June 2012 CNPS Orange County – Chapter Celebration June 21

→ Our annual Chapter Celebration is this Thursday, June 21, 2012.  This is a must-attend event that you are guaranteed to enjoy, whether it’s the great food, marvelous speaker (Helen Popper, author “California Native Gardening: A Month-by-Month Guide”), bird walk, silent auction and more!  We look forward to seeing you there.

• 5:30 Bird Walk in the Duck Ponds with Rich Schilk.  Bring your binoculars or just stroll with the group.
• 5:30 Bring your donated items for the silent auction or opportunity drawing by 6pm.  Questions?   Contact Kathy Glendinning.
• 5:30 Help with setup welcome.   Contact Laura Camp.
• 6:30 Silent Auction commences, Opportunity drawing ticket purchase and item selection.
• 6:30 Light appetizers served.
• 6:30 Slideshow of Chapter activities for 2011-2012.
• 7:30 Main Program.
• 8:30 Opportunity drawing, followed by book signing.
• More Details here

→ Conservation Alert: please contact elected officials regarding the important El Toro wildlife corridor – More Details Here.

→ We are very pleased to announce a CNPS Rare Vegetation Sampling & Mapping Workshop will take place in our backyard, at Audubon Starr Ranch.  The two-day program is for CNPS members and citizen scientists.  Deborah Stout from the CNPS Vegetation program will lead the training, which is very reasonably priced.  Overnight camping available and registration is limited.   More information and sign up here.

→ SAVE THE DATE!  At Home with Natives 2012: Solutions for Nature-Friendly Landscaping.  Orange County CNPS is bringing another great all-day symposium to the public on Saturday, October 13,2012, at the Ronald Reagan Board Room at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.  Many thanks to our sponsor and partner, the Saddleback College Horticulture Department, and Robert Farnsworth, Department Chair.  Organizing committee is forming now: contact Laura Camp for more information.

*—————————————————————————————————*

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

California Native Plant Society, OC Chapter: May 2012 News

→ The OC Native Plant Garden Tour is this Saturday, May 5, 2012, from 10am-4pm.  We hope you will take the time to view some of the outstanding gardens in our area. Registration information and links to extensive garden descriptions here.  Registration ends Friday at 9pm.

→ We have another outstanding General Meeting lined up for you this month in Irvine:  Trude Hurd speaking on “Orange County Plants and the Birds that Love Them”.  Thursday, May 17, 2012, Doors open at 6:45pm, Main program at 7:30pm.  This article has more information and a link to directions. 

→ We have 3 great field trips this month: 5/12 SAMNHA Driving trip of Santa Ana Mountains (registration required); 5/20 Hobo Canyon, S. Laguna Beach; 5/26 Caspers Wilderness Park.  Further details here.

→ Southern California Rare Plant Treasure Hunts starting this Saturday, May 5.  Explore, Botanize, Feast, Camp, Repeat.  CNPS has combined botany, rare plants, conservation, exploration, education and FUN in this amazing program.  We hope some of you can take advantage of the opportunity.

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

April 2012 – Happy California Native Plant Week!

→ Our general meeting tomorrow, Thursday, April 19, 2012, at the Fullerton Arboretum, will feature Sandy DeSimone, speaking about “Invasive Battles at Starr Ranch” 

→ Prior to the sit-down portion of the evening, Chris Barnhill will give us a guided tour of the new native wildflower meadow at the arboretum.  Join us at 6pm – the meadow is gorgeous!

→ Click here for more information about Sandy’s talk and Chris’s tour on our website.

→ Time to sign up for the Orange County CNPS 2012 California Native Garden Tour:  Saturday, May, 5, 2012.  You must check out that link and all the great gardens on this year’s tour.  This is a great opportunity to introduce your friends to the possibilities of native gardening.

→ Our next field trip is April 29th at Upper Hot Springs Canyon.

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

Plant Sale date has changed and other news

We have a couple of quick updates for you today…

→ The Orange County/San Diego County Chapters of CNPS Plant Sale at Tree of Life Nursery has been postponed to March 24, 2012 due to inclement weather. Hope to see you there.

