The Orange County chapter of the California Native Plant Society (OCCNPS) is partnering with Roger’s Gardens this fall to distribute 2,000 four-inch White Sage (Salvia apiana) plants to Orange County homeowners. The campaign begins November 2022 and extends through February 2023.

A Sage in Every Garden is modeled after the 2019 buckwheat giveaway campaign. OCCNPS hopes that giving Orange County homeowners one free, four-inch white sage will increase nature-beneficial gardening, conserve water use, and protect white sage in our public wildlands.

Sages of various species have been used in sacred rituals by local Indigenous Peoples for hundreds of years. However, recent media-generated demand has focused on white sage smudging, and as a result, the plant is being stripped from our wildlands and sold for profit.

You can help. Don’t buy smudge sticks. If you live in Southern California, grow white sage in your garden alongside native companion plants like buckwheat and artemisia.

The first A Sage in Every Garden giveaway will occur on Wednesday, November 9 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the OCCNPS chapter meeting at Norman P. Murray Community Center in Mission Viejo. We will give away four-inch white sage plants in conjunction with the showing of Saging the World, the award-winning documentary about the ecological and cultural issues intertwined with white sage.

Join us at our November 9 meeting, watch Saging the World, and pick up your free white sage plant. (One per residence while supplies last). Your new white sage will add beauty, save water, and help wildlife and pollinators thrive. Go to OCCNPS.org for more information.