryone.org or StopMadrona.org. you with your needle infested WOO-‐HOO!!! Grand Opening of the Chino Hills State Park Discovery Center is leaves September 28, 10 AM -‐ 12 PM, free to the public; 4500 Carbon Canyon Road, Brea. do not belong here —Celia Kutcher, Conservation Chair this is southern california not europe you non-‐native Field Trip: Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Sunday, November 9 followed the cattle A great way to kick off the fall native planting season. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic the sheep Garden is an 86-‐acre museum of plants—a living collection. The Garden contains that overgrazed the lands more than 22,000 plants, representing nearly 1,400 species, hybrids and cultivars of out out damn spot give way to the natives seeking sun soil & water out out out ouch Artichoke Thistle Cynara cardunculus chuck wright native California flora. To take care of this vast collection, an accession system is vital. Plant curation, like art curation, involves the organization of information about its components. We will be guided into some special areas of the garden and discuss some hidden secrets of the collection. A behind-‐the-‐scenes tour of the RSA’s massive herbarium, which houses over 1.1 million specimens and is the tenth largest in the U.S. will conclude the tour. Be sure to visit the Grow Natives Nursery following the visit. Meet 9 AM at the entrance booth at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, 1500 N. College Ave, Claremont. For those who are not already members, there is an $8 entry fee. Bring comfortable shoes, camera, hat, notepad and enthusiasm. Physical Difficulty: Easy. Short walking distances. Plant Intensity: High. Time: Approx. 3 hours. CNPS Orange County Chapter Chapter Meetings Chapter meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month, except in July and August. Unless otherwise stated, meetings take place at the Duck Club in Irvine. Doors open at 6:45 pm; the program begins at 7:30. Advance notice: The November 20 meeting will be held at the Fullerton Arboretum. Thursday, September 18, 2014 Speaker: Sara Leon-‐Guerrero—California Bees & Flowers: A Selective Love Affair This presentation introduces us to the incredible diversity of California native bees. With 1,600 bee species in California alone (nearly 40% of the total diversity in the U.S.!), native bees are an important part of California’s natural history and essential to the health of our diverse ecosystems. Covering native bee ecology, bee-‐plant relationships, and the implications they have on habitat gardening, this talk provides the listener with knowledge to start encouraging native bees at home. The audience will also learn about current UCB Urban Bee Lab projects, including the CA Statewide Urban Bee Survey and Farming for Native Bees in Contra Costa and Ventura counties.
Sara Leon Guerrero has been working as a research assistant for Dr. Gordon Frankie in the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab since 2012. A former student of Dr. Frankie’s, majoring in Conservation and Resource Studies, Sara has dedicated the past 2 years to exploring bee-‐plant relationships in urban and agricultural landscapes. She is project manager for the Lab’s Farming for Native Bees project, which partners the Lab with small farmers in Brentwood, CA and Ventura, CA, USDA-‐NRCS, and extension specialists to install native bee habitat in farm locations with the goal of attracting native bee populations to supplement honey bee pollination of crops. To find out more about Sara and the many research interests of the Urban Bee Lab, please visit their website www.helpabee.org. Thursday, October 16, 2014 Speaker: Carol Bornstein—Urban Wilderness To Food Forest: Growing the Natural History Museum’s Nature Gardens 3 September/October 2014 Directions to the Duck Club The Duck Club is located in the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary next to the IRWD water treatment facility. Access is off Campus Drive. To get there: From Jamboree, go south on Michelson to Harvard Avenue. Turn right on Harvard. At University Drive turn right again. At Campus, turn right and stay in the far right lane, which leads to the right turn to the Duck Club. From Culver, pass Michelson and continue on to University. Turn right and continue to Campus Drive. When leaving, it’s right turn only onto Campus. See our website for a map & other info. The Irvine Ranch Water District neither supports nor endorses the cause or activities of organizations that use the District’s facilities. The facilities are made available as a public service oversees the long-‐term care and development of this newly created, 3.5-‐acre landscape. During her 28-‐year tenure at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, she oversaw display development, curation, and maintenance of the garden’s living collections as well as management of two onsite nurseries and