→ If you are planning to go to the field trip to Elsinore Peak on Sunday, March 18, please check the website after 6pm on Saturday for updated weather and trip information.  So far the trip is still on… but we’ll see what nature has in store for us.

→ Please comment on the use of an important piece of federal land in Irvine that was previously promised as a crucial wildlife corridor between our open spaces along the coastal mountains and the inland areas.  We have some basic information here, and will have more before the weekend is out.  Comments are due March 22.

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

March 2012 Chapter News

Prickly-pear cactus flower

→ Our general meeting this Thursday, March 15, 2012, at the Duck Club in Irvine, features speaker Laura Camp, “The Native Plant Gardens of Caspers”.

→ Second field trip of the new year is coming up:  Sunday, March 18, 2012 to Elsinore Peak.

→ Member appreciation day and plant sale at Tree of Life Nursery on March 17, 2012. Multiple speakers, free plant for members with purchase, bonus gifts for new members signing up at the plant sale.

→ CNPS is seeking a new Executive Director.  Spread the word; we want the best person possible to lead our organization. (Job announcement and Job description)

→ You can add your voice to the calls for desert protection.

→ Wanted:  Your best native plant photos.

→ Our chapter newsletter for March/April 2012 with more news and notes.

Fall color and white cliffs at Caspers Wilderness Park

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

CNPS Orange County – News for February 2012

If you don’t wish to receive emails from us, please see “unsubscribe” information at bottom.

In this email:

1. General Meeting, Thursday, February 16, Fred Roberts
2. Field Trips start this month!
3. Plant Sale, March 17, 2012 – Volunteers Needed for CNPS Member Day
4. Garden Tour, May 5, 2012 – Seeking Native Gardens

1. General Meeting, Thursday, February 16, 2012…

…at the Duck Club, Riparian View Way, Irvine  (Directions here).  Doors open at 6:45, Main Program at 7:30 pm. Help with setup is welcome at 6:30.  Also, feel free to bring a snack for the hospitality table at 6:30.  Featured Interest Tables: There will be a plant ID table setup to study Ribes (gooseberries and currants), native plants for purchase, and Field Trip information.

Speaker: Fred Roberts, Botanical Explorations At Broadwell Dry Lake, Mojave Desert

Desert Solar Power is the new gold rush in California. Already, eleven projects covering nearly 60 square miles have been approved. Many more are on the way. In 2009, the Sleeping Beauty Valley, east of Barstow, California, was the location of a proposed solar power plant project that included 5,100 acres just to the west of Broadwell Dry Lake. Fred had the opportunity to join a team of 45 botanists that spread over the valley searching for rare plants and recording the floristic diversity.   Circumstances were ideal with a large number of experienced experts, a spectacular landscape, and one of the places in the Mojave Desert of 2009 with adequate rainfall for a real wildflower showing. There was the unexpected benefit for the surveyors who came to truly appreciate Broadwell Valley, that the project was withdrawn over controversy involving BLM and Wildlands Conservancy, which had originally donated the land to BLM for conservation.

Join Fred as he offers a tour of the wildflowers and landscapes near Broadwell Dry Lake. Among the discoveries made, was California’s northern most population of the rare crucifixion thorn (Castella emoryii).  Along the way, you will get a taste of what it is like to participate in a desert solar project survey, learn something of the industry, and the fragile desert ecosystem where this energy gold rush is taking place.

Fred Roberts, author of Vascular Plants of Orange County, California, An annotated Checklist (2008) and co-author of Bob Allen’s soon to be published Wildflowers of the Santa Ana Mountains. and adjacent regions, has been working with native plants since high school.  Fred is a familiar and beloved speaker in our chapter, and we hope you’ll join us for this important and unique talk.

2. Field Trips start this month…

Sunday, February 26, 2012 at the UCI Ecological Preserve

Sunday, March 18, 2012 at Elsinore Peak and nearby locations in the Southern Santa Ana Mountains.

Check out the details here for these and other scheduled field trips.

3. Chapter Plant Sale and CNPS Membership Day, March 17, 2012

Spring planting time is still with us, and we will have a special joint celebration of landscaping with native plants with the San Diego chapter of CNPS at Tree of Life Nursery on March 17, 2012 from 9am to 4pm.  Put this date on your calendars, and let Jennifer Mabley know if you can volunteer to help for part of the day.  We can use assistance at our membership outreach tables, and also help with plant advice for customers.  No special plant expertise is needed to volunteer.

