Occasionally readers ask where they can learn about native plants.
Growing and observing plants in your garden is the best way to learn about them, assuming you know the basics. The nursery can tell you the basics, such as whether each plant prefers sun or shade, dry or moist, and how big it gets. Visiting public gardens, demonstration gardens at nurseries, and private gardens (on annual native-garden tours) allows you to see how plants behave over time and in relation to other plants.
Though most garden tours are in the spring, you may be invited to some native gardens throughout the year if you sign up for the spring tour's 2-hour volunteer shift .
Learning from people who have had years of experience growing, propagating, and designing with natives is good, too. The frequent meetings of the local Gardening with Natives group (40 this year) are a good place to start. A few meetings are held at or near the Los Altos Library; others are held at libraries from San Carlos to San Jose and Milpitas. Google Gardening with Natives for a list of events, to join the helpful GWN e-mail group, and to browse the book list (under Gardeners' Resources).
You can buy most of the in-print books at the bimonthly CNPS (California Native Plant Society) meetings, held alternately at the Los Altos and Saratoga libraries. The next one will be in late January, featuring members' best slides of 2010.
In addition (drumroll...), the group is organizing its first daylong symposium at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills on February 19, 2011, called California Gardens: Beauty and Sustainability with Native Plants. Don't miss it! The seven speakers have written most of the newer books on growing and landscaping with natives and have more than 200 years of experience with natives among them. We want to give home gardeners and professionals alike a chance to learn from the masters, the very best in the field, said Arvind Kumar, one of the organizers. Register early to ensure your place, and get a reduced rate before January 15. The fee is about the same as a trip to a nursery, assuming you'd buy 6 to 12 one-gallon plants. See the GWN website for details on fees and topics.
The only thing missing is a chance to get your hands dirty. For that, you can participate in the Native Hill workdays held every 2-3 weekends or so at Foothill College. Experienced native gardeners who attend are eager to share their knowledge as everyone pitches in to mulch, prune, clean up, and plant. To find out the workday schedule, subscribe to the CNPS-SCV News.
If you wanted to, you could fill your schedule with native-plant-related volunteer gigs: helping out at the CNPS (Weds. afternoons) or Acterra (Mon. and Thurs. afternoons) nursery, pulling weeds at the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve, or, closer to home, pulling weeds and planting natives at the Redwood Grove Nature Preserve off University Ave. See the Acterra and CNPS-SCV websites for dates. Most Acterra events require advance registration. Other habitat restoration projects include Edgewood County Park in Redwood City (Fri. mornings) and Foothills Park in Palo Alto (Sun. mornings; nonresident volunteers can enter the park free). Google their Friends of groups for details.
© 2010 Tanya Kucak