the plant introduction program. She is co-‐author of California Native Plants for the Garden and Reimagining the California Lawn. She received her B.S. in Botany at the University of Michigan and her M.S. in Horticulture at Michigan State University. The Desert Institute Joshua Tree National Park presents: Lichens of Joshua Tree National Park Kerry Knudsen, Curator of Lichens at the Herbarium of the University of California, Riverside, will introduce the lichens in the morning. The afternoon will be spent in the field looking at them. Saturday, October 25, 2014, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM Oasis Visitor Center, 74485 National Park Dr., Twentynine Palms, Credit Fee: $60 for JTNPA/PINE members, $70 nonmembers 760 367-‐5535, [email protected] 40th Annual Southern California Botanists Symposium: Southern California Plant Communities: Threats and Solutions Saturday, November 1st, 2014 9:00am-‐ 5:00pm Pomona College, North Seaver Auditorium The vibrant new Nature Gardens at the Natural History Museum For more information: socalbot.org/symposia.php of Los Angeles County opened to the public after several years 3rd Annual Silverado Film Festival of planning, design, demolition, and planting. Asphalt parking The Santa Ana Mountains Wild Heritage Project (SAMWHP) in lots and tired, water-‐thirsty lawns have been transformed into partnership with "Community Voices" at Dodge College of Film & 3.5 acres of habitat for urban wildlife. And just a few months Media Arts present the 3rd Annual Silverado Film Festival. ago the last section of the Nature Gardens was opened– an all-‐
Where: Silverado Community Center, 27641 Silverado Canyon Rd, native pollinator garden! Join us as Carol Bornstein, the Silverado, CA 92676 gardens' director illustrates this wonderful transformation with When: Saturday, September 27, 6PM-‐10PM emphasis on the great number of well placed and imaginatively Go to santaanamountains.org/silveradofilmfest.html used native plants. She will also describe some of the many animals that are now visiting the site as well as the varied New! OCCNPS Speaker Bureau education and research programs now possible on the Go to our website at occnps.org for more information about the museum's grounds, right in the heart of Los Angeles. speakers and presentations that are available. Carol Bornstein joined the museum in December, 2011 as Director of the Nature Gardens. She has championed the landscape value of California's native plants and the benefits of A redesigned T-‐shirt is in the works! Look for it at our designing gardens in harmony with nature for decades and December meeting. Contact Information and Teams CNPS Membership Application New member Renewal Individual ....................................................................$45 Family ...........................................................................$75 Plant Lover ..............................................................$100 Patron ........................................................................$300 Benefactor................................................................$600 Mariposa Lily ....................................................... $1500 Student/Limited Income ......................................$25 [Organizations, please go to CNPS.ORG]  Affiliate with the Orange County Chapter. The chapter newsletter, CNPS Bulletin, and Fremontia are included. Membership is tax deductible, minus $12 for Fremontia. Make check payable to CNPS and send to: CNPS, 2707 K Street, Suite 1, Sacramento, CA 95816 Join or renew online: go to www.cnps.org click on Join CNPS Name __________________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________ City/State/Zip _____________________________
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Membership Team: Team Leaders: Dori Ito & Jennifer Beatty Volunteer Coordinator: Diane Wollenberg Outreach Coordinator: Jennifer Mabley Hospitality: Sarah Jayne Greeters: Dori Ito, Jennifer Beatty Volunteer Recognition: Dan Songster Programs: Dan Songster Audio-Visual: Bob Allen, Dan Songster Horticulture Team (Grow Native OC): Team Lead: Dan Songster Plant Sale: Dan Songster Garden Tour: Mabel Alazard, Jennifer Beatty, Cathie Field, Dori Ito, Sarah Jayne, Rama Nayeri, Plant Science Team (Research OC): Team Lead: Bob Allen Rare Plants: Dave Bramlet, Fred Roberts P.O. Box 54891 Irvine CA 92619-‐4891 September/October 2014 949 552-0691
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Interest Center: Bob Allen Conservation Team (Protect OC): Team Lead: Celia Kutcher Invasive Plants: Henry DiRocco Explore Team (Explore OC): Team Lead: Ron Vanderhoff Field Trips: Ron Vanderhoff Field Trip Logistics: Rich Schilk Communications Team: Team Lead: open Publicity: open Newsletter: Sarah Jayne eNews: Laura Camp & Rachel Whitt Publications: Jennifer Mabley Website: Rich Schilk Education Team: Team Lead: Sarah Jayne Educational Grants: Jutta Burger