Speakers, including Connie Beck, Amy Huie, Rob Moore and Jeremy Sison, will present talks throughout the day, and CNPS members will receive a free plant with any plant purchase.  New or renewing members who sign up on-site may choose from fun bonus gifts on hand.  CNPS members always receive a 10% discount at Tree of Life Nursery, just one of the many benefits of membership in our great society.  We hope you will join us.

4. Garden Tour – Saturday, May 5, 2012

We are currently seeking gardens to feature in our Orange County Native Plant Garden Tour.  If you have any questions at all, please contact Sarah Jayne.

Don’t be shy!  Your garden is an important ambassador, the most effective way to convince others that native gardening is fun, easy, beautiful and ecologically responsible.  Please pass this request along to your friends and acquaintances, the more the merrier.

This year we will be producing a full color brochure featuring business card sized advertisements.  The brochure will be distributed far and wide, as we will make 2500 copies and pass them out to the public at Green Scene, South Coast Plaza Spring Garden Show, and other venues prior to the Garden Tour.  If your business would benefit from this exposure or you wish to support our efforts to spread the word, again, please click on the link above and contact Sarah Jayne.

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

CNPS OC News for January 2012

If you don’t wish to receive emails from us, please see “unsubscribe” information at bottom.

In this email:

1. CNPS Conservation Conference – PUBLIC DAY, this Saturday, FREE events
2. General Meeting, Thursday, January 19, Peter Bowler
3. Field Trip Schedule for 2012

1. CNPS Conservation Conference – PUBLIC DAY – **This Upcoming Saturday**

FREE Events – Saturday, January 14, 8am – 3pm, Town and Country Resort Hotel, San Diego (parking fee applies, see below)

The free public day events have been announced, and it has turned into a can’t miss event!  If your schedule is free or can be made free, you need to go to San Diego this Saturday!

Students, CNPS members, all interested in California native plants or the environment will find something of interest at the CNPS Conservation Conference. Don’t miss this opportunity to be a part of this fantastic conference with exhibitors, posters and speakers galore. The conference happens only once every three years and this time we are lucky to have it nearby!

Four sessions of the scientific conference will be open to the public for no charge from 8am to 11:40am: 1.Tribal Conservation and Traditional Use of Native Plants, 2.Horticulture: Part of Conservation is Growing, 3.The Vital Role of Education in the future of Conservation, 4. Student Session: thirteen 20-minute talks by university students.

Five concurrent tracks special to the public from 10am to 3pm with many outstanding speakers and topics: 1.Native Plant Gardening, including speaker Mike Evans, 2.Nature and Children, including speaker John Muir Laws, 3.Children’s Gardens, 4.Native Peoples, 5.Local Projects and Topics.

Detailed schedule and further details of Free Events.  (make sure to scroll down below the chart, too!)

Directions to Town and Country Resort Hotel, 500 HOTEL CIRCLE NORTH, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 92108

Interstate 5 North or South: Exit onto Interstate 8 East (El Centro) and exit 2nd Hotel Circle exit, turn left continuing under the overpass.

The Conference Center location is on the far east end of the resort…close to the Union Tribune building, so look for parking in that area.  Register (for free) at the CNPS Registration table, and obtain your CNPS name badge.  Parking charge is discounted to $5.00 with a CNPS name badge ($14.00 without).

2. General Meeting, Thursday, January 19, 2012

…at the Duck Club, Riparian View Way, Irvine  (Directions here).  Doors open at 6:45, Main Program at 7:30 pm. (Help with setup is welcome at 6:30.  Also, feel free to bring a snack for the hospitality table at 6:30)

Speaker: Dr. Peter Bowler, UCI Campus and Marsh restoration

Restoration of degraded lands back to a landscape capable of sustaining the plants and animals that form a balance is a fascinating topic, even more so when one person has been involved in these challenging projects from start to finish. Join us as Dr. Peter Bowler from UC Irvine gives a virtual tour of many of the University’s restoration efforts and mitigation projects. Whether on Campus or on the adjacent UC Natural Reserve System’s San Joaquin Marsh Reserve there have been many accomplishments dating from the early 1990’s, and several current projects continue.

