Category: Buckwheat
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Exploring Native Plant Conservation with Sunny Saroa
Sunny Saroa, a dedicated member of the California Native Plant Society Orange County Chapter, shares his journey in conservation, his current involvement in various projects like vegetation surveys and grant selection, and his aspirations for broader community engagement and multilingual resources. His advice emphasizes the importance of sourcing locally for native plants, encouraging curiosity, and…
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Tending the Native Garden
Dan Songster of the Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (OCCNPS) contributed this article for the March/April Native Gardener’s Corner-Member’s Tips, Tricks, and Techniques. Tips and Tricks offers chapter members and local experts a chance to share information on the many things related to gardening with native plants. This month’s request was: …
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Dreamy Native Plants
Our rain totals in Southern California have already exceeded the average 14 inches per rainy season. As I write, two more inches of rain has fallen with more to come. It is an understatement to say that our native plants are thriving. This is great news for the wildlife, birds, and pollinators that depend on…
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Native Gardener’s Corner
Member’s Tips, Tricks, and Techniques Guest Author Dan Songster offers chapter members and local experts a chance to share information related to gardening with natives. The question for the June/July 2023 edition of the OCCNPS Newsletter was: Our native gardens are often inspired by nature. What is your favorite place/destination to experience and be inspired…
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OCCNPS Past, Present & Future: Insights from Board Members
Guest Article by Thea Gavin The Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (OCCNPS) presents a Q and A that will highlight our Board Members’ experiences and knowledge. We begin this monthly series with an interview arranged by Thea Gavin that features Dan Songster, long-time volunteer and past president of OCCNPS. Dan Songster…
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Rainfall and Fallen Leaves
Here in California, we have been experiencing rain so abundant that the ground is saturated, causing flooding. In the image below, rain is shunted off of homes and hardscape toward the street, which then channels the rainwater into a storm drain that sends it to the ocean. Thankfully, some of the rain falls on natural…
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More Fab Front-Yard Natives
Let’s explore a few more “front-yard” California natives that are HOA-approved, evergreen, and are pleasing to the eye no matter what the season. The California lilac (Ceanothus sp.) is a must-have native plant for every front landscape. This gorgeous shrub blooms in the spring with soft, fragrant flowers. When not in bloom, the shrub has…
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Summer Buckwheat Blooms Bright
It is July, the height of summer in Southern California, and buckwheats are blooming with thousands of showy white flowers. I took a walk this morning at my favorite local park, O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon. Many of the spring-blooming plants are hunkering down in the 90-degree heat, but California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) is…
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Buckwheats Around Town
A Buckwheat in Every Garden was created with the hope that sharing a free native plant with gardeners would help improve habitat for birds and pollinators in home landscapes throughout Orange County. We recently reached out to people who picked up a free buckwheat to see how their new buckwheat plant is growing. Here’s a…
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Powered by Insects
Did you know that most birds gather insects every day to nourish themselves and feed their offspring? Many people believe birds can survive eating seed from bird feeders, but most birds need insects to provide digestible protein for energy, migration, and breeding. A baby bird’s tender digestive system needs soft, fat-filled proteins from insects and…
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Garden While Spring is Here
Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano and Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach are open and have free buckwheat plants available for pick-up (while supplies last). When you go to pick up your free buckwheat, consider buying a few extra native plants to install in your garden this spring. Tree of Life Nursery is…
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Befriending the Bumble Bee
Did you know that honey bees were imported from Europe and are not native to the United States? In California, we have about 1,600 species of native bees, and 26 of these are bumble bees. The bumble bee is the largest and gentlest of all the known species of bees. The queen bumble bee hibernates in the winter,…