• OAKS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY – Part 1: Oaks Red and Gold

    By Fred M. Roberts, CNPS-SD Rare Plant BotanistOaks appear to be one of the more popular native plants in California. There seem to be plenty of San Diego CNPS members that think so just based on the number of oak t-shirts I sold at the CNPS Chapter Plant Festival last fall and the number of people who have recently asked how the second edition of my oak book is coming along.

  • IN THE FIELD – The New Santa Fe Valley Trail

    By Jürgen SchrenkIn early December, the desert offered a great escape from the foggy and chilly December days in our interior valleys. Since no flowers could be expected this time of the year, we selected the Volcanic Hills with their interesting geology and colorful rocks as our destination.

  • HABITAT RESTORATION: Beacon’s Beach Bluff Restoration Project

    By Don Rideout, Native Plant Gardener and CNPS VolunteerBeacons Beach in Encinitas is located on a fairly steep sandstone bluff. Due to decades of human disturbance and natural erosion, the slope lost most of its native vegetation, and non-native weeds took over. Recently the city council decided to undertake revegetation of the slope with native species in order to stabilize the bluff, increase coastal bluff habitat, and beautify the trail leading down to the beach.

  • CONSERVATION: Good Grief. 2022?

    By Frank Landis, Conservation Committee Chair & Rare Plants ChairAnother year disappeared somewhere. So, what does 2022 hold?I’m looking out my window at my neighbor’s majestic queen palm. Its fronds overhang my roof, while its trunk is wrapped in Christmas lights. It’s a festive sight, and with the rain, I don’t have to fret about it catching fire and raining embers down on my roof for a while. And people wonder why I advocate for more native plants in gardens, even though I’m supposed to be fighting CEQA battles?

  • Overlooked Native Plants for the Garden Bush rue (Cneoridium dumosum)

    Text and Photos by Lee Gordon Native Garden CommitteeThis is fifth of a short series on some of our local native plants that are superb for our gardens, but that are largely overlooked.Bush rue (Cneoridium dumosum), is one of our common small shrubs, found in San Diego from the coast into the foothills. Bush rue is found in a few locations to the north, but it is otherwise a truly local San Diego native. Even now, after our long dry summer and fall, most of the plants growing in our open spaces remain green.

  • CONSERVATION: Actually, It Is Rocket Science

    By Frank Landis, Conservation Committee Chair & Rare Plants ChairI’ll start with some good news. As I semi-predicted last month, the developers behind Adara (nee Otay Village 14) filed a lastminute “Objection” to stop the ruling being finalized and them being ordered to cover the plaintiff’s costs. They made some interesting claims about why it was critical that the EIR not be decertified, that the ruling was wrong (of course) and that, because they didn’t lose on every single issue brought up in the suit, they won and shouldn’t have to pay up.

  • Overlooked Native Plants for the Garden: Styrax redivivus (California snowdrop)

    Text and Photos by Lee Gordon Native Garden CommitteeThis is fourth of a short series on some of our local native plants that are superb for our gardens, but that are largely overlooked.Snowdrops caught me by surprise on a spring hike up the Iron Mountain trail, where they graced both sides of the trail. When I saw their showy blooms, their graceful stems, and their shiny round leaves, I immediately fell in love with them.
  • Article

    In The Field: The New Santa Fe Valley Trail

    By Jürgen SchrenkRecently, the new Santa Fe Valley Trail, connecting the San Dieguito River Park’s Del Dios Gorge Trail with the Lusardi Creek Preserve, was opened to the public. The beginning of the trail took us through fields of Menzies’ Goldenbush (Isocoma menziesii var. menziesii).