Please click here for more pictures and details of Dr. Bowler’s talk.

Dr. Peter Bowler is a faculty member in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and he is the Director of UCI’s Arboretum and the Faculty Manager of the UC Natural Reserve System’s San Joaquin Marsh Reserve. He has conducted research and implemented restoration efforts at UCI for over two decades and teaches Restoration Ecology, Limnology and Freshwater Biology, Mediterranean Ecosystems, Horticulture, and Field Freshwater Ecology, among other courses.  In his over 33 years at UCI, he has overseen the creation of 55 acres of wetland, six vernal pools, and over a dozen acres of coastal sage scrub habitat on the campus. (Editor’s note: WOW!)

3. Field Trip Schedule for 2012

Our new board member and field trip chair, Ron Vanderhoff, has put together an outstanding schedule of field trips for 2012.  Check out the details here – and make sure you save the dates on your calendar.  Our first field trip of the year will be on Sunday, February 26th, at the UCI Ecological Preserve.

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

Native Plant Chapter meeting – It’s Your Turn! December 15

If you don’t wish to receive emails from us, please see “unsubscribe” information at bottom.

In this email:

1. General Meeting, Thursday, December 15 – It’s Your Turn +
2. ByLaws and Chapter Elections
3. CNPS Conservation Conference, January 10-14, 2012
   
4. Give the Gift of CNPS membership
   

1. General Meeting, Thursday, December 15 – It’s Your Turn +

…at the Duck Club, Riparian View Way, Irvine  (Directions here).  Doors open at 6:45, Main Program at 7:30 pm

OC Natives: Common sandaster (Corethrogyne filiginifolia) and Skipper Butterfly

Please join us for a light-hearted and relaxing evening.  The board members will provide a festive spread on the hospitality table. If you have a special holiday recipe you would like to share, feel free to bring it along.

To open our program, Thea Gavin will present “The Brilliant North Rim: Poems and Images from a Barefoot Artist-in Residence.” Thea was selected as an Artist-in-Residence at Grand Canyon’s North Rim by the National Park Service and spent three weeks there in June. Not just a poetry reading or slide show, “The Brilliant North Rim” combines spoken word, written word, and photos in a vivid, accessible, and sometimes funny presentation of what Thea found compelling during her miles of wandering North Rim and Inner Canyon trails—barefoot.

After Thea’s presentation, everyone is invited to share some favorite photos of native plants, wildlife, habitats, or gardens—local, California, or anywhere in the world. As a reminder, each presenter will be limited to 5 minutes to make sure that everyone gets a turn.

Please click HERE on our chapter website for more information on Thea Gavin and on the format for your photo submissions.  We really hope you will participate!

2. ByLaws and Chapter Elections

Our chapter bylaws currently provide for a total of 7 to 9 board members. At the December meeting, we will vote on a minor change to the bylaws to allow a total of 7 to 12 board members.

AND… we will have elections for the upcoming year. The chapter board has approved the following nominees for election:

Board Member, 2012 term:  Cathie Field and Mike Field

Board Member, 2012-13 term: Ron Vanderhoff, Rob Moore, Sarah Jayne, Dan Songster and Rich Schilk

More on our new and continuing board members HERE at our website.

3. CNPS Conservation Conference in San Diego, January 10-14, 2012

This time next month, the Conservation Conference will be in full swing! Visit cnps.org for a full schedule of events, workshops, banquets and more!

There is still time to register, and if you can’t attend the entire conference, Save the Date for the Public Engagement Day free events on Saturday, January 14th.  Details will be forthcoming.

4. CNPS Membership is a great gift!

We are heading to the holiday season, and why not consider the gift of membership in CNPS?  It’s easy to visit here, fill out the information and click on the box at the bottom – “I wish to give a gift of membership”.

Please remember the society in your year end donation plans, too!

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

November 17, 2011 – Native Gardening for Wildlife talk

If you don’t wish to receive emails from us, please see “unsubscribe” information at bottom.

General Meeting, Thursday, November 17 – Wildscaping!

Speaker: Bob Allen

…at the Duck Club, Riparian View Way, Irvine  (Directions here).  Doors open at 6:45, Main Program at 7:30 pm.

