Photo taken on January 16, 2022 © Doug Mandel.
It’s that time of year again . . . planting season! Due to our Mediterranean-type climate, planting California native plants in the cool fall prior to the start of our rainy season is typically best. Planting at this time optimizes a plant’s chance to get its root system growing before our dry, hot weather starts in late spring or early summer.
Why plant natives? Planting native plants is one of the best things we can do as individuals to help increase our local biodiversity, both plants and animals. Even small backyard native plant pollinator gardens really help support our native insect populations. Native plants have evolved over thousands of years to support healthy food webs that foster our local wildlife and pollinators. This makes it extremely important that we grow native plants known from our local area, which best sustain the full range of wildlife that in turn enriches our own lives.
Calscape is a great resource if you need help getting started, as is Calflora and the State CNPS website. It’s amazing to watch your yard transform from dull and lifeless to buzzing, fluttering, and chirping. It doesn’t take that much to keep our native wildlife and pollinators happy, and even the smallest space can make a difference.
Photo by Margaret Widdowson.
Although our Shasta Chapter was unable to host a fall plant sale this year, other entities in the area do carry native plants such as Turtle Bay Garden Nursery and Ghost Pine Native Plant Nursery. Our Chapter will be having a spring plant sale, but until then, check out other local nurseries for your native plant landscaping needs.
As always, if you would like to volunteer, please shoot us an email at ShastaCNPS@gmail.com.
Happy planting! ~Amy Henderson, Shasta Chapter CNPS President