Subject: Native Plant Associations & Wildscaping

Where will you be this Thursday night?  We hope you’ll join us for a great talk to enhance your understanding of the connection between our wildlife and native gardens.

California is home to about 7,000 species of plants, southern California over 4,000 species (more than most entire states in the U.S.), and Orange County over 1,500 species (also more than many states). By comparison, our state hosts 47 amphibians, 77 reptiles, 600 birds, 209 mammals, and well over 30,000 species of insects! All of these life forms rely on plants for their survival.

Interactions among and between plants and other forms of wildlife are complex, variable, and fascinating.  We’ll review some of the associations and the local wildlife involved, and discuss techniques for wildscaping – landscaping with native plants to attract and promote wildlife.

Hummingbird with Arctostaphylos glauca, Photo by Bob Allen

Bob Allen is a photographer, instructor, and entomologist/ botanist/ pollination biologist in Orange County. Raised in San Juan Capistrano, he studied insects from a very early age. In high school, he was introduced to plants, became hooked, and bought his first copy of Philip Munz’s Flora of Southern California at age 15. He is currently preparing his eagerly awaited, A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Orange County and the Santa Ana Mountains, co-authored with Fred Roberts.

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891

Native Plant Adventures in the Wilds of Orange County

If you don’t wish to receive emails from us, please see “unsubscribe” information at bottom.

In this email:

1. General Meeting, Thursday, October 20, 2011
2. CNPS Conservation Conference – Save! Early Registration through October 31, 2011

1. General Meeting, Thursday, October 20 – Off the Path with Ron: Native Plant Adventures in the Wilds of Orange County

Speaker: Ron Vanderhoff

…at the Duck Club, Riparian View Way, Irvine  (Directions here).  Doors open at 6:45, Main Program at 7:30 pm.

Many of you who know our October speaker as the Clark Kent of horticulture. A neat, mild mannered plantsman at Roger’s Gardens on most days, Ron provides calm and practical gardening advice on almost any subject at the drop of a hat. But on his days off from work, a California native plant Superman emerges! He becomes a single-minded and unstoppable searcher of the wild plants (and animals, insects, birds, geology, etc.) of our Orange County hills and canyons! Even Poison Oak does not stop this superhero!

Join us on an adventure sure to get you excited about exploring Orange County as Ron takes us all on a journey to some of the most interesting local places he has explored and some of the flora and fauna he has found during the last two or three years. This is a program everyone will enjoy with great photographs, interesting stories and descriptions, and a glimpse into the Orange County that still exists if we just choose to get off the beaten path.

Ron Vanderhoff is a lifelong southern California gardener and an inspiring and respected professional horticulturist who is especially fascinated with our native flora and its potential for use in urban landscapes. Ron has worked his whole life in horticulture, and for the past many years he has been a leader in the local gardening community as an educator, writer, lecturer and innovator, and as the nursery manager at Roger’s Gardens where he leads a push for sustainable gardens in Orange County, such as with the California Friendly Garden Contest (in which OC-CNPS is a partner). Ron writes a popular weekly newspaper column, The Coastal Gardener, and has contributed to many newspaper and magazine articles as well as radio and television programs. He is a special contributor to The Sunset Western Garden Book.

Ron’s keen curiosity and thirst for adventure fuel his explorations into our local wildlands and this talk will be a good foretaste of an OC-CNPS Field Trip he is planning for Spring, 2012. Stay tuned!

Chapter meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month (September through June) at the Duck Club in Irvine. The doors open at 6:45 PM for food, fellowship, interest centers, and more. The program begins at 7:30 PM.

 

2. CNPS Conservation Conference-January 2012 – EARLY REGISTRATION ENDS October 31, 2011

Time to start making your plans for attending this great conference, which is scheduled for January 10-14, 2012 right in our backyard, at the Town and Country Resort and Conference Center in San Diego.  Early registration is open through October 31, 2012.

 

UNSUBSCRIBE INFO: You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event, or through membership. To unsubscribe, please reply to this email, and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or body of your message.  For further information contact: California Native Plant Society – Orange County Chapter, P.O. Box 54891, Irvine, CA 92619-4891